DIE OU TESTAMENTIESE WERKGEMEENSKAP IN SUID·AFRIKA

STUDIES ON THE
BOOK OF AMOS

PAPERS READ AT 8TH MEETING AT

PRETORIA UNIVERSITY 1965

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PRO REGE - PERS BEPERK

POTCHEFSTROOM
 THREE NOTES ON THE BOOK OF AMOS
J. J. GlUck (University of South Africa)

The book of Amos, like most of the books in the Old Testament,
presents certain textual problems. Although the few words with
doubtful meanings do not seriously impair our understanding
of the prophetic messages conveyed, there is room for further
lexical clarifications - and this is our aim in this paper.
One of the instances, which, in our opinion, needs elucidation
is Amos 5 : 92. It reads: hammabtig sod cal caz ... and it is trans-
lated by the Authorised Version as "that strengtheneth the spoiled
against the strong". The Targum renders it as d'migabbiir I;zliisin
'al tiiqifin = "who strengthens the weak against the strong". This
also is the rendering of the mediaeval Jewish commentators. l The
merit of these renderings is that they are "loosely applicable" to
the four other verses in the Bible where this word "hammablig"
occurs.' In fact, this verb does not fit satisfactorily into any of
the five verses in the O.T. The idea of "strengthening" anybody
or anything against the "strong", caz, implies that whoever is being
strengthened is weaker than that "strong", but the word sod does
not imply weakness in any of its forms or derivatives. In any case
this reading has been discarded by the moderns for others, which
appear to us to be equally lacking in substance.
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Some moderns translate the word hammabtig as "who causes

(or lets) (destruction) to break upon",' deriving the word from
the root pIg.' However, most moderns translate this word as "shine
forth" 5 on the strength of the Arabic root big ('ablaga) = to smile.
Against this rendering we may claim that besides being most
unconvincing it does not fit in with the spirit of the Bible; rejoicing
in the sight of spoilation, even while punishing the wicked, is not
in accord with usual Biblical presentations of Him.
The context of this verse, Amos 5 : 9a indicates clearly that,
by adopting a certain attitude, He causes spoilation to overcome
the mighty (the strong). We are told of the nature of the action
which was to have taken place, without really understanding the
first word in the sentence.
We believe that the root big of hammablig appears to be the
Hebrew form of the Arabic big - with a gain as the third root
letter.
The Hebrew root big evolved from two proto-Semitic roots -
big and bIg (one of which probably preceeded the other); the
meanings of these two roots were expressed in Hebrew by one
root only - big. The proto-Semitic gayin was later most often
pronounced Ayin - in the languages which did not retain the
gayin sound - but in a number of cases the gayin became gimel

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 ur gim;6 c.g. the Arabic gW7I1U'1I and gil11wh etc. and the Hebrew
gall, gi1llwh; the Arabic i:,117j.;m and the Hebr~w gl11gm; the Arabic
gasim and Hebrew gaslI1l and Aramaic gi ... ma or gtE-ma, etc.
This rather frequent Arabic ruot means "reach, arrive, attain,
overcome", or "to arri\'e at m~turjt~i, at an old age, (at an exceedingly
old age) at the end 01 life, at an appointed period o( life, to reach
an extremity, to exceed beyonu the limits of the ordinary, to hand
over, and lO be satisfied".: All the~e meanings actually' point to one
original nleaning. probably the last in the list, "to be satislied".
This \\ford is etymologically related to blf!, mentioned above as
having been advocated by commentators and translators in ancienf
times and in the middle-age:;, and also to hig of "light, smile". Were
the moderns to translate the word lwmmabllg with "smiles upon"
or "countenances", viz. "allows and encourages", meanings which
the Arabic word convey's, we shoulu havc been well .:,atisfied, in
fact, this is one of the meanings \\T ha\'C arrived at, though from
'-I different angle.
This word appears in classical Hebrew in Hit. only, and inci-
dentally we find it in A.rabic also in the causative, in the 'Afcala,
conjugation, which means "to bring about, to let. to cause", and
this is indeed the meaning of lJal11l11ablig = "brings about", in
Amos 5 : 92. We suggest the translation of tht: verse as "He who
brings spoilation upon the mighty". Such a reading of thc word
uffers a perfectly satisfactory rendering also to Jer. 8 : 18:"
Furthcr in thc same chapter, in Amos 5 : 16b, we read
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\\'~qlir"'ll 'ikkfir 'el-'ebel ... translated by the Authorised version as

