King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 46
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1 the son a was valiant in the wars, and was the successor of in prophecies, who according to his name was made great for the saving of the elect of , and taking of the that rose up against them, that he might set Israel in their . 2How great gat he, when he did lift up his hands, and stretched out his against the cities! 3Who before him so stood to it? for himself brought his unto him. 4Did not the sun go back by his means? and was not one day as long as two? 5He called upon , when the pressed upon him on every side; and the great heard him. 6And with hailstones of mighty he made the battle to fall violently upon the nations, and in the descent of he destroyed them that resisted, that the nations might know all their strength, because he fought in the sight of , and he followed the Mighty One. 7In the time of also he did a work of mercy, he and Caleb the son of Jephunne, in that they withstood , and withheld the people from , and appeased murmuring. 8And of six hundred thousand people on foot, they two were preserved to bring them in to the heritage, even unto the land that floweth with . 9 gave strength also unto Caleb, which remained with him unto his old age: so that he entered upon the of the land, and obtained it for an heritage: 10That all the might see that it is good to follow . 11And concerning the judges, every one by name, whose went not a , nor departed from , let their memory be . 12Let their bones flourish out of their place, and let the name of them that were honoured be continued upon their children. 13, the of , beloved of his , established a kingdom, and princes over his people. 14By of he judged , and had respect unto . 15By his he was found a true , and by his word he was known to be in . 16He called upon the mighty , when his pressed upon him on every side, when he offered the sucking lamb. 17And thundered from , and with a great noise made his voice to be heard. 18And he destroyed the of the , and all the princes of the . 19And before his long sleep he made protestations in the sight of and his , I have not taken any man’s goods, so much as a shoe: and no man did accuse him. 20And after his he prophesied, and shewed the king his end, and lifted up his voice from the earth in , to blot out the wickedness of the people.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. 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.
All of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)