Brenton's Septuagint · Under the Greeks
4 Maccabees 13
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is.
1If then, the seven brethren despised troubles even unto , it is on all sides that reasoning is absolute master over the passions. 2For as if, had they as to the passions eaten of the unholy, we should have said that they had been conquered by them; 3now it is not so: but by means of the reasoning which is praised by , they mastered their passions. 4And it is impossible to overlook the leadership of reflection: for it gained the victory over both passions and troubles. 5How, then, can we avoid according to these men mastery of passion through right reasoning, since they drew not back from the pains of ? 6For as by means of towers projecting in front of harbours men break the threatening waves, and thus assure a still course to vessels entering port, 7so that seven-towered right-reasoning of the young men, securing the harbour of religion, conquered the intemperance of passions. 8For having arranged a choir of piety, they encouraged one another, saying, 9Brothers, may we brotherly for . Let us imitate the three young men in who despised the equally afflicting furnace. 10Let us not be cowards in the manifestation of piety. 11And one said, Courage, brother; and another, Nobly . 12And another, Remember of what stock ye are; and by the hand of what to be slain for the sake of piety. 13And one and all, looking on each other serene and confident, said, Let us with all our our to who gave them, and employ our bodies for the keeping of . 14Let us not fear him who thinketh he killeth; 15for great is the of and danger of torment laid up for those who transgress the of . 16Let us arm ourselves, therefore, in the abnegation of the divine reasoning. 17If we suffer thus, , and , and will receive us, and all the fathers will commend us. 18And as each one of the brethren was haled away, the rest exclaimed, us not, O brother, nor falsify those who have before you. 19Now you are not ignorant of the charm of brotherhood, which the Divine and all- Providence has imparted through fathers to children, and has engendered through the mother's . 20In which these brothers having remained an equal time, and having been formed for the same period, and been increased by the same , and having been perfected through the same principle of life, 21and having been brought forth at equal intervals, and having sucked milk from the same fountains, hence their brotherly are reared up lovingly together; 22and increase the more powerfully by reason of this simultaneous rearing, and by daily intercourse, and by other education, and exercise in of . 23Brotherly love being thus sympathetically constituted, the seven brethren had a more sympathetic mutual harmony. 24For being educated in the same law, and practising the same virtues, and reared up in a course of life, they increased this harmony with each other. 25For a like ardour for what is right and honourable increased their fellow-feeling towards each other. 26For it acting along with religion, made their brotherly feeling more desirable to them. 27And yet, although nature and intercourse and virtuous morals increased their brotherly love, those who were left to behold their brethren, who were ill-used for their religion, tortured even unto .
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.