W. Edward Glenny. <i>Amos: A Handbook on the Greek Text</i>

Ed Glenny is well qualified for the task of writing a commentary on the Septuagint of Amos, for he has already written commentaries on the Septuagint of Hosea (2014), Micah (2015), and has written a monograph on Amos, Finding Meaning in the Text: Translation Technique and Theology in the Septuagint of Amos (VTSup 126, 2009).The introduction to this work includes short essays on the placement of Amos in the Twelve, the date when the book of Amos was translated, the number of translators who worked on this translation, the place where this translation happened, and a description of some of the characteristics of the translation. Although not all these questions can be decisively answered, at least the reader can become acquainted with what some Septuagint experts are suggesting as possible answers to these questions.The meat of this study is Glenny’s detailed analysis of the Greek text of the Septuagint version of Amos (as found in the Greek manuscript of Vaticanus). This word-by-word analysis of the Greek text includes a detailed explanation of the forms and the syntax of the biblical text. It provides suggestions for deciding between competing semantic and syntactical explanations, and these notes help one decide a few text-critical problems (e.g., 5:26 on p. 155; 9:11–12 on pp. 262–65). In some verses, the explanation delves into the semantic meaning of words and periodically provides broader conclusions that are significant. For example, Glenny states that “the LXX translators did not always follow the basic meaning of the prepositions in their Hebrew and Aramaic source texts” (p. 97), which affirms that they were sensitive to the context and were not trying to produce a wooden translation that pegged each preposition with only one meaning.There was, however, one frustration I faced again and again while reading this commentary. This happened when the author repeatedly refers to other earlier publications which he (Glenny, 2009) or another author (like Dines) has written. In many situations, the author only tells the reader where to find the answer in another book but refrains from providing the information contained in the source he refers to. This means that one needs to have access to both works and constantly flip back and forth to the various books footnoted in order to resolve these interpretative issues. The inclusion of what the other said would have been very helpful, but it would have significantly lengthened the book.Glenny’s work on the Greek text reflects advances in the study of Greek grammar and he is aware of current discussions within Septuagint research. This makes this book a valuable tool for anyone wanting to study the Greek text of the Septuagint. One of the interesting aspects of this study is to notice how the Greek translators dealt with rare Hebrew words (e.g., hooks and fishhooks in 4:2) that they did not understand but had to figure out a way to integrate some meaning into their translation. Although some of these problems result in odd translations that are quite different from the Hebrew text, Glenny’s translation usually flows smoothly (with a few added words in italics) even when the translators produced these unusual translations. From time to time, he connects words to the culture of the day (the gymnasium in 2:16 or Antiochus in 3:9), but it is somewhat speculative to suggest that the translators or for that matter early Christians readers would have understood the dragon in 9:3 as a reference to Satan. New Testament scholars will be especially interested in Glenny’s treatment of Amos 9:11–12, which was the source of the quotation in Acts 15:16–17. This Greek text helped the leaders in Jerusalem decide what to do about the uncircumscribed gentiles who became an important part of the early church in Acts. Since the Greek text of the Old Testament played such an important role in the development of the early church and the teaching of the New Testament, it is no longer possible to ignore the influence the Greek translation had on many believers, especially on the gentile believers who could not read Hebrew but were fluent in Greek. Thanks to Glenny’s efforts and expertise we now have an excellent resource that will make this task much easier.