In The Word: Something Weird in Amos 4:11
In The Word is a Refton Church blog series that puts a magnifying glass to the biblical text. In today’s post we take a look at the common misconception that the concept of the Trinity (God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; God’s three in oneness) is only found in the New Testament.
We’ve been going through the Minor Prophets in our Meeting God, Again sermon series. This week we’re going to talk about the book of Amos, but before we get there, I’d like to point out some interesting details as you read to prepare yourself for Sunday’s message. Check out Amos 4:11. Yahweh God is speaking, and He says…
NIV – “I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD.
Now compare that with the ESV translation to see if you notice anything weird…
ESV – “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,” declares the LORD.
Isn’t it odd that Yahweh God is the speaker, but then He speaks of Himself in the third person? That would be like me saying, “I was preaching last Sunday, as when Scott preached previous Sundays.“ If I said that to you, I imagine you would think that either there’s another Scott to which I’m referring, or you might suggest that I see a doctor! Just as people don’t normally talk about themselves in the third person today, they also didn’t do that in ancient biblical times. So what’s going on? Did the ESV make a bad translation error?
Actually… no! Take a look at Amos 4:11 in Hebrew. I’ve put the word elohim [God] in red and Yahweh [God’s name; LORD] in green:
הָפַ֣כְתִּי בָכֶ֗ם כְּמַהְפֵּכַ֤ת אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־סְדֹ֣ם וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָ֔ה וַתִּהְי֕וּ כְּא֖וּד מֻצָּ֣ל מִשְּׂרֵפָ֑ה וְלֹֽא־שַׁבְתֶּ֥ם עָדַ֖י נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה׃
Now, I realize most of us don’t read Hebrew. I just wanted to show you that the word elohim [God] is actually there in the Hebrew text. The ESV translators chose to keep elohim [God], but the NIV translators opted to ignore it so that they could do a little interpretive move for their readers by substituting the word “God” with “I”. This can be justified for a few reasons, however, the ancient people who read these texts in Hebrew (and Greek) would not have missed God referring to Himself in the third person. In fact, the ancient Israelites and first century Jews were well aware of this. So why does this matter?
It matters because the ancient readers of the Hebrew text had “shelf space” for the concept of the Trinity! Yes, they were monotheists, but monotheism to them did not mean that God is the only spiritual being that existed. I mentioned this last Sunday during my Hosea sermon: The little-g gods in our bibles weren’t just imaginary cartoon gods. They are real spiritual beings who are either loyal or disloyal to Yahweh God. In fact, it’s good for you to know that elohim can be translated as “God” or “gods.” Translators know which option to use in our English Bibles because of the context (Psalm 82:1).
But isn’t Elohim God’s name?
Nope. It can be used as a name, but Yahweh is God’s name (Exodus 3:15). The word elohim denotes a category of being. In other words, elohim describes any spiritual being who calls the unseen realm their home – This includes Yahweh God [Gen. 2:4-5], the members of Yahweh’s divine council [Ps 82:1, 6], the gods of the nations [Judges 11:24], demons [Deut 32:17], the deceased Samuel [1 Sam 28:13], angels or the Angel of the LORD [Gen 35:7 and Gen 31:11-13] (Heiser, Unseen Realm, Ch.4: “Plural Elohim Does Not Mean Polytheism”).
This isn’t a problem with the concept of monotheism, because Yahweh God is an elohim, but no other elohim is Yahweh God. Yahweh God is unique. He’s so far above any other elohim because He is their Creator! He’s the only Almighty… God!
Back to Amos 4:11. Why is it important to note that Yahweh God was speaking of Himself in the third person? It’s because the concept of the Trinity is not only clearly seen in the New Testament, it’s also seen in the Old Testament; it’s just not as clear to us in our English translations. The ancient Jews called this concept the Two Powers in Heaven. Prior to 100AD, Jews had no problem with seeing a second Yahweh figure (and the Holy Spirit) in the scriptures who are equal and yet distinct from each other. However, once Jesus arrived on the scene and claimed to be that second Yahweh figure, that’s when the Two Powers idea became heretical to the Jews (Segal, Two Powers in Heaven).
You may have heard it said that Jesus never actually claimed to be God in the New Testament. As people who read and speak English, we’ve come to this conclusion because we don’t see Jesus saying in our English bibles, “Hey everybody, I’m God!” But the reality is that Jesus claims to be Yahweh God many times throughout the New Testament gospels! We miss it for two reasons: 1 – We’re not Jewish; and 2 – We don’t speak or read Hebrew and/or Greek.
So, over the next several weeks I’d like to show you the many Jewish ways that Jesus claimed to be Yahweh God. Should be fun!
– Pastor Scott