Anti-heretical study on the prophet Amos

Χρήστος Σαλταούρας

«Ακούσατε τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, ὃν ἐλάλησε Κύριος
ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς, οἶκος ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ κατὰ πάσης φυλῆς, ἧς
ἀνήγαγον ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, λέγων· πλὴν ὑμᾶς
ἔγνων ἐκ πασῶν τῶν φυλῶν τῆς γῆς· διὰ τοῦτο
ἐκδικήσω ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν»
«Hear this word that the Lord has spoken for
you, O house of Israel, and for the whole clan
which I brought up from the land of Egypt,
saying: You only have I chosen of all the clans
of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all
your iniquities» Amos 3:1-2 (Septuagint text)

Hebrew text:

‫עַ ל יִׁ ְש ָּראֵ ל ְבנֵי ֲעלֵיכֶם יְ הוָּה ִׁדבֶ ר אֲ שֶ ר הַ זֶה אֶ ת־הַ דָּ בָּ ר ִׁש ְמעּו‬
‫ֵיתי אֲ שֶ ר כָּל־הַ ִׁמ ְשפָּ חָּ ה‬
ִׁ ‫ֵאמר ִׁמ ְצ ַריִׁ ם מֵ אֶ ֶרץ הֶ ֱעל‬
ֹֽ ‫ל‬
‫ֲעלֵיכֶם אֶ פְ קד עַ ל־כֵן הָּ אֲ דָּ מָּ ה ִׁמ ְשפְ חֹות ִׁמכל יָּדַ עְ ִׁתי אֶ ְתכֶם ַרק‬
‫יכם אֵ ת‬ ֹֽ ֶ ֵ‫כָּל־עֲו ֹֽנת‬
The passage Amos 3:1-2 is one of the passages of the Holy Bible in which there is complete
alignment between the Hebrew Masoretic text and the Septuagint translation. This is one of the reasons
why this passage was chosen for this brief anti-heretical study. That is, so there would be no disputes
about what exactly the Prophet Amos wrote.

The anti-heretical nature of the passage Amos 3:1-2 lies in the fact that we see a distinction between two
divine Persons within the Godhead. There are other such passages in the Bible, which I hope we will study
in the future.

As is well known, the deniers of the Trinity do not accept the distinction of Persons within the One
God. Anti-Trinitarians include Talmudic Jews, followers of the false prophet Mohammed (Muslims),
Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarians, anti-Trinitarian Pentecostals, and other Protestants who follow the
ancient heresies of Arius and Sabellius. However, despite all anti-Trinitarians, the Holy Bible, and
specifically the Old Testament, contains verses in which a distinction of Persons within God is made. One
such instance is the passage under study from the Prophet Amos.

In the passage Amos 3:1-2, one person speaks, saying: «ΑΚΟΥΣΑΤΕ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, ὃν ἐλάλησε Κύριος
ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς, οἶκος ᾿Ισραήλ» - Hear this word that the Lord has spoken for you, O house of Israel.
The person speaking refers to the Lord in the third person - «ἐλάλησε Κύριος»( the Lord has spoken)/ ‫ִׁדבֶ ר‬
‫ יְ הוָּה‬/ Dibber Yahweh.
The word ‫ִׁדבֶ ר‬ is third person singular and means «has spoken». Who is this person that speaks
and refers to God Yahweh in the third person singular? Is it perhaps the Prophet Amos who is writing the
book? Let's look at the continuation of the words of the speaking person...

