Pemikiran Yahudi Amos 2:9: Guide for the Perplexed

IT is undoubtedly clear and evident that most prophecies are given in images, for this is the characteristic of the imaginative faculty, the organ of prophecy. We find it also necessary to say a few words on the figures, hyperboles, and exaggerations that occur in Scripture. They would create strange ideas if we were to take them literally without noticing the exaggeration which they contain, or if we were to understand them in accordance with the original meaning of the terms, ignoring the fact that these are used figuratively. Our Sages say distinctly Scripture uses hyperbolic or exaggerated language and quote as an instance, “cities walled and fortified, rising up to heaven” (Deut. 1:28). As a hyperbole our Sages quote, “For the bird of heaven carries the voice” (Eccles. 10:20); in the same sense it is said, “Whose height is like that of cedar trees” (Amos 2:9). Instances of this kind are frequent in the language of all prophets; what they say is frequently hyperbolic or exaggerated, and not precise or exact.

The name Jah likewise implies eternal existence. Shadday, however, is derived from day, “enough”; comp. “for the stuff they had was sufficient” (dayyam, Exod. 36:7) the shin is equal to asher, “which,” as in she-kebar, “which already” (Eccles. 2:16). The name Shadday, therefore, signifies “he who is sufficient”; that is to say, He does not require any other being for effecting the existence of what He created, or its conservation: His existence is sufficient for that. In a similar manner the name ḥasin implies “strength”; comp. “he was strong (ḥason) as the oaks” (Amos 2:9). The same is the case with “rock,” which is a homonym, as we have explained (chap. xvi.).