..... and they shall call the husbandman to mourning .. ." The
Targum's renderlllg H+dy"IIH "ikkiir l~'i!.bel appears to be identical
to the Hebrew text. The \'.rord 'ikkiir, of this verse has been under-
~tood to denote husbandman or peasant, b.v every commentator or
translator known to the present writer; but as to why a husband-
man shouJd have been called in, together with professional mour-
ners, to perform and/or officiate <J.t burials. there is either no
comment or we arc given the mo~t fanciful explanati()ns.~ The
half-hearted, but often repeated, ~uggestion that \\/e should regard
'ikklir as the suhject and not as the objcct of the sentence, would
only multiply our problems.
We would like to suggest thal the \.\,:ord 'ikkilr, in Amos 5 : 16b,
docs not denote a husbandman, a peasant on his land, but a
person who had to perform some function in a burial.
In Hebrew 'ikkiir means a worker on the land, a fanner, in
all the seven instances where it appears in the O,T_w In Arabic
the same \\lorcl means a hired worker, cssential1y a farmhand. 'kr
in Arabic means "dig. plough, work the Jand" and also "farmer" II
and it means the same in Accadian: ikkiiru, hlgaru, illkaru, agent,
Ilkara, ag1l11, kar.l] This root, 'kr aJso has similar meanings in Ara-
maic: ikkiirii, Syr. akkilra, and it is etymologica]]y n:lated to the

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 Hebrc\v krll, to tht: Arabic lo',\', kr' and Ethiopic krw = tu dig,
hollow, scoop, or dredge. krll in Hehrew actually means "to cut
out or scoop out a hole in the ground (or in the rock").lJ Since
most of the mountains in Palestine (apart from Edom and the
southern Ncgeb) consists of Tertiary, calciferous rocks, some
of which are rather ~oft, digging in this terrain requires hoth
pick and spade-work; as indt:ed we arc told in Ps. 7 : 16. Accor-
dingly, 'ikktir is a wurker on the land vvhere digging also means
cutting into the ground, viz. in the mountainous regions; and, in-
deed, so we arc lold in II eh. 26 : 10. The verb krh is repeatedly
used in the Bible to indicate {'digging a grave" Hand 'ikkiir, a
noun l -' from the root krh, should logically denote a grave-digger.
Should 'ikkilr indeed mean {'a grave-digger", the question why
it is not used in this ~ense in ancient literature arises, The ans\,-,1ers
to this are: (a) Biblical and pust-Bihlical Hebre\v represent only
certain periods and places in the history uf the language; Biblical
Hcbn::w \vas that spoken only in Jerusalem and/or a few other
centres of worship and ~tudy,in and this is one of the reasons why
practically ev('ry' new discuvery uf \vritten material adds nc\\'
\\iorels and expression~ to our Hehrew vocabulary; (b) archaisms,
words of an alien dialect, and even of fureign origin were used to
great effect in rhetorics;'i for thh reason we find IllOSt of the hapax
legumerw in the books of propheb, and in cognate literary com-
positions in the Blblt2. There is no hard and fast literary criterion.
b:v which we can date and find pbcc of origin of compositions of
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the different sections of the Bi.ble, but ~ome songs and narratives
\. . hich are kno\\'n, by intermtl reference, to be u1 earlier and/or
distant origin, invariably introduce a new type of diction; (c) mat-
ters concerning funerals, might nut have been topics upon v. :hich
the scribes and the teZlchers Glred to enlarge - today we might
bave called such subjects Taboo. Peuplc \vere perhaps apprehensive
to talk about them. However, this might have heen the case gene-
rany but slich doe . . not seem to tally with the character of Amos.
He defied superstition and :-.poke fearlessly upon subjects generally
considered ominous. It b a fact tlw.t from our Biblical and post-
Biblical literature \\'c would not have known the simplest detail
concerning burials; what \vc do know is derived from indirect lite-
rary evidence or frum archaeolog.\'.
We know· frOlll ancient literature of the Near East that the
future-life (and behaviour) uf the dead wa~ believed to be con-
nected with the manner in \vhich the body was buried. There were
definite arrangements to be followed and certain ceremonials to be
performed which varied. in detail according to local custums. In
Palestine, during the periud of the First Temple and afterwards,
the dead were either buried in a pit of rock or the hody was
surrounded by pieces of rock. In the mountainous regions the
graves \\lerc usually cut into the rock, and the graveyard was a

