King James Version · Under the Greeks
2 Maccabees 7
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1It came to pass also, that seven brethren with their mother were taken, and compelled by the king against to taste swine’s , and were tormented with scourges and whips. 2But one of them that spake first said thus, What wouldest thou ask or learn of us? we are ready to , rather than to transgress the laws of our fathers. 3Then the king, being in a rage, commanded pans and caldrons to be made hot: 4Which forthwith being heated, he commanded to cut out of him that spake first, and to the utmost parts of his body, the rest of his brethren and his mother looking on. 5Now when he was thus maimed in all his members, he commanded him being yet alive to be brought to the , and to be fried in the pan: and as the vapour of the pan was for a good space dispersed, they exhorted one another with the mother to manfully, saying thus, 6 looketh upon us, and in truth hath comfort in us, as in his song, which witnessed to their faces, declared, saying, And he shall be comforted in his servants. 7So when the first was after this number, they brought the second to make him a mocking stock: and when they had pulled off the skin of his head with the hair, they asked him, Wilt thou eat, before thou be punished throughout every member of thy body? 8But he answered in his own language, and said, No. Wherefore he also received the next torment in order, as the former did. 9And when he was at the last gasp, he said, Thou like a fury takest us out of this present life, but the King of the world shall raise us up, who have for his laws, unto . 10After him was the third made a mocking stock: and when he was required, he put out his , and that right soon, holding forth his hands manfully. 11And said courageously, These I had from ; and for his laws I despise them; and from him I to receive them again. 12Insomuch that the king, and they that were with him, marvelled at the young man’s courage, for that he nothing regarded the pains. 13Now when this man was also, they tormented and mangled the fourth in like manner. 14So when he was ready to he said thus, It is good, being put to by men, to look for from to be up again by him: as for thee, thou shalt have no to life. 15Afterward they brought the fifth also, and mangled him. 16Then looked he unto the king, and said, Thou hast over men, thou art corruptible, thou doest what thou wilt; yet think not that our nation is forsaken of ; 17But a while, and behold his great , how he will torment thee and thy . 18After him also they brought the sixth, who being ready to said, Be not deceived without cause: for we suffer these things for ourselves, having against our : therefore marvellous things are done unto us. 19But think not thou, that takest in hand to strive against , that thou shalt escape unpunished. 20But the mother was marvellous above all, and worthy of honourable memory: for when she saw her seven sons slain within the space of one day, she it with a good courage, because of the that she had in . 21Yea, she exhorted every one of them in her own language, filled with courageous spirits; and stirring up her womanish with a manly stomach, she said unto them, 22I cannot tell how ye came into my : for I neither gave you breath nor life, neither was it I that formed the members of every one of you; 23But doubtless the Creator of the world, who formed the generation of man, and found out the beginning of all things, will also of his own mercy give you breath and life again, as ye now regard not your own selves for his laws’ sake. 24Now , thinking himself despised, and suspecting it to be a reproachful speech, whilst the youngest was yet alive, did not only exhort him by words, but also assured him with , that he would make him both a rich and a happy man, if he would turn from the laws of his fathers; and that also he would take him for his friend, and him with affairs. 25But when the young man would in no case unto him, the king called his mother, and exhorted her that she would the young man to his life. 26And when he had exhorted her with many words, she promised him that she would her son. 27But she bowing herself toward him, laughing the cruel tyrant to scorn, spake in her country language on this manner; O my son, have upon me that thee nine months in my , and gave thee such three years, and nourished thee, and brought thee up unto this age, and the troubles of education. 28I beseech thee, my son, look upon the and the earth, and all that is therein, and consider that made them of things that were not; and so was mankind made likewise. 29Fear not this tormentor, but, being worthy of thy brethren, take thy that I may receive thee again in mercy with thy brethren. 30Whiles she was yet speaking these words, the young man said, Whom wait ye for? I will not the king’s : but I will the of that was given unto our fathers by . 31And thou, that hast been the author of all mischief against the , shalt not escape the hands of . 32For we suffer because of our . 33And though the living be angry with us a little while for our chastening and , yet shall he be at one again with his servants. 34But thou, O godless man, and of all other most , be not lifted up without a cause, nor puffed up with uncertain hopes, lifting up thy hand against the servants of : 35For thou hast not yet escaped the of Almighty , who seeth all things. 36For our brethren, who now have suffered a short pain, are under ’s of : but thou, through the of , shalt receive punishment for thy pride. 37But I, as my brethren, offer up my body and life for the laws of our fathers, beseeching that he would speedily be merciful unto our nation; and that thou by torments and plagues mayest , that he alone is ; 38And that in me and my brethren the of , which is justly brought upon our nation, may cease. 39Then the king, being in a rage, handed him worse than all the rest, and took it grievously that he was mocked. 40So this man undefiled, and put his whole in . 41Last of all after the sons the mother . 42Let this be enough now to have spoken concerning the idolatrous feasts, and the extreme tortures.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under the Greeks, 332 BC to 63 BC ›
Alexander's conquest and the kingdoms of his successors. Greek language and custom press in everywhere, and the crisis under Antiochus IV provokes the Maccabean revolt.
- The successors
- Alexander dies at thirty-two and his generals carve up the empire. Judea sits on the border between the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria, and is fought over by both for a century and a half, which is the ordinary condition of the corridor.
- Hellenism
- Not just conquest but a culture: the gymnasium, the theatre, Greek names, Greek dress, Greek as the language of anyone with ambitions. Some Jews embraced it, some resisted it, and the argument between them is the real subject of the Maccabean books. In Alexandria the Hebrew scriptures are translated into Greek, producing the Septuagint, which is the Bible most New Testament writers quote.
- The crisis
- Antiochus IV bans the practice of Judaism, plunders the temple, and sets up a pagan altar in it in 167 BC. The revolt under the Maccabees wins, the temple is rededicated in 164 BC, which is the origin of Hanukkah, and Judea has about eighty years of independence under the Hasmoneans before Rome arrives.
- Further afield
- Rome fights Carthage three times and ends up master of the Mediterranean. Euclid writes the Elements and Archimedes does his work at Syracuse. In China the Qin unify the country in 221 BC and the Han follow, opening what becomes the Silk Road.