Eugene P. McGarry, «An Underappreciated Medical Allusion in Amos 6,6?», Vol. 90 (2009) 559-563
In the ancient Mediterranean world, olive oil and wine had medicinal as well as culinary and (in the case of olive oil) cosmetic applications. Amos may be playing on the multiple uses of these items when he condemns banqueters for drinking wine and anointing themselves while ignoring the “wound of Joseph”.
560 Eugene P. McGarry
“to be illâ€, while the nip‘al participle is used several times to describe a
serious injury (modifying hKm in Jer 10,19; 14,17; 30,12; Nah 3,19).
To be sure, commentators writing in English have recognized and
discussed the medical connotations of these terms; however, they do not
always translate the last clause of v. 6 in a way that preserves those
connotations. Although J.J.M. Roberts refers to “the failure of Samaria’s
ruling class to be sickened by the hurt of their own people†in his exegesis of
the verse (4), he repeats the NRSV’s “ruin†in his translation: “But [they] are
not made sick over the ruin of Joseph†(5). F.I. Andersen and D.N. Freedman
reproduce the medical register in their paraphrase of the clause: “All are
guilty of the same neglect of duty and concern regarding the wounds of
Joseph, bleeding internally, but soon to be revealed as fatally injured and
beyond cure or care. They should be sick at heart, sick indeed over the
impending and growing tragedy; and they are not†(6). Yet their translation of
the clause is shorn of this imagery: “They are not distressed at Joseph’s
crashâ€(7). Finally, S.M. Paul devotes a paragraph to the medical connotations
of hlj and rbv, noting the occasional use of the verb apr “to heal†with rbv
(Jer 6,14; 8,11; Ps 60,4) (8). Nevertheless, Paul’s translation does not embody
those connotations: “But [they] remain unconcerned over the ruin of
Josephâ€(9).
Modern European commentaries and Bible translations likewise tend to
erase the medical connotations of the clause by replacing rbv with terms that
signal political collapse, rather than bodily harm. Whereas Luther’s rendition
— “aber bekümmert euch nicht um den Schaden Josefs†— preserves in
Schaden (injury) the sense of rbv as “wound,†twentieth-century
commentators and translators working in German opt for equivalents like
Ruin (10), Verderben (destruction) (11), Sturz (fall) (12), Untergang (downfall)(13),
Niederbruch (breakdown) (14), and Zusammenbruch (collapse) (15). While the
compounds Niederbruch and Zusammenbruch pay homage to the root
(4) J.J.M. ROBERTS, “Amos 6.1-7,†Understanding the Word. Essays in Honor of
Bernhard W. Anderson (eds. J.T. BUTLER – E.W. CONRAD – B.C. OLLENBURGER) (JSOTSS
37; Sheffield 1985) 160.
(5) ROBERTS, “Amos 6.1-7â€, 156.
(6) F.I. ANDERSEN – D.N. FREEDMAN, Amos. A New Translation with Introduction and
Commentary (AB 24A; New York 1989) 569.
(7) ANDERSEN – FREEDMAN, Amos, xxxvi, 545.
(8) S.M. PAUL, Amos (Hermeneia; Minneapolis, MN 1991) 209-210.
(9) PAUL, Amos, 199.
(10) W. RUDOLF, Joel – Amos – Obadja – Jona (KAT 13/2; Gütersloh 1971) 215: “aber
der Ruin Josephs kümmert sie nichtâ€.
(11) A. WEISER, Das Buch der zwölf Kleine-Propheten I (ATD 24; Göttingen 61974)
178: “aber um das Verderben Josephs kümmern sie sich nichtâ€.
(12) N.H. TUR-SINAI, Die Heilige Schrift, neu ins Deutsche übertragen (Jerusalem
1954) III, 557: “und kranken nicht um Josefs Sturzâ€.
(13) M. HOLLAND, Die Propheten Joel, Amos und Obadja (Wuppertal – Zurich 1991)
170: “Aber nicht kümmern sie sich um den Untergang Josephsâ€.
(14) M. BUBER – F. ROSENZWEIG, Bücher der Kündung (Köln, 1958) 644: “um die
Niederbruch Joßefs / kränken sie sich nicht!â€
(15) H.W. WOLFF, Dodekapropheton 2. Joel und Amos (BKAT 14/2; Neukirchen-
Vluyn 31985) 314: “Aber um den Zusammenbruch Josephs kümmern sie sich nichtâ€; J.
JEREMIAS, Der Prophet Amos (ATD 24/2; Göttingen 1995) 83: “aber um den Zusammen-
bruch Josefs haben sie nicht bekümmertâ€.