Brenton's Septuagint · Under the Greeks
4 Maccabees 5
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1The tyrant , therefore, sitting in public state with his assessors upon a certain lofty place, with his armed troops standing in a circle round him, 2commanded his spearbearers to seize every one of the , and to compel them to taste swine's , and things offered to idols. 3And should any of them be unwilling to eat the food, they were to be tortured on the wheel, and so killed. 4And when many had been seized, a foremost man of , a , by name , a priest by family, by profession a lawyer, and advanced in years, and for this reason known to many of the king's followers, was brought near to him. 5And seeing him, said, 6I would thee, old man, before thy tortures begin, to taste the swine's , and your life; for I feel respect for your age and hoary head, which since you have had so long, you appear to me to be no philosopher in retaining the superstition of the . 7For wherefore, since nature has conferred upon you the most excellent of this animal, do you loathe it? 8It seems senseless not to enjoy what is pleasant, yet not disgraceful; and from notions of sinfulness, to reject the boons of nature. 9And you will be acting, I think, still more senselessly, if you follow conceits about the truth. 10And you will, moreover, be despising me to your own punishment. 11Will you not awake from your trifling philosophy? and give up the folly of your notions; and, regaining understanding worthy of your age, search into the truth of an expedient course? 12and, reverencing my kindly admonition, have upon your own years? 13For, bear in , that if there be any which watches over this religion of yours, it will pardon you for all of which you commit through compulsion. 14While the tyrant incited him in this manner to the unlawful eating of , begged permission to speak. 15And having received to speak, he began thus to himself: 16We, O , who are persuaded that we live under a divine law, consider no compulsion to be so forcible as to that law; 17wherefore we consider that we ought not in any point to transgress . 18And indeed, were our law (as you suppose) not truly divine, and if we wrongly think it divine, we should have no right even in that case to destroy our sense of religion. 19Think not eating the , then, a trifling offence. 20For of , whether in small or great matters, is of equal moment; 21for in either case is equally slighted. 22But thou deridest our philosophy, as though we lived irrationally in it. 23Yet it instructs us in temperance, so that we are superior to all pleasures and lusts; and it exercises us in manliness, so that we cheerfully undergo every grievance. 24And it instructs us in justice, so that in all our dealings we render what is due; and it teaches us piety, so that we the one only becomingly. 25Wherefore it is that we eat not the ; for believing that was established by , we are convinced that the Creator of the world, in giving his laws, sympathises with our nature. 26Those things which are convenient to our , he has directed us to eat; but those which are repugnant to them, he has interdicted. 27But, tyrant-like, thou not only forcest us to break , but also to eat, that thou mayest ridicule us as we thus profanely eat: 28but thou shalt not have this cause of laughter against me; 29nor will I transgress the sacred of my forefathers to keep . 30No, not if you pluck out my eyes, and consume my entrails. 31I am not so old, and void of manliness, but that my rational powers are youthful in defence of my religion. 32Now then; prepare your wheels, and kindle a fiercer flame. 33I will not so my old age, as on my account to break of my country. 34I will not belie thee, O law, my instructor! or forsake thee, O beloved self-control. 35I will not put thee to , O philosopher Reason; or deny thee, O honoured priesthood, and science of . 36! thou shalt not pollute my old age, nor the full stature of a perfect life. 37My fathers shall receive me pure, not having quailed before your compulsion, though unto . 38For over the ungodly thou shalt tyrannize; but thou shalt not it over my about religion, either by thy arguments, or through deeds.
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.