2 Maccabees 9 #catechesis/bible/2-maccabees
[!abstract] The wretched end, and fruitless repentance of King Antiochus.
Book: 2 Maccabees · ← 2 Maccabees 8 · 2 Maccabees 10 →
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GR περὶ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον ἐτύγχανεν Ἀντίοχος ἀναλελυκὼς ἀκόσμως ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὴν Περσίδα τόπων
LA Eodem tempore, Antiochus inhoneste revertebatur de Perside.
EN At that time Antiochus returned with dishonour out of Persia.
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GR εἰσεληλύθει γὰρ εἰς τὴν λεγομένην Περσέπολιν καὶ ἐπεχείρησεν ἱεροσυλεῖν καὶ τὴν πόλιν συνέχειν διὸ δὴ τῶν πληθῶν ὁρμησάντων ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ὅπλων βοήθειαν ἐτράπησαν καὶ συνέβη τροπωθέντα τὸν Ἀντίοχον ὑπὸ τῶν ἐγχωρίων ἀσχήμονα τὴν ἀναζυγὴν ποιήσασθαι
LA Intraverat enim in eam quæ dicitur Persepolis, et tentavit expoliare templum, et civitatem opprimere: sed multitudine ad arma concurrente, in fugam versi sunt: et ita contigit ut Antiochus post fugam turpiter rediret.
EN For he had entered into the city called Persepolis, and attempted to rob the temple, and to oppress the city, but the multitude running together to arms, put them to flight: and so it fell out that Antiochus being put to flight, returned with disgrace.
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[!note]- Persepolis…
Otherwise called Elymais. Commentary on the Old Testament (1752)
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GR ὄντι δὲ αὐτῷ κατ’ Ἐκβάτανα προσέπεσεν τὰ κατὰ Νικάνορα καὶ τοὺς περὶ Τιμόθεον γεγονότα
LA Et cum venisset circa Ecbatanam, recognovit quæ erga Nicanorem et Timotheum gesta sunt.
EN Now when he had come about Ecbatana, he received the news of what had happened to Nicanor and Timotheus.
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GR ἐπαρθεὶς δὲ τῷ θυμῷ ᾤετο καὶ τὴν τῶν πεφυγαδευκότων αὐτὸν κακίαν εἰς τοὺς Ιουδαίους ἐναπερείσασθαι διὸ συνέταξεν τὸν ἁρματηλάτην ἀδιαλείπτως ἐλαύνοντα κατανύειν τὴν πορείαν τῆς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δὴ κρίσεως συνούσης αὐτῷ οὕτως γὰρ ὑπερηφάνως εἶπεν πολυάνδριον Ιουδαίων Ιεροσόλυμα ποιήσω παραγενόμενος ἐκεῖ
LA Elatus autem in ira, arbitrabatur se injuriam illorum qui se fugaverant posse in Judæos retorquere: ideoque jussit agitari currum suum sine intermissione agens iter, cælesti eum judicio perurgente, eo quod ita superbe locutus est se venturum Jerosolymam, et congeriem sepulchri Judæorum eam facturum.
EN And swelling with anger, he thought to revenge upon the Jews the injury done by them that had put him to flight. And therefore he commanded his chariot to be driven, without stopping in his journey, the judgment of heaven urging him forward, because he had spoken so proudly, that he would come to Jerusalem, and make it a common burying place of the Jews.
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GR ὁ δὲ παντεπόπτης κύριος ὁ θεὸς τοῦ Ισραηλ ἐπάταξεν αὐτὸν ἀνιάτῳ καὶ ἀοράτῳ πληγῇ ἄρτι δὲ αὐτοῦ καταλήξαντος τὸν λόγον ἔλαβεν αὐτὸν ἀνήκεστος τῶν σπλάγχνων ἀλγηδὼν καὶ πικραὶ τῶν ἔνδον βάσανοι
LA Sed qui universa conspicit Dominus Deus Israël, percussit eum insanabili et invisibili plaga. Ut enim finivit hunc ipsum sermonem, apprehendit eum dolor dirus viscerum, et amara internorum tormenta:
EN But the Lord, the God of Israel, that sees all things, struck him with an incurable and an invisible plague. For as soon as he had ended these words, a dreadful pain in his bowels came upon him, and bitter torments of the inner parts.
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GR πάνυ δικαίως τὸν πολλαῖς καὶ ξενιζούσαις συμφοραῖς ἑτέρων σπλάγχνα βασανίσαντα
LA et quidem satis juste, quippe qui multis et novis cruciatibus aliorum torserat viscera, licet ille nullo modo a sua malitia cessaret.
EN And indeed very justly, seeing he had tormented the bowels of others with many and new torments, albeit he by no means ceased from his malice.
