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2 Maccabees 12

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1 γενομένων δὲ τῶν συνθηκῶν τούτων ὁ μὲν Λυσίας ἀπῄει πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα οἱ δὲ Ιουδαῖοι περὶ τὴν γεωργίαν ἐγίνοντο 2 τῶν δὲ κατὰ τόπον στρατηγῶν Τιμόθεος καὶ Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ τοῦ Γενναίου ἔτι δὲ Ἱερώνυμος καὶ Δημοφών πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Νικάνωρ ὁ Κυπριάρχης οὐκ εἴων αὐτοὺς εὐσταθεῖν καὶ τὰ τῆς ἡσυχίας ἄγειν

1 So all was agreed upon; Lysias was for the court again, and the Jewish folk went back to their farms. 2 But neither rest nor respite might they have while Timotheus[1] and Apollonius, son of Gennaeus, were left at their posts; Hieronymus, too, and Demophon, and Nicanor that ruled in Cyprus.

1 His factis pactionibus, Lysias pergebat ad regem, Judæi autem agriculturæ operam dabant. 2 Sed hi qui resederant, Timotheus, et Apollonius Gennæi filius, sed et Hieronymus, et Demophon super hos, et Nicanor Cypriarches, non sinebant eos in silentio agere et quiete.

3 Ἰοππῖται δὲ τηλικοῦτο συνετέλεσαν τὸ δυσσέβημα παρακαλέσαντες τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς οἰκοῦντας Ιουδαίους ἐμβῆναι εἰς τὰ παρακατασταθέντα ὑ{P'} αὐτῶν σκάφη σὺν γυναιξὶν καὶ τέκνοις ὡς μηδεμιᾶς ἐνεστώσης πρὸς αὐτοὺς δυσμενείας 4 κατὰ δὲ τὸ κοινὸν τῆς πόλεως ψήφισμα καὶ τούτων ἐπιδεξαμένων ὡς ἂν εἰρηνεύειν θελόντων καὶ μηδὲν ὕποπτον ἐχόντων ἐπαναχθέντας αὐτοὺς ἐβύθισαν ὄντας οὐκ ἔλαττον τῶν διακοσίων 5 μεταλαβὼν δὲ Ιουδας τὴν γεγονυῖαν εἰς τοὺς ὁμοεθνεῖς ὠμότητα παραγγείλας τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸν ἀνδράσιν 6 καὶ ἐπικαλεσάμενος τὸν δίκαιον κριτὴν θεὸν παρεγένετο ἐπὶ τοὺς μιαιφόνους τῶν ἀδελφῶν καὶ τὸν μὲν λιμένα νύκτωρ ἐνέπρησεν καὶ τὰ σκάφη κατέφλεξεν τοὺς δὲ ἐκεῖ συμφυγόντας ἐξεκέντησεν 7 τοῦ δὲ χωρίου συγκλεισθέντος ἀνέλυσεν ὡς πάλιν ἥξων καὶ τὸ σύμπαν τῶν Ιοππιτῶν ἐκριζῶσαι πολίτευμα 8 μεταλαβὼν δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐν Ιαμνείᾳ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐπιτελεῖν βουλομένους τρόπον τοῖς παροικοῦσιν Ιουδαίοις 9 καὶ τοῖς Ιαμνίταις νυκτὸς ἐπιβαλὼν ὑφῆψεν τὸν λιμένα σὺν τῷ στόλῳ ὥστε φαίνεσθαι τὰς αὐγὰς τοῦ φέγγους εἰς τὰ Ιεροσόλυμα σταδίων ὄντων διακοσίων τεσσαράκοντα

3 This was a very foul deed done by the men of Joppe; they fitted out certain vessels of theirs, and would have the neighbouring Jews go aboard, with their wives and children, for all the world as if there were no grudge between them. 4 It was the common wish of their fellow-citizens; how should the Jews gainsay it? They were lovers of peace, and cause for suspicion had none. Yet once they were on the high seas, they were cast overboard and drowned, a full two hundred of them. 5 Such tidings of cruel murder done upon men of his own race, Judas could not hear unmoved; mustering his followers, and calling upon God, that judges aright, to speed him, 6 he marched out against the slayers of his brethren; at dead of night he burned down their wharves, and set all the ships ablaze, nor any man that escaped the fire but was put to the sword. 7 This done, he left them, but threatening he would return, and leave none alive in Joppe. 8 He had word, too, that the men of Jamnia meant to do the same by the Jews in their part; 9 so he fell on Jamnia, too, by night, and burnt both wharves and ships there; the light of that blaze was seen at Jerusalem, thirty miles off. …

