Brenton's Septuagint · Under the Greeks
4 Maccabees 4
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1For a certain man named , who was in opposition to , who once held the high priesthood for life, and was an honourable and good man, after that by slandering him in every way, he could not injure him with the people, went away as an , with the intention of betraying his country. 2Whence coming to , the military governor of , and Phœnicia, and , he said, 3Having good will to the king's affairs, I am come to inform thee that infinite private wealth is laid up in the treasuries of which do not belong to , but pertain to king . 4, acquainting himself with the particulars of this, praised for his care of the king's interests, and going up to informed him of the ; 5and getting about it, and quickly advancing into our country with the and a very heavy force, 6he said that he came with the commands of the king that he should take the private money of the . 7And the nation, indignant at this proclamation, and replying to the effect that it was extremely unfair that those who had committed deposits to the sacred should be deprived of them, resisted as well as they could. 8But went away with threats into . 9And the priests, with the women and children, having supplicated to throw his shield over the , despised place, 10and going up with his armed force to the seizure of the ,—there appeared from riding on horseback, all radiant in armour, filling them with much fear and trembling. 11And fell down half upon the court which is open to all nations, and extended his hands to , and implored the , with tears, to for him, and propitiate the . 12For he said that he had , so as to be consequently worthy of ; and that if he were , he would celebrate to all men the blessedness of the place. 13 the , induced by these words, although for other reasons anxious that king should not suppose that was slain by human device and not by Divine punishment, for him; 14and he being thus unexpectedly , departed to manifest to the king what had happened to him. 15But on the of the king, his son succeeds to : a man of haughty pride and terrible. 16Who having deposed from the high priesthood, appointed his brother Jason to be : 17who had made a , if he would give him this , to pay yearly three thousand six hundred and sixty . 18And he committed to him the high priesthood and rulership over the nation. 19And he both changed the manner of living of the people, and perverted their civil customs into all lawlessness. 20So that he not only erected a gymnasium on the very citadel of our country, [but neglected] the guardianship of . 21At which Divine being grieved, instigated himself against them. 22For being at war with in , he heard that on a report of his being spread abroad, the inhabitants of had exceedingly rejoiced, and he quickly marched against them. 23And having subdued them, he established a that if any of them lived according to the laws of his country, he should . 24And when he could by no means destroy by his decrees the to of the nation, but saw all his threats and punishments without effect, 25for even women, because they continued to circumcise their children, were flung down a precipice along with them, knowing beforehand of the punishment. 26When, therefore, his decrees were disregarded by the people, he himself compelled by means of tortures every one of this race, by tasting forbidden meats, to abjure the religion.
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.