«ΑΚΟΥΣΑΤΕ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, ὃν ἐλάλησε Κύριος ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς, οἶκος ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ κατὰ πάσης φυλῆς, ἧς
ἀνήγαγον ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου» - Listen to this word that the Lord has spoken for you, sons of Israel, and for
the whole clan that I BROUGHT UP from the land of Egypt. The person speaking calls the Israelites to
hear what Yahweh «has spoken», and for Himself, says «I brought up» (first person singular) from the
land of Egypt! But the Prophet Amos was born many centuries after the Israelites' ascent from Egypt!
Amos did not bring up Israel from Egypt; Yahweh brought them up! Therefore, it's not the Prophet Amos
speaking in verse 1, but a Person of God, who for Himself says «I brought up» (first person), and for
Yahweh says «has spoken» (third person)! Yahweh refers to another Yahweh! A divine Person refers to
another divine Person!
 The word «ἀνήγαγον» means «I brought up» / the Hebrew text writes ‫ֵיתי‬
ִׁ ‫הֶ ֱעל‬ He'eleti = I
brought up (first person). See also Amos 2:10 «καὶ ἐγὼ ἀνήγαγον ὑμᾶς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου»(And I brought
you up from the land of Egypt) - ‫ֵיתי וְ אָּ נכִׁ י‬
ִׁ ‫ ִׁמ ְצ ָּריִׁ ם מֵ אֶ ֶרץ אֶ ְתכֶם הֶ ֱעל‬.

And yet, while there is alignment between the Hebrew text and the Septuagint translation, certain
paraphrasers of the sacred text come and render the word «ἀνήγαγον»/ ‫ֵיתי‬
ִׁ ‫ הֶ ֱעל‬with third person – He
brought up (!!!). An example of such poor translation is the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).

It should be noted that the aforementioned "translation" Legacy Standard Bible renders the word
‫ֵיתי‬
ִׁ ‫= הֶ ֱעל‬ I brought up, in a different way in the passages Amos 3:1 and Amos 2:10. In Amos 3:1, it
"translates" it as «He brought up» and in Amos 2:10 as «I brought up»! Furthermore, it consistently
translates the same word as «I brought up» in Amos 9:7. Will the Legacy Standard Bible decide which is
the correct translation of the word ‫ֵיתי‬
ִׁ ‫« ? הֶ ֱעל‬I brought up» or «He brought up»? You see, dear reader,
how those who do not respect the Sacred Text are being ridiculed, translating words as they see fit?

Returning to the passage under examination. The divine Person who speaks for Himself and says
«ἀνήγαγον» = I brought up, and refers to another divine Person saying «ἐλάλησε» = He spoke, presents
the words that the other divine Person «ἐλάλησε»(he spoke) after the word «λέγων» (saying):

«ΑΚΟΥΣΑΤΕ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, ὃν ἐλάλησε Κύριος «Hear this word that the Lord has spoken for
ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς, οἶκος ᾿Ισραήλ, καὶ κατὰ πάσης φυλῆς, ἧς you, O house of Israel, and for the whole clan
ἀνήγαγον ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου, λέγων· πλὴν ὑμᾶς which I brought up from the land of Egypt,
ἔγνων ἐκ πασῶν τῶν φυλῶν τῆς γῆς· διὰ τοῦτο saying: You only have I chosen of all the clans
ἐκδικήσω ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν» of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all
your iniquities»
«You only have I chosen of all the clans of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities».

The word through which the speaking divine Person introduces the words spoken by the other
divine Person is the Hebrew word ‫ֵאמר‬
ֹֽ ‫( ל‬lāmar). This Hebrew word is very characteristic because it is the
word by which someone who speaks introduces or refers to the words of another person. The word lāmar
plays the role that quotation marks play in modern times. In ancient times, no language had punctuation
marks like quotation marks!

Indeed, this word confirms the distinction between two divine Persons revealed by the differentiation of
first/third person («ἀνήγαγον»[I brought up] / «ἐλάλησε»[he spoke]). We mention this because some
anti-Trinitarians, in their panic caused by the passage Amos 3:1-2, propose the so-called self-reference
(illeism) as a pseudo-justification. They argue that God sometimes refers to himself in the third person!
However, the word lāmar reveals the introduction or reference of the words of one person by another
person. One person quotes the words of another person.

ΣΑΛΤΑΟΥΡΑΣ ΧΡΗΣΤΟΣ