3 Joppitæ vero tale quoddam flagitium perpetrarunt: rogaverunt Judæos cum quibus habitabant, ascendere scaphas quas paraverant, cum uxoribus et filiis, quasi nullis inimicitiis inter eos subjacentibus. 4 Secundum commune itaque decretum civitatis, et ipsis acquiescentibus, pacisque causa nihil suspectum habentibus: cum in altum processissent, submerserunt non minus ducentos. 5 Quam crudelitatem Judas in suæ gentis homines factam ut cognovit, præcepit viris qui erant cum ipso: et invocato justo judice Deo, 6 venit adversus interfectores fratrum, et portum quidem noctu succendit, scaphas exussit, eos autem qui ab igne refugerant, gladio peremit. 7 Et cum hæc ita egisset, discessit quasi iterum reversurus, et universos Joppitas eradicaturus. 8 Sed cum cognovisset et eos qui erant Jamniæ, velle pari modo facere habitantibus secum Judæis, 9 Jamnitis quoque nocte supervenit, et portum cum navibus succendit: ita ut lumen ignis appareret Jerosolymis a stadiis ducentis quadraginta.

10 ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ἀποσπάσαντες σταδίους ἐννέα ποιουμένων τὴν πορείαν ἐπὶ τὸν Τιμόθεον προσέβαλον Ἄραβες αὐτῷ οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν πεντακισχιλίων ἱππεῖς δὲ πεντακόσιοι 11 γενομένης δὲ καρτερᾶς μάχης καὶ τῶν περὶ τὸν Ιουδαν διὰ τὴν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ βοήθειαν εὐημερησάντων ἐλαττονωθέντες οἱ νομάδες ἠξίουν δοῦναι τὸν Ιουδαν δεξιὰς αὐτοῖς ὑπισχνούμενοι καὶ βοσκήματα δώσειν καὶ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ὠφελήσειν αὐτούς 12 Ιουδας δὲ ὑπολαβὼν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐν πολλοῖς αὐτοὺς χρησίμους ἐπεχώρησεν εἰρήνην ἄξειν πρὸς αὐτούς καὶ λαβόντες δεξιὰς εἰς τὰς σκηνὰς ἐχωρίσθησαν

10 Nine furlongs they had marched, on their way to meet Timotheus, when an Arab force engaged them, of five thousand foot and five hundred horse.[2] 11 Stern was the encounter, but with God’s help they won the day; and the defeated remnant of the Arabs asked Judas for quarter, promising a grant of pasture-lands, with other advantages. 12 And, beyond doubt, they could be many ways serviceable to him; so he made terms with them. They swore friendship, and the Arabs went back to their tents.

10 Inde cum jam abiissent novem stadiis, et iter facerent ad Timotheum, commiserunt cum eo Arabes quinque millia viri, et equites quingenti. 11 Cumque pugna valida fieret, et auxilio Dei prospere cessisset, residui Arabes victi petebant a Juda dextram sibi dari, promittentes se pascua daturos, et in ceteris profuturos. 12 Judas autem arbitratus vere in multis eos utiles, promsit pacem: dextrisque acceptis, discessere ad tabernacula sua.

13 ἐπέβαλεν δὲ καὶ ἐπί τινα πόλιν γεφύραις ὀχυρὰν καὶ τείχεσιν περιπεφραγμένην καὶ παμμειγέσιν ἔθνεσιν κατοικουμένην ὄνομα δὲ Κασπιν 14 οἱ δὲ ἔνδον πεποιθότες τῇ τῶν τειχέων ἐρυμνότητι τῇ τε τῶν βρωμάτων παραθέσει ἀναγωγότερον ἐχρῶντο τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ιουδαν λοιδοροῦντες καὶ προσέτι βλασφημοῦντες καὶ λαλοῦντες ἃ μὴ θέμις 15 οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ιουδαν ἐπικαλεσάμενοι τὸν μέγαν τοῦ κόσμου δυνάστην τὸν ἄτερ κριῶν καὶ μηχανῶν ὀργανικῶν κατακρημνίσαντα τὴν Ιεριχω κατὰ τοὺς Ἰησοῦ χρόνους ἐνέσεισαν θηριωδῶς τῷ τείχει 16 καταλαβόμενοί τε τὴν πόλιν τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ θελήσει ἀμυθήτους ἐποιήσαντο σφαγὰς ὥστε τὴν παρακειμένην λίμνην τὸ πλάτος ἔχουσαν σταδίους δύο κατάρρυτον αἵματι πεπληρωμένην φαίνεσθαι

