Brenton's Septuagint · Under the Greeks
3 Maccabees 2
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1Now was it that the Simon bowed his knees over against the place, and spread out his hands in reverent form, and uttered the following : 2O , , King of , and Ruler of the whole creation, among the , sole Governor, Almighty, give ear to us who are oppressed by a and profane one, who exulteth in his confidence and strength. 3It is thou, the Creator of all, of the universe, who art a Governor, and judgest all who act with pride and insolence. 4It was thou who didst destroy the former workers of unrighteousness, among whom were the giants, who trusted in their strength and hardihood, by covering them with a measureless flood. 5It was thou who didst make the Sodomites, those workers of exceeding , men notorious for their vices, an example to after generations, when thou didst consume them with and brimstone. 6Thou didst make known thy when thou causedst the bold , the enslaver of thy people, to pass through the ordeal of many and diverse inflictions. 7And thou rolledst the depths of the sea over him, when he made pursuit with chariots, and with a multitude of followers, and gavest a safe passage to those who put their in thee, of the whole creation. 8These saw and felt the works of thine hands, and praised thee . 9Thou, O King, when thou createdst the illimitable and measureless earth, didst choose out this city: thou didst make this place sacred to thy name, albeit thou needest nothing: thou didst it with thy illustrious , after constructing it to the of thy great and honourable name. 10And thou didst promise, out of love to the , that should we fall away from thee, and become afflicted, and then come to this house and , thou wouldest hear our . 11Verily thou art and true. 12And whereas thou didst often aid our fathers when hard pressed, and in low estate, and deliveredst them out of great dangers, 13see now, King, how through our many and great we are borne down, and made subject to our , and are become weak and powerless. 14We being in this low condition, this bold and profane man seeks to dishonour this thy place, out of the earth to the name of thy Majesty. 15Thy dwelling-place, the , is indeed unapproachable to men. 16But since it seemed good to thee to exhibit thy among thy people Israel, thou didst this place. 17Punish us not by means of the uncleanness of their men, nor us by means of their profanity; lest the lawless ones should boast in their rage, and exult in exuberant pride of speech, and say, 18We have trampled upon the house, as idolatrous houses are trampled upon. 19Blot out our , and do away with our errors, and shew forth thy in this hour. 20Let thy quickly go before us. Grant us peace, that the cast down and broken hearted may thee with their . 21At that time , who seeth all things, who is beyond all among the , heard that , so suitable; and scourged the man greatly uplifted with scorn and insolence. 22Shaking him to and fro as a reed is shaken with the wind, he cast him upon the pavement, powerless, with limbs paralyzed; by a deprived of the faculty of speech. 23His friends and body-guards, beholding the swift which had suddenly overtaken him, struck with exceeding terror, and fearing that he would , speedily removed him. 24When in course of time he had come to himself, this severe check caused no within him, but he departed with bitter threatenings. 25He proceeded to , grew worse in wickedness through his beforementioned companions in , who were lost to all goodness; 26and not satisfied with countless acts of impiety, his audacity so increased that he evil reports there, and many of his friends, watching his purpose attentively, joined in furthering his will. 27His purpose was to inflict a public stigma upon our race; wherefore he erected a pillar at the tower-porch, and caused the following inscription to be engraven upon it: 28That entrance to their own temple was to be refused to all those who would not ; that all the were to be registered among the common people; that those who resisted were to be forcibly seized and put to ; 29that those who were thus registered, were to be marked on their persons by the ivy-leaf symbol of Dionysus, and to be with these limited rights. 30To do away with the appearance of hating them all, he had it written underneath, that if any of them should elect to enter the community of those initiated in the rites, these should have equal rights with the Alexandrians. 31Some of those who were over the city, therefore, abhorring any approach to the city of piety, unhesitatingly gave in to the king, and expected to derive some great from a future connection with him. 32A nobler , however, prompted the majority to cling to their religious observances, and by paying money that they might live unmolested, these sought to escape the registration: 33cheerfully looking forward to future aid, they abhorred their own apostates, considering them to be national , and debarring them from the common usages of social intercourse.
Sir Lancelot Brenton's 1851 English translation of the Greek Old Testament, public domain. Used here for books received in Orthodox canons that the other editions do not carry. 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.