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GR ὁ δ’ οὐδαμῶς τῆς ἀγερωχίας ἔληγεν ἔτι δὲ καὶ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας ἐπεπλήρωτο πῦρ πνέων τοῖς θυμοῖς ἐπὶ τοὺς Ιουδαίους καὶ κελεύων ἐποξύνειν τὴν πορείαν συνέβη δὲ καὶ πεσεῖν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἅρματος φερομένου ῥοίζῳ καὶ δυσχερεῖ πτώματι περιπεσόντα πάντα τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος ἀποστρεβλοῦσθαι
LA Super hoc autem superbia repletus, ignem spirans animo in Judæos, et præcipiens accelerari negotium, contigit illum impetu euntem de curru cadere, et gravi corporis collisione membra vexari.
EN Moreover, being filled with pride, breathing out fire in his rage against the Jews, and commanding the matter to be hastened, it happened as he was going with violence, that he fell from the chariot, so that his limbs were much pained by a grievous bruising of the body.
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GR ὁ δ’ ἄρτι δοκῶν τοῖς τῆς θαλάσσης κύμασιν ἐπιτάσσειν διὰ τὴν ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἀλαζονείαν καὶ πλάστιγγι τὰ τῶν ὀρέων οἰόμενος ὕψη στήσειν κατὰ γῆν γενόμενος ἐν φορείῳ παρεκομίζετο φανερὰν τοῦ θεοῦ πᾶσιν τὴν δύναμιν ἐνδεικνύμενος
LA Isque qui sibi videbatur etiam fluctibus maris imperare, supra humanum modum superbia repletus, et montium altitudines in statera appendere, nunc humiliatus ad terram in gestatorio portabatur, manifestam Dei virtutem in semetipso contestans:
EN Thus he that seemed to himself to command even the waves of the sea, being proud above the condition of man, and to weigh the heights of the mountains in a balance, now being cast down to the ground, was carried in a litter, bearing witness to the manifest power of God in himself:
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GR ὥστε καὶ ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς σκώληκας ἀναζεῖν καὶ ζῶντος ἐν ὀδύναις καὶ ἀλγηδόσιν τὰς σάρκας αὐτοῦ διαπίπτειν ὑπὸ δὲ τῆς ὀσμῆς αὐτοῦ πᾶν τὸ στρατόπεδον βαρύνεσθαι τὴν σαπρίαν
LA ita ut de corpore impii vermes scaturirent, ac viventis in doloribus carnes ejus effluerent, odore etiam illius et fœtore exercitus gravaretur:
EN So that worms swarmed out of the body of this man, and whilst he lived in sorrow and pain, his flesh fell off, and the filthiness of his smell was noisome to the army.
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GR καὶ τὸν μικρῷ πρότερον τῶν οὐρανίων ἄστρων ἅπτεσθαι δοκοῦντα παρακομίζειν οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο διὰ τὸ τῆς ὀσμῆς ἀφόρητον βάρος
LA et qui paulo ante sidera cæli contingere se arbitrabatur, eum nemo poterat propter intolerantiam fœtoris portare.
EN And the man that thought a little before he could reach to the stars of heaven, no man could endure to carry, for the intolerable stench.
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GR ἐνταῦθα οὖν ἤρξατο τὸ πολὺ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας λήγειν τεθραυσμένος καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἔρχεσθαι θείᾳ μάστιγι κατὰ στιγμὴν ἐπιτεινόμενος ταῖς ἀλγηδόσιν
LA Hinc igitur cœpit ex gravi superbia deductus ad agnitionem sui venire, divina admonitus plaga, per momenta singula doloribus suis augmenta capientibus.
EN And by this means, being brought from his great pride, he began to come to the knowledge of himself, being admonished by the scourge of God, his pains increasing every moment.
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GR καὶ μηδὲ τῆς ὀσμῆς αὐτοῦ δυνάμενος ἀνέχεσθαι ταῦτ’ ἔφη δίκαιον ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ θεῷ καὶ μὴ θνητὸν ὄντα ἰσόθεα φρονεῖν
LA Et cum nec ipse jam fœtorem suum ferre posset, ita ait: Justum est subditum esse Deo, et mortalem non paria Deo sentire.
EN And when he himself could not now abide his own stench, he spoke thus: It is just to be subject to God, and that a mortal man should not equal himself to God.
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GR ηὔχετο δὲ ὁ μιαρὸς πρὸς τὸν οὐκέτι αὐτὸν ἐλεήσοντα δεσπότην οὕτως λέγων
LA Orabat autem hic scelestus Dominum, a quo non esset misericordiam consecuturus.
EN Then this wicked man prayed to the Lord, of whom he was not like to obtain mercy.