13 A city there was called Casphin, moated and walled about for its defence, and held by a rabble of many races; this, too, Judas attacked. 14 Such trust the defenders had in the strength of their ramparts, and their plentiful supplies of food, they carried themselves recklessly, hurling taunts at Judas, with blasphemies and other talk little fit to be uttered. 15 But Machabaeus to that King made appeal, who needed neither engine nor battering-ram, in Josue’s day, to bring Jericho down in ruins; a fierce attack he delivered upon the walls, 16 and, so God willed, became master of the city. The slaughter in it was past reckoning; there was a pool hard by, of two furlongs’ breadth, that seemed as if it ran in full tide with the blood of slain men.

13 Aggressus est autem et civitatem quamdam firmam pontibus murisque circumseptam, quæ a turbis habitabatur gentium promiscuarum: cui nomen Casphin. 14 Hi vero qui intus erant, confidentes in stabilitate murorum et apparatu alimoniarum, remissius agebant, maledictis lacessentes Judam et blasphemantes, ac loquentes quæ fas non est. 15 Machabæus autem, invocato magno mundi Principe, qui sine arietibus et machinis temporibus Jesu præcipitavit Jericho, irruit ferociter muris: 16 et capta civitate per Domini voluntatem, innumerabiles cædes fecit, ita ut adjacens stagnum stadiorum duorum latitudinis sanguine interfectorum fluere videretur.

17 ἐκεῖθεν δὲ ἀποσπάσαντες σταδίους ἑπτακοσίους πεντήκοντα διήνυσαν εἰς τὸν Χάρακα πρὸς τοὺς λεγομένους Τουβιανοὺς Ιουδαίους 18 καὶ Τιμόθεον μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν τόπων οὐ κατέλαβον ἄπρακτον τότε ἀπὸ τῶν τόπων ἐκλελυκότα καταλελοιπότα δὲ φρουρὰν ἔν τινι τόπῳ καὶ μάλα ὀχυράν 19 Δοσίθεος δὲ καὶ Σωσίπατρος τῶν περὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον ἡγεμόνων ἐξοδεύσαντες ἀπώλεσαν τοὺς ὑπὸ Τιμοθέου καταλειφθέντας ἐν τῷ ὀχυρώματι πλείους τῶν μυρίων ἀνδρῶν 20 ὁ δὲ Μακκαβαῖος διατάξας τὴν περὶ αὐτὸν στρατιὰν σπειρηδὸν κατέστησεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν σπειρῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Τιμόθεον ὥρμησεν ἔχοντα περὶ αὐτὸν μυριάδας δώδεκα πεζῶν ἱππεῖς δὲ δισχιλίους πρὸς τοῖς πεντακοσίοις 21 τὴν δὲ ἔφοδον μεταλαβὼν Ιουδου προεξαπέστειλεν ὁ Τιμόθεος τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ τέκνα καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἀποσκευὴν εἰς τὸ λεγόμενον Καρνιον ἦν γὰρ δυσπολιόρκητον καὶ δυσπρόσιτον τὸ χωρίον διὰ τὴν πάντων τῶν τόπων στενότητα 22 ἐπιφανείσης δὲ τῆς Ιουδου σπείρας πρώτης καὶ γενομένου δέους ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους φόβου τε ἐκ τῆς τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐφορῶντος ἐπιφανείας γενομένης ἐ{P'} αὐτοὺς εἰς φυγὴν ὥρμησαν ἄλλος ἀλλαχῇ φερόμενος ὥστε πολλάκις ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων βλάπτεσθαι καὶ ταῖς τῶν ξιφῶν ἀκμαῖς ἀναπείρεσθαι 23 ἐποιεῖτο δὲ τὸν διωγμὸν εὐτονώτερον ὁ Ιουδας συγκεντῶν τοὺς ἀλιτηρίους διέφθειρέν τε εἰς μυριάδας τρεῖς ἀνδρῶν 24 αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Τιμόθεος ἐμπεσὼν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Δοσίθεον καὶ Σωσίπατρον ἠξίου μετὰ πολλῆς γοητείας ἐξαφεῖναι σῶον αὐτὸν διὰ τὸ πλειόνων μὲν γονεῖς ὧν δὲ ἀδελφοὺς ἔχειν καὶ τούτους ἀλογηθῆναι συμβήσεται 25 πιστώσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ διὰ πλειόνων τὸν ὁρισμὸν ἀποκαταστῆσαι τούτους ἀπημάντους ἀπέλυσαν αὐτὸν ἕνεκα τῆς τῶν ἀδελφῶν σωτηρίας