117
 cavern. The obligation was upon the immediate family to bury
their dead 18 but It WZlS not necessarily done by them alone. J9
Whereas in the valleys anyone could dig a grave, in the hilly coun-
try, where it entailed hewing into the stone, only a person used
to that type of work could readily dig one. It is quite incomprehen-
sible that a city-dweller or an artisan or, indeed, anybody except a
stonecutter would have been able to hew pits into rock. Of the
many graves, that have been discovered in Pa1estine, most point
to the skill of professional hands. Moreover, the professional
mourners were not only the yodcre nehi, "who are skilful in moan-
ing", but perhaps also those who were skilled in applying fragrant
spices to the body and wrapping it in linen cloth.20
Incidentally, the root, being discussed, krh also means "to tie,
to bind, to wrap" zt and not only in Hebrew, but also in Arabic
k'r, in Ethiopic akera (or aqera), Aramaic 'ikkerum = to cover, or
coat, and 'gr "to tie, gird, or heap" - this last root has similar
connotations in Hebrew and in Accadian. In Egyptian the same
root is spelt tirq,
Here we should mention some expressions in Accadian22 and
in Egyptian which may be connected with our word 'ikktir and
with the root krh and which also indirectly imply things associable
with death and burial. In Egyptian aqertt means "the nether-
world", aker "the Earth-god" 23 and ager "a god"; in Accadian ekur
is the place of spirits and demons, the underworld; E-KUR, ekllrtl
= eka/lu = palace, temple, ekllr = temple official who maintains
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the rites in the temple.

Since the word ekur = underworld, was used in such widely
separated countries as Egypt and Mesopotamia, we can safely pre-
sume that the word was also known in the regions between these
two countries. We can safely assume too that Amos may well have
known this word or name, and that he may have used this parti-
cular expression instead of others more common, in order to
create a side effect in the minds of his listeners. The word 'ikktir
conveyed ideas weirdly associated with each other partly because
of their meanings but more so for their common spelling and
pronunciation." The use of the word 'ikkiir, with its attendant
nuances of "husbandman, undertaker, and the underworld of spirits
and devils" is tantamount to being both pathetic and bathetic,"
calculated tu set astir the conscious and subconscious of his
audience. 26

In conclusion we wish to reiterate:

(a) that 'ikkiir in Amos 5 : 16 indicates a "digger and hewer"
from the root krh and which in the context, means "grave-digger";
(b) that the word 'ikktir might have been derived from another
root meaning "tie, bind, wrap", and that the person, the 'ikktir

