|
| | Revised Standard Version | 4 Maccabees:8 | LXX |
|
|
| 1 |
For this is why even the very young, by following a philosophy in accordance with devout reason, have prevailed over the most painful instruments of torture. | | Διὰ τοῦτό γέ τοι καὶ μειρακίσκοι τῷ τῆς εὐσεβείας λογισμῷ φιλοσοφοῦντες χαλεπωτέρων βασανιστηρίων ἐπεκράτησαν. |
| 2 |
For when the tyrant was conspicuously defeated in his first attempt, being unable to compel an aged man to eat defiling foods, then in violent rage he commanded that others of the Hebrew captives be brought, and that any who ate defiling food should be freed after eating, but if any were to refuse, these should be tortured even more cruelly. | | ἐπειδὴ γὰρ κατὰ τὴν πρώτην πεῖραν ἐνικήθη περιφανῶς ὁ τύραννος μὴ δυνηθεὶς ἀναγκάσαι γέροντα μιαροφαγῆσαι, τότε δὴ σφόδρα περιπαθῶς ἐκέλευσεν ἄλλους ἐκ τῆς λείας τῶν Εβραίων ἀγαγεῖν, καὶ εἰ μὲν μιαροφαγήσαιεν, ἀπολύειν φαγόντας, εἰ δ' ἀντιλέγοιεν, πικρότερον βασανίζειν. |
| 3 |
When the tyrant had given these orders, seven brothers - handsome, modest, noble, and accomplished in every way - were brought before him along with their aged mother. | | ταῦτα διαταξαμένου τοῦ τυράννου, παρῆσαν ἀγόμενοι μετὰ γεραιᾶς μητρὸς ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοὶ καλοί τε καὶ αἰδήμονες καὶ γενναῖοι καὶ ἐν παντὶ χαρίεντες. |
| 4 |
When the tyrant saw them, grouped about their mother as if in a chorus, he was pleased with them. And struck by their appearance and nobility, he smiled at them, and summoned them nearer and said, | | οὓς ἰδὼν ὁ τύραννος καθάπερ ἐν χορῷ μέσην τὴν μητέρα περιέχοντας ἥσθετο ἐπ' αὐτοῖς καὶ τῆς εὐπρεπείας ἐκπλαγεὶς καὶ τῆς εὐγενείας προσεμειδίασεν αὐτοῖς καὶ πλησίον καλέσας ἔφη |
| 5 |
"Young men, I admire each and every one of you in a kindly manner, and greatly respect the beauty and the number of such brothers. Not only do I advise you not to display the same madness as that of the old man who has just been tortured, but I also exhort you to yield to m and enjoy my friendship. | | Ὦ νεανίαι, φιλοφρόνως ἐγὼ καθ' ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ὑμῶν θαυμάζω, τὸ κάλλος καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τοσούτων ἀδελφῶν ὑπερτιμῶν οὐ μόνον συμβουλεύω μὴ μανῆναι τὴν αὐτὴν τῷ προβασανισθέντι γέροντι μανίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρακαλῶ συνείξαντάς μοι τῆς ἐμῆς ἀπολαύειν φιλίας· |
| 6 |
Just as I am able to punish those who disobey my orders, so I can be a benefactor to those who obey me. | | δυναίμην δ' ἂν ὥσπερ κολάζειν τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντάς μου τοῖς ἐπιτάγμασιν, οὕτω καὶ εὐεργετεῖν τοὺς εὐπειθοῦντάς μοι. |
| 7 |
Trust me, then, and you will have positions of authority in my government if you will renounce the ancestral tradition of your national life. | | πιστεύσατε οὖν καὶ ἀρχὰς ἐπὶ τῶν ἐμῶν πραγμάτων ἡγεμονικὰς λήμψεσθε ἀρνησάμενοι τὸν πάτριον ὑμῶν τῆς πολιτείας θεσμόν· |
| 8 |
And enjoy your youth by adopting the Greek way of life and by changing your manner of living. | | καὶ μεταλαβόντες Ἑλληνικοῦ βίου καὶ μεταδιαιτηθέντες ἐντρυφήσατε ταῖς νεότησιν ὑμῶν· |
| 9 |
But if by disobedience you rouse my anger, you will compel me to destroy each and every one of you with dreadful punishments through tortures. | | ἐπεί, ἐὰν ὀργίλως με διάθησθε διὰ τῆς ἀπειθείας, ἀναγκάσετέ με ἐπὶ δειναῖς κολάσεσιν ἕνα ἕκαστον ὑμῶν διὰ τῶν βασάνων ἀπολέσαι. |
| 10 |
Therefore take pity on yourselves. Even I, your enemy, have compassion for your youth and handsome appearance. | | κατελεήσατε οὖν ἑαυτούς, οὓς καὶ ὁ πολέμιος ἔγωγε καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας καὶ τῆς εὐμορφίας οἰκτίρομαι. |
| 11 |
Will you not consider this, that if you disobey, nothing remains for you but to die on the rack?" | | οὐ διαλογιεῖσθε τοῦτο, ὅτι οὐδὲν ὑμῖν ἀπειθήσασιν πλὴν τοῦ μετὰ στρεβλῶν ἀποθανεῖν ἀπόκειται; |
| 12 |
When he had said these things, he ordered the instruments of torture to be brought forward so as to persuade them out of fear to eat the defiling food. | | Ταῦτα δὲ λέγων ἐκέλευσεν εἰς τὸ ἔμπροσθεν τιθέναι τὰ βασανιστήρια, ὅπως καὶ διὰ τοῦ φόβου πείσειεν αὐτοὺς μιαροφαγῆσαι. |
| 13 |