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[!note]- Of whom he was not like to obtain mercy…
Because his repentance was not for the offence committed against God: but barely on account of his present sufferings. Commentary on the Old Testament (1752)
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GR τὴν μὲν ἁγίαν πόλιν ἣν σπεύδων παρεγίνετο ἰσόπεδον ποιῆσαι καὶ πολυάνδριον οἰκοδομῆσαι ἐλευθέραν ἀναδεῖξαι
LA Et civitatem, ad quam festinans veniebat ut eam ad solum deduceret ac sepulchrum congestorum faceret, nunc optat liberam reddere:
EN And the city, to which he was going in haste to lay it even with the ground, and to make it a common burying place, he now desires to make free:
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GR τοὺς δὲ Ιουδαίους οὓς διεγνώκει μηδὲ ταφῆς ἀξιῶσαι οἰωνοβρώτους δὲ σὺν τοῖς νηπίοις ἐκρίψειν θηρίοις πάντας αὐτοὺς ἴσους Ἀθηναίοις ποιήσειν
LA et Judæos, quos nec sepultura quidem se dignos habiturum, sed avibus ac feris diripiendos traditurum, et cum parvulis exterminaturum dixerat, æquales nunc Atheniensibus facturum pollicetur:
EN And the Jews, whom he said he would not account worthy to be so much as buried, but would give them up to be devoured by the birds and wild beasts, and would utterly destroy them with their children, he now promises to make equal with the Athenians.
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GR ὃν δὲ πρότερον ἐσκύλευσεν ἅγιον νεὼ καλλίστοις ἀναθήμασιν κοσμήσειν καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ σκεύη πολυπλάσια πάντα ἀποδώσειν τὰς δὲ ἐπιβαλλούσας πρὸς τὰς θυσίας συντάξεις ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων προσόδων χορηγήσειν
LA templum etiam sanctum, quod prius expoliaverat, optimis donis ornaturum, et sancta vasa multiplicaturum, et pertinentes ad sacrificia sumptus de redditibus suis præstaturum:
EN The holy temple also, which before he had spoiled, he promised to adorn with goodly gifts, and to multiply the holy vessels, and to allow out of his revenues the charges pertaining to the sacrifices.
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GR πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ Ιουδαῖον ἔσεσθαι καὶ πάντα τόπον οἰκητὸν ἐπελεύσεσθαι καταγγέλλοντα τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κράτος
LA super hæc, et Judæum se futurum, et omnem locum terræ perambulaturum, et prædicaturum Dei potestatem.
EN Yea also, that he would become a Jew himself, and would go through every place of the earth, and declare the power of God.
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GR οὐδαμῶς δὲ ληγόντων τῶν πόνων ἐπεληλύθει γὰρ ἐπ’ αὐτὸν δικαία ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ κρίσις τὰ κατ’ αὐτὸν ἀπελπίσας ἔγραψεν πρὸς τοὺς Ιουδαίους τὴν ὑπογεγραμμένην ἐπιστολὴν ἱκετηρίας τάξιν ἔχουσαν περιέχουσαν δὲ οὕτως
LA Sed non cessantibus doloribus (supervenerat enim in eum justum Dei judicium), desperans scripsit ad Judæos in modum deprecationis epistolam hæc continentem:
EN But his pains not ceasing, (for the just judgment of God had come upon him) despairing of life, he wrote to the Jews, in the manner of a supplication, a letter in these words:
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GR τοῖς χρηστοῖς Ιουδαίοις τοῖς πολίταις πολλὰ χαίρειν καὶ ὑγιαίνειν καὶ εὖ πράττειν βασιλεὺς καὶ στρατηγὸς Ἀντίοχος
LA Optimis civibus Judæis plurimam salutem, et bene valere, et esse felices, rex et principes Antiochus.
EN To his very good subjects the Jews, Antiochus, king and ruler, wishes much health, and welfare, and happiness.
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GR εἰ ἔρρωσθε καὶ τὰ τέκνα καὶ τὰ ἴδια κατὰ γνώμην ἐστὶν ὑμῖν εἰς οὐρανὸν τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχων
LA Si bene valetis, et filii vestri, et ex sententia vobis cuncta sunt, maximas agimus gratias.
EN If you and your children are well, and if all matters go with you to your mind, we give very great thanks.
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GR ὑμῶν τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν εὔνοιαν ἐμνημόνευον φιλοστόργως ἐπανάγων ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Περσίδα τόπων καὶ περιπεσὼν ἀσθενείᾳ δυσχέρειαν ἐχούσῃ ἀναγκαῖον ἡγησάμην φροντίσαι τῆς κοινῆς πάντων ἀσφαλείας
LA Et ego in infirmitate constitutus, vestri autem memor benigne reversus de Persidis locis, et infirmitate gravi apprehensus, necessarium duxi pro communi utilitate curam habere:
EN As for me, being infirm, but yet kindly remembering you, returning out of the places of Persia, and being taken with a grievous disease, I thought it necessary to take care for the common good:
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GR οὐκ ἀπογινώσκων τὰ κατ’ ἐμαυτόν ἀλλὰ ἔχων πολλὴν ἐλπίδα ἐκφεύξεσθαι τὴν ἀσθένειαν
LA non desperans memetipsum, sed spem multam habens effugiendi infirmitatem.