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 might have been one skilled in preparing the dead for burial, in
opposition with the phrase following (Amos 5 : 16b);
(c) that Amos used the word 'ikkiir in a combined sense, as a
homonym, which is rather effective in rhetorics; the simple meaning
of which, in the context. is "grave-digger" or "undertaker",
Amos 7 : 14b reads: ki-voqer 'iinokhl uvoWs siqmlm which is
translated by the Authorised Version "but I was a herdman, and
a gatherer of sycamore fruit", We do not know on what grounds
boles was translated as "gatherer" but. though somewhat inaccurate,
this is a fair approximation whereas those generally preferred these
days are demonstrably wrong.
The word boles was found difficult by the ancients themselves;
this is evident by the renderings of the Targum 11,csiqmin 'it Ii viS/elta
(= and I have Sycamores in the Shefelah) and of the Septuagint
"l'l~Ull' (= scraping}.27 As for the moderns - the Interpreter's Bible
renders the word as "dresser (of the sycamore)"; the Handbuch
zurn Alten Testament 28 reads as "Ziichten von Sykomoren-feigen"
but Robinson modifies his translation with the remark of alter-
native readings of "who grafts or dresses the sycamores", This is
also the translation of the Korte Verklaring der Heilige Schrift of
van Gelderen." The latter, however, could not be too happy about
this word as he found it necessary to discuss it in two full pages,
The I.C.C.JO also agrees with this, the above, interpretation and
Gemser offered a careful analysis as to why boles should mean
"husbandman".31
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The moderns all seem to rely on a liguistic analogy; the word

baHis means "fig" in Aramaic, Arabic3! and Ethiopic. and if we
combine this with the translation of the Septuagint we arrive at
a combined sense of "piercing, cutting", the sycamore-figs. We find
this explanation very forced. The translation "grower" (Zuchter
und K weker) for boles indeed harmonises with noqed and boqer"
and Amos might have had in mind the conveying of a secondary
meaning of the word biiliis "rotten fruits" (figs as well as other
kind),34 viz. some one whose livelihood is connected with fruit or
figs. With this opinion we suggest to follow the understanding of
some mediaeval commentators,
Radak,3.5 in his commentary,3b relying on earlier renderings of
this verse, reads:- "who searches the sycamore for fruit (food)".
He, and his predecessors evidently understood boles as having been
derived from the root bIS = search for - a rather common verb
in post-Biblical Hebrew. It appears in the Bible" - bilSan -
perhaps as a name38 or possibly as an attribute.39 The Arabic equiva-
lent of this root is ble (in the tataelia).
The changes between Siimekh, Sin, Sin'" and $iide are those
common within phonetic groups. The book of Amos reflects phone-
tic peculiarities, pertaining to the prophet's southern dialect. as the
spelling of the name Jishiiq (for Yieiziiq) reveals."

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 According to the above we suggest that Amos 7 : 14b be trans-
lated as "but a herdman I am who sustains himself on the sycamore
fruit" (lit ... "who seeks out the sycamore fruit (for his food)").

1. See Miknwth Gedololh - appropriate place.

2. Jer. 8 18: Ps. 39 ; 14; Job 9 ; 28; 10 ; 20.
3. A. Weiser: Das Buch der 7.11'611 Kleil1ell Propl1erell, Gottingcn, 1959. (Das
Altc Testament Deutsch) and Robinson and Horst: Die Zlvdlf KleiHen
Propheten, render it as "causes to break upon", Cf. also V. Maag: Text,
Wortsc!zalz und Begriffslvelt des Buches Amos, Linden. 1951, pp. 25-26. 69.
4. The Scptu8gint, though arriving at a difJirent translation, seems also
to hayc regarded the original rool as pIg - its rendering is ol(rpw~' (=
raised).
5. CL The Interpreter's Bible; Van Gc1dcrcn: Het Boek Antos, 1933, pp. 113,
117-118. First suggested, so \\'c believe, by Hitzig: Zu'ol/ Kleinen Prophcrcl1,
1838, appropri.lte place.
6. Or even qui like in tahq = tobacco; or $ildc - gl.~l :=-; $1$1.
7. This root has most of. the ahove meanings also in the Ethiopian languages.
8. As to Ps. 39 : 14; Job 9 : 27; 10 : 20 the meaning of "be satisfied" or
"be content" appear to fit \\.·ell into the context.
9. Cf. Mikraoth Gedoloth - appropriate place; I.C.C. W. R. Harper, Edin-
burgh, 1936, pp. 126---128; and in commentaries referred to above.
10. Including the verse under treatment here.
11. 'akkiir.
12. The connection between the two roots 'kr and IJql con be traced through
the many different spellings in Acc. 'kr, 'or, 'q1, bqI, etc.
13. Ex. 21 : 33, et pass.
14. Gen. 50 ; 5; Ps. 94 ; 13; II Chr. 16 14.
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15. The so-called prosthetic Aleph is mostly but a Noun-prefonnative; d.

'arheh from rhh and 'etall presumably from ytT1 - to quote only two
of the many instances.
16. The word 'ikktir, in the meaning of a husbandman is one of the most
common words in Accadian and Arabic yet it is comparativcly rare in
Hebrew and Aramaic.
17. G. R. Driver: Hebrew Poetic Diction. Supp!. to VT Congress Vo!. Copen-
hagen, 1953, pp. 26---39.
18. Gen. 25 9: 35 : 29.
19. I Sam. 3 ; 31; II Sam. 3 ; 32; Job 21 33; 11 Chr. 16 ; 14.
20. Mish. Sabb. 23 : 5; Mat. 27 : 59; Mark. 15 : 46; 16 ; I; Luke 23 ; 53, 56;
John 11 ; 44; 19 ; 39, 40; 20 6; Tal. Jer. Rosh. Hash. 57b; Tal. Bab.
Sabb. 14a; Sanh. 48a.
21. Ps. 22 ; 17.
22. And indeed Sumerian.
23. Coffins, as a rule, were not used in ancient Israel as it was believed that
the dead body must be in physical contact with the earth "because of
the atoning power of the earth". Cf. 01. 32 : 43; Tos. Sanh. 46b; Tal.
Bab. Sanh. 47b; Ket. 8b. Moed Kat. 27b.
24. Pronunciation or even a slight mispronunciation is an effective device
in rhetorics.
25. Depending whether "husb.mdman" or "undertaker" or "the 'world of
shadO\\''' is implied - but as \.... e have seen above, the prophet might have
been suggesting all three and more meanings.
26. For the associative quality of \....ords chosen by som/,! prophets on the basis
of consonance, as well as of cognate meanings, see Some Semantic Com-
plexities in Ihe Book of Hosea, by the present writer, in the Proceedings

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 of the a.T. Wcrkgcmccnskap. Papers read in the 7th Congress of the QT.
Society in South Africa in Stcllcnbosch, January 1964. This prohlem is
being treated in substantial detail by L H. Eybers in his paper to the
prescnt Congress, entitled "Paronornasin in the Book of Amos",
27. In Theodotion Xtl'fJHlHTWI' is understood to convey here "piercing". lnci-
dentally this word is a Semitic loanword Of indeed a loan root !lr$.
28. Die Zw()lff Kleillen Pr()pheten, Hosea lJis lvJicha, by Th. H. Robinson.
Tlihingen, 1938, p. 98.
29. Her Bock Amos, 1933, pp. 211-218.
30. W. R. Harper: Amos and Hosea, Edinburgh. 1936.
31. B. Gcmscr: Amus hI ';y Daelikse Omgewing ill Bedryf. HCfYOrmdc TeoIo-
giese Studies, Feb. 1944, pp. 44-59.
32. Also a fig tree.
33. biiqilr, b6qer, bulils, bules.
34. Gen. R. p. 28 '{jsr{jt bl!lUsim.
35. R' David Kimbi approx. A.D. 1[60-1235.
36. Sec mikraath gedoloth.
37. Esra 2 2; Nch. 7 : 7.
38. J. J. Stamm: Die akkadische NamellgelJJmg, 1933, p. 244 - Be-c1-su-nu ::..
their Lord. (Cf. Koehler-Baumgartner: Lexicon ill Veteris Testamenti
Libras.
39. pirqe dfrabi eliezer - "one with linguistic aptitude and knowledge".
40. As to !»amekh. sin and sin, see A. Guillaume: A Note Oll Psalm 109 .' 10.
Journal of Theological Studies, Vol. 14/1, April, 1963. pp. 92-93; and M.
H. Segal: ;1 Grammar o[ Mishnaic Hebrew, Oxford, 1927, p. 33.
41. Arno!» 7 : 9, 16 and d. Jer. 33 26; Ps. 105 9.
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