by Septuagint
[22] All this, however, they have taken in a very different spirit. With their innate malignity, they have spurned the fair offer; and constantly inclining to evil, [23] have rejected the inestimable rights. Not only so, but by using speech, and by refraining from speech, they abhor the few among them who are heartily disposed towards us; ever deeming that their ignoble course of procedure will force us to do away with our reform. [24] Having then, received certain proofs that these [Jews] bear us every sort of ill-will, we must look forward to the possibility of some sudden tumult among ourselves, when these impious men may turn traitors and barbarous enemies.
[25] As soon, therefore, as the contents of this letter become known to you, in that same hour we order those [Jews] who dwell among you, with wives and children, to be sent to us, vilified and abused, in chains of iron, to undergo a death, cruel and ignominious, suitable to men disaffected. [26] For by the punishment of them in one body we perceive that we have found the only means of establishing our affairs for the future on a firm and satisfactory basis.
[27] Whosoever shall shield a Jew, whether it be old man, child, or suckling, shall with his whole house be tortured to death. [28] Whoever shall inform against the [Jews,] besides receiving the property of the person charged, shall be presented with two thousand drachmae from the royal treasury, shall be made free, and shall be crowned.
[29] Whatever place shall shelter a Jew, shall, when he is hunted forth, be put under the ban of fire, and be for ever rendered useless to every living being for all time to come. [30] Such was the purport of the king’s letter.
Chapter 4
[1] Wherever this decree was received, the people kept up a revelry of joy and shouting; as if their long-pent-up, hardened hatred, were now to shew itself openly.
[2] The Jews suffered great throes of sorrow, and wept much; while their hearts, all things around being lamentable, were set on fire as they bewailed the sudden destruction which was decreed against them. [3] What home, or city, or place at all inhabited, or what streets were there, which their condition did not fill with wailing and lamentation?
[4] They were sent out unanimously by the generals in the several cities, with such stern and pitiless feeling, that the exceptional nature of the infliction moved even some of their enemies. These, influenced by sentiments of common humanity, and reflecting upon the uncertain issue of life, shed tears at this their miserable expulsion. [5] A multitude of aged hoary-haired old men, were driven along with halting bending feet, urged onward by the impulse of a violent, shameless force to quick speed.
[6] Girls who had entered the bridal chamber quite lately, to enjoy the partnership of marriage, exchanged pleasure for misery; and with dust scattered upon their myrrh-anointed heads, were hurried along unveiled; and, in the midst of outlandish insults, set up with one accord a lamentable cry in lieu of the marriage hymn. [7] Bound, and exposed to public gaze, they were hurried violently on board ship.
[8] The husbands of these, in the prime of their youthful vigour, instead of crowns wore halters round their necks; instead of feasting and youthful jollity, spent the rest of their nuptial days in wailings, and saw only the grave at hand. [9] They were dragged along by unyielding chains, like wild beasts: of these, some had their necks thrust into the benches of the rowers; while the feet of others were enclosed in hard fetters. [10] The planks of the deck above them barred out the light, and shut out the day on every side, so that they might be treated like traitors during the whole voyage.
[11] They were conveyed accordingly in this vessel, and at the end of it arrived at Schedia. The king had ordered them to be cast into the vast hippodrome, which was built in front of the city. This place was well adapted by its situation to expose them to the gaze of all comers into the city, and of those who went from the city into the country. Thus they could hold no communication with his forces; nay, were deemed unworthy of any civilized accommodation.
[12] When this was done, the king, hearing that their brethren in the city often went out and lamented the melancholy distress of these victims, [13] was full of rage, and commanded that they should be carefully subjected to the same (and not one whit milder) treatment. [14] The whole nation was now to be registered. Every individual was to be specified by name; not for that hard servitude of labour which we have a little before mentioned, but that he might expose them to the before-mentioned tortures; and finally, in the short space of a day, might extirpate them by his cruelties [15] The registering of these men was carried on cruelly, zealously, assiduously, from the rising of the sun to its going down, and was not brought to an end in forty days.
[16] The king was filled with great and constant joy, and celebrated banquets before the temple idols. His erring heart, far from the truth, and his profane mouth, gave glory to idols, deaf and incapable of speaking or aiding, and uttered unworthy speech against the Greatest God.
[17] At the end of the above-mentioned interval of time, the registrars brought word to the king that the multitude of the Jews was too great for registration, [18] inasmuch as there were many still left in the land, of whom some were in inhabited houses, and others were scattered about in various places; so that all the commanders in Egypt were insufficient for the work. [19] The king threatened them, and charged them with taking bribes, in order to contrive the escape of the Jews: but was clearly convinced of the truth of what had been said. [20] They said, and proved, that paper and pens had failed them for the carrying out of their purpose. [21] Now this was an active interference of the unconquerable Providence which assisted the Jews from heaven.
Chapter 5
[1] Then he called Hermon, who had charge of the elephants. Full of rage, altogether fixed in his furious design, [2] he commanded him, with a quantity of unmixed wine and handfuls of incense [infused] to drug the elephants early on the following day. These five hundred elephants were, when infuriated by the copious draughts of frankincense, to be led up to the execution of death upon the Jews. [3] The king, after issuing these orders, went to his feasting, and gathered together all those of his friends and of the army who hated the Jews the most.
[4] The master of the elephants, Hermon, fulfilled his commission punctually. [5] The underlings appointed for the purpose went out about eventide and bound the hands of the miserable victims, and took other precautions for their security at night, thinking that the whole race would perish together.
[6] The heathen believed the Jews to be destitute of all protection; for chains fettered them about. [7] they invoked the Almighty Lord, and ceaselessly besought with tears their merciful God and Father, Ruler of all, Lord of every power, [8] to overthrow the evil purpose which was gone out against them, and to deliver them by extraordinary manifestation from that death which was in store for them. [9] Their litany so earnest went up to heaven.
[10] Then Hermon, who had filled his merciless elephants with copious draughts of mingled wine and frankincense, came early to the palace to certify the kind thereof. [11] He, however, who has sent his good creature sleep from all time by night or by day thus gratifying whom he wills, diffused a portion thereof now upon the king. [12] By this sweet and profound influence of the Lord he was held fast, and thus his unjust purpose was quite frustrated, and his unflinching resolve greatly falsified.
[13] But the Jews, having escaped the hour which had been fixed, praised their holy God, and again prayed him who is easily reconciled to display the power of his powerful hand to the overweening Gentiles. [14] The middle of the tenth hour had well nigh arrived, when the master- bidder, seeing the guests who were bidden collected, came and shook the king. [15] He gained his attention with difficulty, and hinting that the mealtime was getting past, talked the matter over with him.
[16] The kind listened to this, and then turning aside to his potations, commanded the guests to sit down before him. [17] This done, he asked them to enjoy themselves, and to indulge in mirth at this somewhat late hour of the banquet. [18] Conversation grew on, and the king sent for Hermon, an
d enquired of him, with fierce denunciations, why the Jews had been allowed to outlive that day. [19] Hermon explained that he had done his bidding over night; and in this he was confirmed by his friends. [20] The king, then, with a barbarity exceeding that of Phalaris, said, That they might thank his sleep of that day. Lose no time, and get ready the elephants against tomorrow, as you did before, for the destruction of these accursed Jews.
[21] When the king said this, the company present were glad, and approved; and then each man went to his own home. [22] Nor did they employ the night in sleep, so much as in contriving cruel mockeries for those deemed miserable.
[23] The morning cock had just crowed, and Hermon, having harnessed the brutes, was stimulating them in the great colonnade. [24] The city crowds were collected together to see the hideous spectacle, and waited impatiently for the dawn. [25] The Jews, breathless with momentary suspense, stretched forth their hands, and prayed the Greatest God, in mournful strains, again to help them speedily.
[26] The sun’s rays were not yet shed abroad, and the king was waiting for his friends, when Hermon came to him, calling him out, and saying, That his desires could now be realized. [27] The king, receiving him, was astonished at his unwonted exit; and, overwhelmed with a spirit of oblivion about everything, enquired the object of this earnest preparation. [28] But this was the wroking of that Almighty God who had made him forget all his purpose.
[29] Hermon, and all his friends, pointed out the preparation of the animals. they are ready, O king, according to your own strict injunction. [30] The king was filled with fierce anger at these words; for, by the Providence of God regarding these things, his mind had become entirely confused. He looked hard at Hermon, and threatened him as follows: [31] Your parents, or your children, were they here, to these wild beasts a large repast they should have furnished; not these innocent Jews, who me and my forefathers loyally have served. [32] Had it not been for familar friendship, and the claims of your office, your life should have gone for theirs.
[33] Hermon, being threatened in this unexpected and alarming manner, was troubled in visage, and depressed in countenance. [34] The friends, too, stole out one by one, and dismissed the assembled multitudes to their respective occupations. [35] The Jews, having heard of these events, praised the glorious God and King of kings, because they had obtained this help, too, from him.
[36] Now the king arranged another banquet after the same manner, and proclaimed an invitation to mirth. [27] And he summoned Hermon to his presence, and said, with threats, How often, O wretch, must I repeat my orders to thee about these same persons? [28] Once more, arm the elephants against the morrow for the extermination of the Jews.
[39] His kinsmen, who were reclining with him, wondered at his instability, and thus expressed themselves: [40] O king, how long dost thou make trial of us, as of men bereft of reason? This is the third time that thou hast ordered their destruction. When the thing is to be done, thou changest thy mind, and recallest thy instructions. [41] For this cause the feeling of expectation causes tumult in the city: it swarms with factions; and is continually on the point of being plundered.
[42] The king, just like another Phalaris, a prey to thoughtlessness, made no account of the changes which his own mind had undergone, issuing in the deliverance of the Jews. He swore a fruitless oath, and determined forthwith to send them to hades, crushed by the knees and feet of the elephants. [43] He would also invade Judea, and level its towns with fire and the sword; and destroy that temple which the heathen might not enter, and prevent sacrifices ever after being offered up there.
[44] Joyfully his friends broke up, together with his kinsmen; and, trusting in his determination, arranged their forces in guard at the most convenient places of the city. [45] And the master of the elephants urged the beasts into an almost maniacal state, drenched them with incense and wine, and decked them with frightful instruments.
[46] About early morning, when the city was now filled with an immense number of people at the hippodrome, he entered the palace, and called the king to the business in hand. [47] The king’s heart teemed with impious rage; and he rushed forth with the mass, along with the elephants. With feelings unsoftened, and eyes pitiless, he longed to gaze at the hard and wretched doom of the abovementioned [Jews].
[48] But the [Jews,] when the elephants went out at the gate, followed by the armed force; and when they saw the dust raised by the throng, and heard the loud cries of the crowd, [49] thought that they had come to the last moment of their lives, to the end of what they had tremblingly expected. They gave way, therefore, to lamentations and moans: they kissed each other: those nearest of kin to each other hung about one another’s necks: fathers about their sons, mother their daughters: other women held their infants to their breasts, which drew what seemed their last milk.
[50] Nevertheless, when they reflected upon the succour before granted them from heaven, they prostrated themselves with one accord; removed even the sucking children from the breasts, and [51] sent up an exceeding great cry entreating the Lord of all power to reveal himself, and have mercy upon those who now lay at the gates of hades.
Chapter 6
[1] And Eleazar, an illustrious priest of the country, who had attained to length of day, and whose life had been adorned with virtue, caused the presbyters who were about him to cease to cry out to the holy God, and prayed thus:
[2] O king, mighty in power, most high, Almighty God, who regulates the whole creation with thy tender mercy, [3] look upon the seed of Abraham, upon the children of the sanctified Jacob, thy sanctified inheritance, O Father, now being wrongfully destroyed as strangers in a strange land.
[4] Thou destroyedst Pharaoh, with his hosts of chariots, when that lord of this same Egypt was uplifted with lawless hardihood and loud-sounding tongue. Shedding the beams of thy mercy upon the race of Israel, thou didst overwhelm him with his proud army. [5] When Sennacherim, the grievous king of the Assyrians, glorying in his countless hosts, had subdued the whole land with his spear, and was lifting himself against thine holy city, with boastings grievous to be endured, thou, O Lord, didst demolish him and didst shew forth thy might to many nations. [6] When the three friends in the land of Babylon of their own will exposed their lives to the fire rather than serve vain things, thou didst send a dewy coolness through the fiery furnace, and bring the fire upon all their adversaries. [7] It was thou who, when Daniel was hurled, through slander and envy, as a prey to lions down below, didst bring him back against unhurt to light. [8] When Jonah was pining away in the belly of the sea-bred monster, thou didst look upon him, O Father, and recover him to the sight of his own.
[9] And now, thou who hatest insolence; thou who dost abound in mercy; thou who art the protector of all things; appear quickly to those of the race of Israel, who are insulted by abhorred, lawless gentiles. [10] If our life has during our exile been stained with iniquity, deliver us from the hand of the enemy, and destroy us, O Lord, by the death which thou preferrest.
[11] Let not the vain-minded congratulate vain idols at the destruction of thy beloved, saying, Neither did their god deliver them. [12] Thou, who art All-powerful and Almighty, O Eternal One, behold! have mercy upon us who are being withdrawn from life, like traitors, by the unreasoning insolence of lawless men. [13] Let the heathen cower before thine invincible might today, O glorious One, who hast all power to save the race of Jacob. [14] The whole band of infants and their parents with tears beseech thee. [15] Let it be shewn to all the nations that thou art with us, O Lord, and hast not turned thy face away from us; but as thou saidst that thou wouldst not forget them even in the land of their enemies, so do thou fulfil this saying, O Lord.
[16] Now, at the time that Eleazar had ended his prayer, the king came along to the hippodrome, with the wild beasts, and with his tumultuous power. [17] When the Jews saw this, they uttered a loud cry to heaven, so that the adjacent valleys resounded, and caused an irrepressible lamentation throughout the army.
[18] The
n the all-glorious, all-powerful, and true God, displayed his holy countenance, and opened the gates of heaven, from which two angels, dreadful of form, came down and were visible to all but the Jews. [19] And they stood opposite, and filled the enemies’ host with confusion and cowardice; and bound them with immoveable fetters. [20] And a cold shudder came over the person of the king, and oblivion paralysed the vehemence of his spirit. [21] They turned back the animals upon the armed forces which followed them; and the animals trod them down, and destroyed them.
[22] The king’s wrath was converted into compassion; and he wept at his own machinations. [23] For when he heard the cry, and saw them all on the verge of destruction, with tears he angrily threatened his friends, saying, [24] Ye have governed badly; and have exceeded tyrants in cruelty; and me your benefactor ye have laboured to deprive at once of my dominion and my life, by secretly devising measures injurious to the kingdom. [25] Who has gathered here, unreasonably removing each from his home, those who, in fidelity to us, had held the fortresses of the country? [26] Who has thus consigned to unmerited punishments those who in good will towards us from the beginning have in all things surpassed all nations, and who often have engaged in the most dangerous undertakings?
[27] Loose, loose the unjust bonds; send them to their homes in peace, and deprecate what has been done. [28] Release the sons of the almighty living God of heaven, who from our ancestors’ times until now has granted a glorious and uninterrupted prosperity to our affairs.