17 It needed a march of ninety-five miles to bring them to Charax, where the Jews were whom they call Tubianaeans. 18 Yet could they not come up with Timotheus; he had retired, with nothing achieved, leaving a strong garrison in one of the forts there; 19 which garrison of his, ten thousand strong, was destroyed by two of Machabaeus’ captains, Dositheus and Sosipater. 20 Machabaeus himself, with six thousand men at his heels, divided into companies, pressed on against Timotheus, that had a hundred and twenty thousand foot, and two thousand five hundred horse, under his command. 21 At the news of Judas’ coming, Timotheus was fain to send on women, children, and stores, to Carnion, an impregnable fortress and one difficult of approach, so narrow the pass was. 22 And now the first of Judas’ companies came in sight, and with it the presence of the all-seeing God.[3] What fear fell upon the enemy, how they scattered in flight, stumbling over their own fellows, wounded by the point of their own swords! 23 And all the while Judas pressed them hard, the scourge of ill-doers; thirty thousand of them that day he slaughtered. 24 As for Timotheus, he fell into the hands of another force, under Dositheus and Sosipater; of these he begged earnestly for his life, telling them of Jewish hostages in his keeping, their own fathers and brothers, that would get no quarter if he came by his death. 25 Many were the pledges he gave, covenanting for the restoration of these hostages, and at last, for love of their brethren, they let him go free.

17 Inde discesserunt stadia septingenta quinquaginta, et venerunt in Characa ad eos, qui dicuntur Tubianæi, Judæos: 18 et Timotheum quidem in illis locis non comprehenderunt, nulloque negotio perfecto regressus est, relicto in quodam loco firmissimo præsidio. 19 Dositheus autem et Sosipater, qui erant duces cum Machabæo, peremerunt a Timotheo relictos in præsidio, decem millia viros. 20 At Machabæus, ordinatis circum se sex millibus, et constitutis per cohortes, adversus Timotheum processit, habentem secum centum viginti millia peditum, equitumque duo millia quingentos. 21 Cognito autem Judæ adventu, Timotheus præmisit mulieres et filios, et reliquum apparatum, in præsidium quod Carnion dicitur: erat enim inexpugnabile, et accessu difficile propter locorum angustias. 22 Cumque cohors Judæ prima apparuisset, timor hostibus incussus est ex præsentia Dei, qui universa conspicit: et in fugam versi sunt alius ab alio, ita ut magis a suis dejicerentur, et gladiorum suorum ictibus debilitarentur. 23 Judas autem vehementer instabat puniens profanos, et prostravit ex eis triginta millia virorum. 24 Ipse vero Timotheus incidit in partes Dosithei et Sosipatris: et multis precibus postulabat ut vivus dimitteretur, eo quod multorum ex Judæis parentes haberet ac fratres, quos morte ejus decipi eveniret. 25 Et cum fidem dedisset restituturum se eos secundum constitutum, illæsum eum dimiserunt propter fratrum salutem.

