Brenton's Septuagint · Under the Greeks
4 Maccabees 6
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is.
1When had in this manner answered the exhortations of the tyrant, the spearbearers came up, and rudely haled to the instruments of torture. 2And first, they stripped the old man, adorned as he was with the comeliness of piety. 3Then tying back his arms and hands, they disdainfully used him with stripes; 4a herald opposite crying out, the commands of the king. 5But , the high-minded and truly noble, as one tortured in a , regarded it not at all. 6But raising his eyes on high to , the old man's was stripped off by the scourges, and his streamed down, and his sides were pierced through. 7And falling upon the ground, from his body having no to support the pains, he yet kept his reasoning upright and unbending. 8Then one of the harsh spearbearers leaped upon his belly as he was falling, to force him upright. 9But he the pains, and despised the , and persevered through the indignities; 10and like a noble athlete, the old man, when struck, vanquished his torturers. 11His countenance sweating, and he panting for breath, he was admired by the very torturers for his courage. 12Wherefore, partly in for his old age, 13partly from the sympathy of acquaintance, and partly in admiration of his , some of the attendants of the king said, 14Why do you unreasonably destroy yourself, O , with these miseries? 15We will bring you some meat cooked by yourself, and do you yourself by pretending that you have eaten swine's . 16And , as though the more painfully tortured him, cried out, 17Let not us who are children of be so evil advised as by giving way to make use of an unbecoming pretence; 18for it were irrational, if having lived up to old age in all truth, and having scrupulously guarded our character for it, we should now , 19and ourselves should become a pattern of impiety to the young, as being an example of pollution eating. 20It would be disgraceful if we should live on some short time, and that scorned by all men for cowardice, 21and be condemned by the tyrant for unmanliness, by not contending to the for our divine law. 22Wherefore do you, O children of , nobly for your religion. 23Ye spearbearers of the tyrant, why do ye linger? 24Beholding him so high-minded against misery, and not changing at their , they led him to the : 25then with their wickedly-contrived instruments they burnt him on the , and poured stinking fluids down into his nostrils. 26And he being at length burnt down to the bones, and about to expire, his eyes -ward, and said, 27Thou knowest, O , that when I might have been , I am slain for the sake of by tortures of . 28Be merciful to thy people, and be satisfied with the punishment of me on their account. 29Let my be a purification for them, and take my life in for theirs. 30Thus speaking, the man departed, noble in his torments, and even to the agonies of resisted in his reasoning for the sake of . 31Confessedly, therefore, religious reasoning is master of the passions. 32For had the passions been superior to reasoning, I would have given them the of this mastery. 33But now, since reasoning conquered the passions, we befittingly award it the of first place. 34And it is but fair that we should allow, that the belongs to reasoning, since it masters external miseries. 35Ridiculous would it be were it not so; and I prove that reasoning has not only mastered pains, but that it is also superior to the pleasures, and withstands them.
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.