And when the guards had placed before them wheels and joint-dislocators, rack and hooks and catapults and caldrons, braziers and thumbscrews and iron claws and wedges and bellows, the tyrant resumed speaking: | | ὡς δὲ τροχούς τε καὶ ἀρθρέμβολα, στρεβλωτήριά τε καὶ τροχαντῆρας καὶ καταπέλτας καὶ λέβητας, τήγανά τε καὶ δακτυλήθρας καὶ χεῖρας σιδηρᾶς καὶ σφῆνας καὶ τὰ ζώπυρα τοῦ πυρὸς οἱ δορυφόροι προέθεσαν, ὑπολαβὼν ὁ τύραννος ἔφη |
| 14 |
"Be afraid, young fellows, and whatever justice you revere will be merciful to you when you transgress under compulsion." | | Μειράκια, φοβήθητε, καὶ ἣν σέβεσθε δίκην, ἵλεως ὑμῖν ἔσται δι' ἀνάγκην παρανομήσασιν. |
| 15 |
But when they had heard the inducements and saw the dreadful devices, not only were they not afraid, but they also opposed the tyrant with their own philosophy, and by their right reasoning nullified his tyranny. | | Οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες ἐπαγωγὰ καὶ ὁρῶντες δεινὰ οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐφοβήθησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀντεφιλοσόφησαν τῷ τυράννῳ καὶ διὰ τῆς εὐλογιστίας τὴν τυραννίδα αὐτοῦ κατέλυσαν. |
| 16 |
Let us consider, on the other hand, what arguments might have been used if some of them had been cowardly and unmanly. Would they not have been these? | | καίτοι λογισώμεθα, εἰ δειλόψυχοί τινες ἦσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἄνανδροι, ποίοις ἂν ἐχρήσαντο λόγοις; οὐχὶ τούτοις; |
| 17 |
"O wretches that we are and so senseless! Since the king has summoned and exhorted us to accept kind treatment if we obey him, | | Ὦ τάλανες ἡμεῖς καὶ λίαν ἀνόητοι· βασιλέως ἡμᾶς καλοῦντος καὶ ἐπὶ εὐεργεσίᾳ παρακαλοῦντος, εἰ πεισθείημεν αὐτῷ, |
| 18 |
why do we take pleasure in vain resolves and venture upon a disobedience that brings death? | | τί βουλήμασιν κενοῖς ἑαυτοὺς εὐφραίνομεν καὶ θανατηφόρον ἀπείθειαν τολμῶμεν; |
| 19 |
O men and brothers, should we not fear the instruments of torture and consider the threats of torments, and give up this vain opinion and this arrogance that threatens to destroy us? | | οὐ φοβηθησόμεθα, ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί, τὰ βασανιστήρια καὶ λογιούμεθα τὰς τῶν βασάνων ἀπειλὰς καὶ φευξόμεθα τὴν κενοδοξίαν ταύτην καὶ ὀλεθροφόρον ἀλαζονείαν; |
| 20 |
Let us take pity on our youth and have compassion on our mother's age; | | ἐλεήσωμεν τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἡλικίας καὶ κατοικτίρωμεν τὸ τῆς μητρὸς γῆρας |
| 21 |
and let us seriously consider that if we disobey we are dead! | | καὶ ἐνθυμηθῶμεν ὅτι ἀπειθοῦντες τεθνηξόμεθα. |
| 22 |
Also, divine justice will excuse us for fearing the king when we are under compulsion. | | συγγνώσεται δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ ἡ θεία δίκη δι' ἀνάγκην τὸν βασιλέα φοβηθεῖσιν. |
| 23 |
Why do we banish ourselves from this most pleasant life and deprive ourselves of this delightful world? | | τί ἐξάγομεν ἑαυτοὺς τοῦ ἡδίστου βίου καὶ ἀποστεροῦμεν ἑαυτοὺς τοῦ γλυκέος κόσμου; |
| 24 |
Let us not struggle against compulsion nor take hollow pride in being put to the rack. | | μὴ βιαζώμεθα τὴν ἀνάγκην μηδὲ κενοδοξήσωμεν ἐπὶ τῇ ἑαυτῶν στρέβλῃ. |
| 25 |
Not even the law itself would arbitrarily slay us for fearing the instruments of torture. | | οὐδ' αὐτὸς ὁ νόμος ἑκουσίως ἡμᾶς θανατοῖ φοβηθέντας τὰ βασανιστήρια. |
| 26 |
Why does such contentiousness excite us and such a fatal stubbornness please us, when we can live in peace if we obey the king?" | | πόθεν ἡμῖν ἡ τοσαύτη ἐντέτηκε φιλονεικία καὶ ἡ θανατηφόρος ἀρέσκει καρτερία, παρὸν μετὰ ἀταραξίας ζῆν τῷ βασιλεῖ πεισθέντας; |
| 27 |
But the youths, though about to be tortured, neither said any of these things nor even seriously considered them. | | ἀλλὰ τούτων οὐδὲν εἶπον οἱ νεανίαι βασανίζεσθαι μέλλοντες οὐδὲ ἐνεθυμήθησαν. |
| 28 |
For they were contemptuous of the emotions and sovereign over agonies, | | ἦσαν γὰρ περίφρονες τῶν παθῶν καὶ αὐτοκράτορες τῶν ἀλγηδόνων, |
| 29 |
so that as soon as the tyrant had ceased counseling them to eat defiling food, all with one voice together, as from one mind, said: | | ὥστε ἅμα τῷ παύσασθαι τὸν τύραννον συμβουλεύοντα αὐτοῖς μιαροφαγῆσαι, πάντες διὰ μιᾶς φωνῆς ὁμοῦ ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς ψυχῆς εἶπον |
| |
|
<< | 4 Maccabees: 8 | |
|