26 ἐξελθὼν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ Καρνιον καὶ τὸ Ατεργατειον κατέσφαξεν μυριάδας σωμάτων δύο καὶ πεντακισχιλίους 27 μετὰ δὲ τὴν τούτων τροπὴν καὶ ἀπώλειαν ἐπεστράτευσεν καὶ ἐπὶ Εφρων πόλιν ὀχυράν ἐν ᾗ κατῴκει Λυσίας καὶ πάμφυλα πλήθη νεανίαι δὲ ῥωμαλέοι πρὸ τῶν τειχέων καθεστῶτες εὐρώστως ἀπεμάχοντο ἔνθα δὲ ὀργάνων καὶ βελῶν πολλαὶ παραθέσεις ὑπῆρχον 28 ἐπικαλεσάμενοι δὲ τὸν δυνάστην τὸν μετὰ κράτους συντρίβοντα τὰς τῶν πολεμίων ἀλκὰς ἔλαβον τὴν πόλιν ὑποχείριον κατέστρωσαν δὲ τῶν ἔνδον εἰς μυριάδας δύο πεντακισχιλίους 29 ἀναζεύξαντες δὲ ἐκεῖθεν ὥρμησαν ἐπὶ Σκυθῶν πόλιν ἀπέχουσαν ἀπὸ Ιεροσολύμων σταδίους ἑξακοσίους 30 ἀπομαρτυρησάντων δὲ τῶν ἐκεῖ καθεστώτων Ιουδαίων ἣν οἱ Σκυθοπολῖται ἔσχον πρὸς αὐτοὺς εὔνοιαν καὶ ἐν τοῖς τῆς ἀτυχίας καιροῖς ἥμερον ἀπάντησιν 31 εὐχαριστήσαντες καὶ προσπαρακαλέσαντες καὶ εἰς τὰ λοιπὰ πρὸς τὸ γένος εὐμενεῖς εἶναι παρεγενήθησαν εἰς Ιεροσόλυμα τῆς τῶν ἑβδομάδων ἑορτῆς οὔσης ὑπογύου

26 Judas went on to Carnion, where the enemy lost twenty-five thousand men, 27 routed and slain; thence to Ephron, a fortified city, where stout warriors of many different breeds manned the walls most valiantly, well provided with engines and weapons. 28 Yet strength is none can hold its own against the Omnipotent; to him the Jews made appeal, and so took the city, killing twenty-five thousand of the defenders. 29 And thence to Scythopolis, at seventy-five miles’ distance from Jerusalem; 30 but here the Jews themselves bore witness, how kindly their neighbours used them, and how honourably they carried themselves even in troublous times. 31 Thanking all such, and desiring them they would continue their good offices towards the Jewish folk, the army returned to Jerusalem, to keep the festival of the Weeks.

26 Judas autem egressus est ad Carnion, interfectis viginti quinque millibus. 27 Post horum fugam et necem, movit exercitum ad Ephron civitatem munitam, in qua multitudo diversarum gentium habitabat: et robusti juvenes pro muris consistentes fortiter repugnabant: in hac autem machinæ multæ et telorum erat apparatus. 28 Sed cum Omnipotentem invocassent, qui potestate sua vires hostium confringit, ceperunt civitatem: et ex eis qui intus erant, viginti quinque millia prostraverunt. 29 Inde ad civitatem Scytharum abierunt, quæ ab Jerosolymis sexcentis stadiis aberat. 30 Contestantibus autem his, qui apud Scythopolitas erant, Judæis, quod benigne ab eis haberentur, etiam temporibus infelicitatis quod modeste secum egerint: 31 gratias agentes eis, et exhortati etiam de cetero erga genus suum benignos esse, venerunt Jerosolymam die solemni septimanarum instante.

