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ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Δ | 4 MACCABEES - Brenton|RSV | Reference |
| 1 | προσέτι καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν αἰκισμὸν ἐποτρύνοντες, ὡς μὴ μόνον τῶν ἀλγηδόνων περιφρονῆσαι αὐτούς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν τῆς φιλαδελφίας παθῶν κρατῆσαι. |
Furthermore, they encouraged them to face the torture, so that they not only despised their agonies, but also mastered the emotions of brotherly love. | |
| 2 | Ὦ βασιλέων λογισμοὶ βασιλικώτεροι καὶ ἐλευθέρων ἐλευθερώτεροι. |
O reason, more royal than kings and freer than the free! | |
| 3 | ὦ ἱερᾶς καὶ εὐαρμόστου περὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀδελφῶν συμφωνίας. |
O sacred and harmonious concord of the seven brothers on behalf of religion! | |
| 4 | οὐδεῖς ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ μειρακίων ἐδειλίασεν οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸν θάνατον ὤκνησεν, |
None of the seven youths proved coward or shrank from death, | |
| 5 | ἀλλὰ πάντες ὥσπερ ἐπ' ἀθανασίας ὁδὸν τρέχοντες ἐπὶ τὸν διὰ τῶν βασάνων θάνατον ἔσπευδον. |
but all of them, as though running the course toward immortality, hastened to death by torture. | |
| 6 | καθάπερ αἱ χεῖρες καὶ οἱ πόδες συμφώνως τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς ἀφηγήμασιν κινοῦνται, οὕτως οἱ ἱεροὶ μείρακες ἐκεῖνοι ὡς ὑπὸ ψυχῆς ἀθανάτου τῆς εὐσεβείας πρὸς τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς συνεφώνησαν θάνατον. |
Just as the hands and feet are moved in harmony with the guidance of the mind, so those holy youths, as though moved by an immortal spirit of devotion, agreed to go to death for its sake. | |
| 7 | ὦ πανάγιε συμφώνων ἀδελφῶν ἑβδομάς. καθάπερ γὰρ ἑπτὰ τῆς κοσμοποιίας ἡμέραι περὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν, |
O most holy seven, brothers in harmony! For just as the seven days of creation move in choral dance around religion, | |
| 8 | οὕτως περὶ τὴν ἑβδομάδα χορεύοντες οἱ μείρακες ἐκύκλουν τὸν τῶν βασάνων φόβον καταλύοντες. |
so these youths, forming a chorus, encircled the sevenfold fear of tortures and dissolved it. | |
| 9 | νῦν ἡμεῖς ἀκούοντες τὴν θλῖψιν τῶν νεανιῶν ἐκείνων φρίττομεν· οἱ δὲ οὐ μόνον ὁρῶντες, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ μόνον ἀκούοντες τὸν παραχρῆμα ἀπειλῆς λόγον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσχοντες ἐνεκαρτέρουν, καὶ τοῦτο ταῖς διὰ πυρὸς ὀδύναις· |
Even now, we ourselves shudder as we hear of the tribulations of these young men; they not only saw what was happening, yes, not only heard the direct word of threat, but also bore the sufferings patiently, and in agonies of fire at that. | |
| 10 | ὧν τί γένοιτο ἐπαλγέστερον; ὀξεῖα γὰρ καὶ σύντομος οὖσα ἡ τοῦ πυρὸς δύναμις ταχέως διέλυεν τὰ σώματα. |
What could be more excruciatingly painful than this? For the power of fire is intense and swift, and it consumed their bodies quickly. | |
| 11 | Καὶ μὴ θαυμαστὸν ἡγεῖσθε εἰ ὁ λογισμὸς περιεκράτησε τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκείνων ἐν ταῖς βασάνοις, ὅπου γε καὶ γυναικὸς νοῦς πολυτροπωτέρων ὑπερεφρόνησεν ἀλγηδόνων· |
Do not consider it amazing that reason had full command over these men in their tortures, since the mind of woman despised even more diverse agonies, | |
| 12 | ἡ μήτηρ γὰρ τῶν ἑπτὰ νεανίσκων ὑπήνεγκεν τὰς ἐφ' ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν τέκνων στρέβλας. |
for the mother of the seven young men bore up under the rackings of each one of her children. | |
| 13 | θεωρεῖτε δὲ πῶς πολύπλοκός ἐστιν ἡ τῆς φιλοτεκνίας στοργὴ ἕλκουσα πάντα πρὸς τὴν τῶν σπλάγχνων συμπάθειαν, |
Observe how complex is a mother's love for her children, which draws everything toward an emotion felt in her inmost parts. | |
| 14 | ὅπου γε καὶ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα ὁμοίαν τὴν εἰς τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν γεννώμενα συμπάθειαν καὶ στοργὴν ἔχει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. |
Even unreasoning animals, like mankind, have a sympathy and parental love for their offspring. | |
| 15 | καὶ γὰρ τῶν πετεινῶν τὰ μὲν ἥμερα κατὰ τὰς οἰκίας ὀροφοιτοῦντα προασπίζει τῶν νεοττῶν, |
For example, among birds, the ones that are tame protect their young by building on the housetops, | |
| 16 | τὰ δὲ κατὰ κορυφὰς ὀρέων καὶ φαράγγων ἀπορρῶγας καὶ δένδρων ὀπὰς καὶ τὰς τούτων ἄκρας ἐννοσσοποιησάμενα ἀποτίκτει καὶ τὸν προσιόντα κωλύει· |
and the others, by building in precipitous chasms and in holes and tops of trees, hatch the nestlings and ward off the intruder. | |
| 17 | εἰ δὲ καὶ μὴ δύναιντο κωλύειν, περιιπτάμενα κυκλόθεν αὐτῶν ἀλγοῦντα τῇ στοργῇ ἀνακαλούμενα τῇ ἰδίᾳ φωνῇ, καθ' ὃ δύναται, βοηθεῖ τοῖς τέκνοις. |
If they are not able to keep him away, they do what they can to help their young by flying in circles around them in the anguish of love, warning them with their own calls. | |
| 18 | καὶ τί δεῖ τὴν διὰ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ἐπιδεικνύναι πρὸς τὰ τέκνα συμπάθειαν, |
And why is it necessary to demonstrate sympathy for children by the example of unreasoning animals, | |
| 19 | ὅπου γε καὶ μέλισσαι περὶ τὸν τῆς κηρογονίας καιρὸν ἐπαμύνονται τοὺς προσιόντας καὶ καθάπερ σιδήρῳ τῷ κέντρῳ πλήσσουσι τοὺς προσιόντας τῇ νοσσιᾷ αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπαμύνουσιν ἕως θανάτου; |
since even bees at the time for making honeycombs defend themselves against intruders as though with an iron dart sting those who approach their hive and defend it even to the death? | |
| 20 | ἀλλ' οὐχὶ τὴν Αβρααμ ὁμόψυχον τῶν νεανίσκων μητέρα μετεκίνησεν συμπάθεια τέκνων. |
But sympathy for her children did not sway the mother of the young men; she was of the same mind as Abraham. | |
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