EN Not distrusting my life, but having great hope to escape the sickness.
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GR θεωρῶν δὲ ὅτι καὶ ὁ πατήρ καθ’ οὓς καιροὺς εἰς τοὺς ἄνω τόπους ἐστρατοπέδευσεν ἀνέδειξεν τὸν διαδεξάμενον
LA Respiciens autem quod et pater meus, quibus temporibus in locis superioribus ducebat exercitum, ostendit qui post se susciperet principatum:
EN But considering that my father also, at what time he led an army into the higher countries, appointed who should reign after him:
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GR ὅπως ἐάν τι παράδοξον ἀποβαίνῃ ἢ καὶ προσαγγελθῇ τι δυσχερές εἰδότες οἱ κατὰ τὴν χώραν ᾧ καταλέλειπται τὰ πράγματα μὴ ἐπιταράσσωνται
LA ut si quid contrarium accideret, aut difficile nuntiaretur, scientes hi qui in regionibus erant, cui esset rerum summa derelicta, non turbarentur.
EN To the end that if anything contrary to expectation should fall out, or any bad tidings should be brought, they that were in the countries, knowing to whom the whole government was left, might not be troubled.
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GR πρὸς δὲ τούτοις κατανοῶν τοὺς παρακειμένους δυνάστας καὶ γειτνιῶντας τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῖς καιροῖς ἐπέχοντας καὶ προσδοκῶντας τὸ ἀποβησόμενον ἀναδέδειχα τὸν υἱὸν Ἀντίοχον βασιλέα ὃν πολλάκις ἀνατρέχων εἰς τὰς ἐπάνω σατραπείας τοῖς πλείστοις ὑμῶν παρεκατετιθέμην καὶ συνίστων γέγραφα δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν τὰ ὑπογεγραμμένα
LA Ad hæc, considerans de proximo potentes quosque et vicinos temporibus insidiantes, et eventum exspectantes, designavi filium meum Antiochum regem, quem sæpe recurrens in superiora regna multis vestrum commendabam: et scripsi ad eum quæ subjecta sunt.
EN Moreover, considering that neighbouring princes, and borderers, wait for opportunities, and expect what shall be the event, I have appointed my son, Antiochus, king, whom I often recommended to many of you, when I went into the higher provinces: and I have written to him what I have joined here below.
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GR παρακαλῶ οὖν ὑμᾶς καὶ ἀξιῶ μεμνημένους τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν κοινῇ καὶ κατ’ ἰδίαν ἕκαστον συντηρεῖν τὴν οὖσαν εὔνοιαν εἰς ἐμὲ καὶ τὸν υἱόν
LA Ora itaque vos, et peto memores beneficiorum publice et privatim, ut unusquisque conservet fidem ad me et ad filium meum.
EN I pray you, therefore, and request of you, that, remembering favours both public and private, you will every man of you continue to be faithful to me and to my son.
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GR πέπεισμαι γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐπιεικῶς καὶ φιλανθρώπως παρακολουθοῦντα τῇ ἐμῇ προαιρέσει συμπεριενεχθήσεσθαι ὑμῖν
LA Confido enim eum modeste et humane acturum, et sequentem propositum meum, et communem vobis fore.
EN For I trust that he will behave with moderation and humanity, and following my intentions, will be gracious unto you.
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GR ὁ μὲν οὖν ἀνδροφόνος καὶ βλάσφημος τὰ χείριστα παθών ὡς ἑτέρους διέθηκεν ἐπὶ ξένης ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν οἰκτίστῳ μόρῳ κατέστρεψεν τὸν βίον
LA Igitur homicida et blasphemus pessime percussus, et ut ipse alios tractaverat, peregre in montibus miserabili obitu vita functus est.
EN Thus the murderer and blasphemer being grievously struck, as himself had treated others, died a miserable death in a strange country, among the mountains.
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GR παρεκομίζετο δὲ τὸ σῶμα Φίλιππος ὁ σύντροφος αὐτοῦ ὃς καὶ διευλαβηθεὶς τὸν υἱὸν Ἀντιόχου πρὸς Πτολεμαῖον τὸν Φιλομήτορα εἰς Αἴγυπτον διεκομίσθη
LA Transferebat autem corpus Philippus collactaneus ejus: qui, metuens filium Antiochi, ad Ptolemæum Philometorem in Ægyptum abiit.
EN But Philip, that was brought up with him, carried away his body: and out of fear of the son of Antiochus, went into Egypt to Ptolemee Philometor.
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