32 μετὰ δὲ τὴν λεγομένην πεντηκοστὴν ὥρμησαν ἐπὶ Γοργίαν τὸν τῆς Ιδουμαίας στρατηγόν 33 ἐξῆλθεν δὲ μετὰ πεζῶν τρισχιλίων ἱππέων δὲ τετρακοσίων 34 παραταξαμένους δὲ συνέβη πεσεῖν ὀλίγους τῶν Ιουδαίων 35 Δοσίθεος δέ τις τῶν τοῦ Βακήνορος ἔφιππος ἀνὴρ καὶ καρτερός εἴχετο τοῦ Γοργίου καὶ λαβόμενος τῆς χλαμύδος ἦγεν αὐτὸν εὐρώστως καὶ βουλόμενος τὸν κατάρατον λαβεῖν ζωγρίαν τῶν ἱππέων τινὸς Θρᾳκῶν ἐπενεχθέντος αὐτῷ καὶ τὸν ὦμον καθελόντος διέφυγεν ὁ Γοργίας εἰς Μαρισα 36 τῶν δὲ περὶ τὸν Εσδριν ἐπὶ πλεῖον μαχομένων καὶ κατακόπων ὄντων ἐπικαλεσάμενος Ιουδας τὸν κύριον σύμμαχον φανῆναι καὶ προοδηγὸν τοῦ πολέμου 37 καταρξάμενος τῇ πατρίῳ φωνῇ τὴν με{Q'} ὕμνων κραυγὴν ἐνσείσας ἀπροσδοκήτως τοῖς περὶ τὸν Γοργίαν τροπὴν αὐτῶν ἐποιήσατο

32 Then, after Pentecost, they marched away to meet Gorgias, that was in command of Idumaea;[4] 33 it was but a muster of three thousand foot and four hundred horse.[5] 34 Battle was joined, and some few Jews fell. 35 As for Gorgias, one Dositheus, a great warrior that was in Bacenor’s company of horse, kept close on his heels and would have taken him alive; but one of the Thracian horsemen fell upon him and cut off his arm at the shoulder, so Gorgias escaped safe to Maresa. 36 A long fight Esdrin’s company had of it, and were full weary, when Judas called upon the Lord to succour them and lead them onwards, 37 battle-hymn and battle-cry raising in his own language; and so he put Gorgias’ army to the rout.

32 Et post Pentecosten abierunt contra Gorgiam præpositum Idumææ. 33 Exivit autem cum peditibus tribus millibus, et equitibus quadringentis. 34 Quibus congressis, contigit paucos ruere Judæorum. 35 Dositheus vero quidam de Bacenoris eques, vir fortis, Gorgiam tenebat: et, cum vellet illum capere vivum, eques quidam de Thracibus irruit in eum, humerumque ejus amputavit: atque ita Gorgias effugit in Maresa. 36 At illis qui cum Esdrim erant diutius pugnantibus et fatigatis, invocavit Judas Dominum adjutorem et ducem belli fieri: 37 incipiens voce patria, et cum hymnis clamorem extollens, fugam Gorgiæ militibus incussit.

38 Ιουδας δὲ ἀναλαβὼν τὸ στράτευμα ἧκεν εἰς Οδολλαμ πόλιν τῆς δὲ ἑβδομάδος ἐπιβαλλούσης κατὰ τὸν ἐθισμὸν ἁγνισθέντες αὐτόθι τὸ σάββατον διήγαγον 39 τῇ δὲ ἐχομένῃ ἦλθον οἱ περὶ τὸν Ιουδαν κα{Q'} ὃν χρόνον τὸ τῆς χρείας ἐγεγόνει τὰ σώματα τῶν προπεπτωκότων ἀνακομίσασθαι καὶ μετὰ τῶν συγγενῶν ἀποκαταστῆσαι εἰς τοὺς πατρῴους τάφους 40 εὗρον δὲ ἑκάστου τῶν τεθνηκότων ὑπὸ τοὺς χιτῶνας ἱερώματα τῶν ἀπὸ Ιαμνείας εἰδώλων ἀ{F'} ὧν ὁ νόμος ἀπείργει τοὺς Ιουδαίους τοῖς δὲ πᾶσι σαφὲς ἐγένετο διὰ τήνδε τὴν αἰτίαν τούσδε πεπτωκέναι 41 πάντες οὖν εὐλογήσαντες τὰ τοῦ δικαιοκρίτου κυρίου τὰ κεκρυμμένα φανερὰ ποιοῦντος 42 εἰς ἱκετείαν ἐτράπησαν ἀξιώσαντες τὸ γεγονὸς ἁμάρτημα τελείως ἐξαλειφθῆναι ὁ δὲ γενναῖος Ιουδας παρεκάλεσε τὸ πλῆθος συντηρεῖν αὑτοὺς ἀναμαρτήτους εἶναι ὑ{P'} ὄψιν ἑωρακότας τὰ γεγονότα διὰ τὴν τῶν προπεπτωκότων ἁμαρτίαν 43 ποιησάμενός τε κα{T'} ἀνδρολογίαν εἰς ἀργυρίου δραχμὰς δισχιλίας ἀπέστειλεν εἰς Ιεροσόλυμα προσαγαγεῖν περὶ ἁμαρτίας θυσίαν πάνυ καλῶς καὶ ἀστείως πράττων ὑπὲρ ἀναστάσεως διαλογιζόμενος 44 εἰ μὴ γὰρ τοὺς προπεπτωκότας ἀναστῆναι προσεδόκα περισσὸν καὶ ληρῶδες ὑπὲρ νεκρῶν εὔχεσθαι 45 εἶτ{E'} ἐμβλέπων τοῖς με{T'} εὐσεβείας κοιμωμένοις κάλλιστον ἀποκείμενον χαριστήριον 46 ὁσία καὶ εὐσεβὴς ἡ ἐπίνοια ὅθεν περὶ τῶν τεθνηκότων τὸν ἐξιλασμὸν ἐποιήσατο τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀπολυθῆναι

38 And now, recalling his men from the pursuit, he made his way to the city of Adollam; the week had gone round, and here, duly cleansed from defilement, they kept the sabbath. 39 Next day, with Judas at their head, they went back to recover the bodies of the slain, for burial among their own folk in their fathers’ graves; 40 and what found they? Each of the fallen was wearing, under his shirt, some token carried away from the false gods of Jamnia. Here was defiance of the Jewish law, and none doubted it was the cause of their undoing; 41 none but praised the Lord for his just retribution, that had brought hidden things to light; 42 and so they fell to prayer, pleading that the sin might go unremembered. Judas himself, their gallant commander, gave public warning to his men, of fault they should evermore keep clear, with the fate of these transgressors under their eyes. 43 Then he would have contribution made; a sum of twelve thousand silver pieces he levied, and sent it to Jerusalem, to have sacrifice made there for the guilt of their dead companions. Was not this well done and piously? Here was a man kept the resurrection ever in mind; 44 he had done fondly and foolishly indeed, to pray for the dead, if these might rise no more, that once were fallen! 45 And these had made a godly end; could he doubt, a rich recompense awaited them? 46 A holy and wholesome thought it is to pray for the dead, for their guilt’s undoing.

38 Judas autem collecto exercitu venit in civitatem Odollam: et cum septima dies superveniret, secundum consuetudinem purificati, in eodem loco sabbatum egerunt. 39 Et sequenti die venit cum suis Judas, ut corpora prostratorum tolleret, et cum parentibus poneret in sepulchris paternis. 40 Invenerunt autem sub tunicis interfectorum de donariis idolorum quæ apud Jamniam fuerunt, a quibus lex prohibet Judæos: omnibus ergo manifestum factum est, ob hanc causam eos corruisse. 41 Omnes itaque benedixerunt justum judicium Domini, qui occulta fecerat manifesta: 42 atque ita ad preces conversi, rogaverunt ut id quod factum erat delictum oblivioni traderetur. At vero fortissimus Judas hortabatur populum conservare se sine peccato, sub oculis videntes quæ facta sunt pro peccatis eorum qui prostrati sunt. 43 Et facta collatione, duodecim millia drachmas argenti misit Jerosolymam offerri pro peccatis mortuorum sacrificium, bene et religiose de resurrectione cogitans 44 (nisi enim eos qui ceciderant resurrecturos speraret, superfluum videretur et vanum orare pro mortuis), 45 et quia considerabat quod hi qui cum pietate dormitionem acceperant, optimam haberent repositam gratiam. 46 Sancta ergo et salubris est cogitatio pro defunctis exorare, ut a peccatis solvantur.

[1] For Timotheus, see note on 10.37.

[2] The mention of Timotheus and of the Arabs would suggest that this incident took place beyond Jordan, rather than in the Jamnia neighbourhood. It seems possible there is a gap in the text.

[3] The Greek implies that the divine presence was in some way visibly manifested.

[4] ‘Idumaea’ is probably a copyist’s error for ‘Jamnia’; the context seems to indicate that this engagement was fought in the Philistine country.

[5] ‘It was but a muster of’; literally, ‘And he marched out with’, but who? Grammatically it should be Gorgias, but most commentators think Judas is referred to.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd