Textorah

1 Maccabees 11

1
Καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου ἤθροισε δυνάμεις πολλὰς, ὡς τὴν ἄμμον τὴν περὶ τὸ χεῖλος τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ πλοῖα πολλά· καὶ ἐζήτησε κατακρατῆσαι τῆς βασιλείας Ἀλεξάνδρου δόλῳ, καὶ προσθεῖναι αὐτὴν τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὑτοῦ.
And the king of Egypt gathered together a great host, like the sand that lieth upon the sea shore, and many ships, and went about through deceit to get Alexander’s kingdom, and join it to his own.
2
Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν εἰς Συρίαν λόγοις εἰρηνικοῖς, καὶ ἤνοιγον αὐτῷ οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων, καὶ συνήντων αὐτῷ, ὅτι ἐντολὴ ἦν Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ βασιλέως συναντᾷν αὐτῷ, διὰ τὸ πενθερὸν αὐτοῦ εἶναι,
Whereupon he took his journey into Syria in peaceable manner, so as they of the cities opened unto him, and met him: for King Alexander had commanded them so to do, because he was his father-in-law.
3
Ὡς δὲ εἰσεπορεύετο εἰς τὰς πόλεις Πτολεμαῖος, ἀπέτασσε τὰς δυνάμεις φρουρὰν ἐν ἑκάστῃ πόλει.
Now as Ptolemy entered into the cities, he set in every one of them a garrison of soldiers to keep it.
4
Ὡς δὲ ἤγγισεν Ἀζώτου, ἔδειξαν αὐτῷ τὸ ἱερὸν Δαγὼν ἐμπεπυρισμένον, καὶ Ἄζωτον, καὶ τὰ περιπόλια αὐτῆς καθῃρημένα, καὶ τὰ σώματα ἐῤῥιμμένα, καὶ τοὺς ἐμπεπυρισμένους οὓς ἐνεπύρισεν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ· ἐποίησαν γὰρ θημωνίας αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ αὐτοῦ.
And when he came near to Azotus, they showed him the temple of Dagon that was burned, and Azotus and the suburbs thereof that were destroyed, and the bodies that were cast abroad, and them that he had burned in the battle: for they had made heaps of them by the way where he should pass.
5
Καὶ διηγήσαντο τῷ βασιλεῖ ἃ ἐποίησεν Ἰωνάθαν, εἰς τὸ ψογῆσαι αὐτόν· καὶ ἐσίγησεν ὁ βασιλεύς.
Also they told the king whatsoever Jonathan had done, to the intent he might blame him: but the king held his peace.
6
Καὶ συνήντησεν Ἰωνάθαν τῷ βασιλεῖ εἰς Ἰόππην μετὰ δόξης, καὶ ἠσπάσαντο ἀλλήλους, καὶ ἐκοιμήθησαν ἐκεῖ.
Then Jonathan met the king with great pomp at Joppa, where they saluted one another, and lodged.
7
Καὶ ἐπορεύθη Ἰωνάθαν μετὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἕως τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ καλουμένου Ἐλευθέρου, καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ.
Afterward Jonathan, when he had gone with the king to the river called Eleutherus, returned again to Jerusalem.
8
Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος ἐκυρίευσε τῶν πόλεων τῆς παραλίας ἕως Σελευκίας τῆς παραθαλασσίας, καὶ διελογίζετο περὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου λογισμοὺς πονηρούς.
King Ptolemy therefore, having gotten the dominion of the cities by the sea unto Seleucia upon the sea coast, imagined wicked counsels against Alexander.
9
Καὶ ἀπέστειλε πρέσβεις πρὸς Δημήτριον τὸν βασιλέα, λέγων, δεῦρο συνθώμεθα πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς διαθήκην, καὶ δώσω σοι τὴν θυγατέρα μου ἣν ἔχει Ἀλέξανδρος, καὶ βασιλεύσεις τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ πατρός σου.
Whereupon he sent ambassadors unto King Demetrius, saying, Come, let us make a league between us, and I will give thee my daughter whom Alexander hath, and thou shalt reign in thy father’s kingdom:
10
Μεταμεμέλημαι γὰρ δοὺς αὐτῷ τὴν θυγατέρα μου, ἐζήτησε γὰρ ἀποκτεῖναί με.
for I repent that I gave my daughter unto him, for he sought to slay me.
11
Καὶ ἐψόγησεν αὐτὸν χάριν τοῦ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτὸν τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ·
Thus did he slander him, because he was desirous of his kingdom.
12
Καὶ ἀφελόμενος αὐτοῦ τὴν θυγατέρα, ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν τῷ Δημητρίῳ, καὶ ἠλλοιώθη τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου, καὶ ἐφάνη ἡ ἔχθρα αὐτῶν.
Wherefore he took his daughter from him, and gave her to Demetrius, and forsook Alexander, so that their hatred was openly known.
13
Καὶ εἰσῆλθε Πτολεμαῖος εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν, καὶ περιέθετο δύο διαδήματα περὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ, τὸ τῆς Ἀσίας καὶ Αἰγύπτου.
Then Ptolemy entered into Antioch, where he set two crowns upon his head, the crown of Asia, and of Egypt.
14
Ἀλέξανδρος δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἦν ἐν Κιλικίᾳ κατὰ τοὺς καιροὺς ἐκείνους, ὅτι ἀπεστάτουν οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν τόπων ἐκείνων.
In the mean season was King Alexander in Cilicia, because those that dwelt in those parts had revolted from him.
15
Καὶ ἤκουσεν Ἀλέξανδρος, καὶ ἦλθεν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν πολέμῳ· καὶ ἐξήγαγε Πτολεμαῖος τὴν δύναμιν, καὶ ἀπήντησεν αὐτῷ ἐν χειρὶ ἰσχυρᾷ, καὶ ἐτροπώσατο αὐτόν.
But when Alexander heard of this, he came to war against him: whereupon [king] Ptolemy brought forth his host, and met him with a mighty power, and put him to flight.
16
Καὶ ἔφυγεν Ἀλέξανδρος εἰς τὴν Ἀραβίαν, τοῦ σκεπασθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ· ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος ὑψώθη.
So Alexander fled into Arabia, there to be defended; but King Ptolemy was exalted:
17
Καὶ ἀφειλε Ζαβδιὴλ ὁ Ἄραψ τὴν κεφαλὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου, καὶ ἀπέστειλε τῷ Πτολεμαίῳ.
for Zabdiel the Arabian took off Alexander’s head, and sent it unto Ptolemy.
18
Καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος ἀπέθανεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ, καὶ οἱ ὄντες ἐν τοῖς ὀχυρώμασιν ἀπώλοντο ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὀχυρώμασι.
King Ptolemy also died the third day after, and they that were in the strongholds were slain one of another.
19
Καὶ ἐβασίλευσε Δημήτριος ἔτους ἑβδόμου καὶ ἑξηκοστοῦ καὶ ἑκατοστοῦ.
By this means Demetrius reigned in the hundred threescore and seventh year.
20
Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις συνήγαγεν Ἰωνάθαν τοὺς ἐκ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, τοῦ ἐκπολεμῆσαι τὴν ἄκραν τὴν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἐποίησεν ἐπʼ αὐτὴν μηχανὰς πολλάς.
At the same time Jonathan gathered together them that were in Judea, to take the tower that was in Jerusalem: and he made many engines of war against it.
21
Καὶ ἐπορεύθησάν τινες μισοῦντες τὸ ἔθνος αὐτῶν, ἄνδρες παράνομοι, πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ ἀπήγγειλαν αὐτῷ ὅτι Ἰωνάθαν περικάθηται τὴν ἄκραν.
Then certain ungodly persons, who hated their own people, went unto the king, and told him that Jonathan besieged the tower.
22
Καὶ ἀκούσας ὠργίσθη· ὡς δὲ ἤκουσεν, εὐθέως ἀναζεύξας ἦλθεν εἰς Πτολεμαΐδα, καὶ ἔγραψεν Ἰωνάθαν, τοῦ μὴ περικαθῆσθαι τῇ ἄκρᾳ, καὶ τοῦ ἀπαντῆσαι αὐτὸν αὐτῷ συνμίσγειν εἰς Πτολεμαΐδα τὴν ταχίστην.
Whereof when he heard, he was angry, and immediately removing, he came to Ptolemais, and wrote unto Jonathan, that he should not lay siege to the tower, but come and speak with him at Ptolemais in great haste.
23
Ὡς δὲ ἤκουσεν Ἰωνάθαν, ἐκέλευσε περικαθῆσθαι, καὶ ἐπέλεξε τῶν πρεσβυτέρων Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τῶν ἱερέων, καὶ ἔδωκεν ἑαυτὸν τῷ κινδύνῳ.
Nevertheless Jonathan, when he heard this, commanded to besiege it [still]: and he chose certain of the elders of Israel and the priests, and put himself in peril;
24
Καὶ λαβὼν ἀργύριον, καὶ χρυσίον, καὶ ἱματισμὸν, καὶ ἕτερα ξένια πλείονα, ἐπορεύθη πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα εἰς Πτολεμαΐδα, καὶ εὗρε χάριν ἑνώτιον αὐτοῦ.
and took silver and gold, and raiment, and diverse presents besides, and went to Ptolemais unto the king, where he found favor in his sight.
25
Καὶ ἐνετύγχανον κατʼ αὐτοῦ τινὲς ἄνομοι τῆς ἐκ τοῦ ἔθνους.
And though certain ungodly men of the people had made complaints against him,
26
Καὶ ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς καθὼς ἐποίησαν αὐτῷ οἱ πρὸ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὕψωσεν αὐτὸν ἐναντίον πάντων τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ.
yet the king entreated him as his predecessors had done before, and promoted him in the sight of all his friends,
27
Καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτῷ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα εἶχε τίμια τοπρότερον, καὶ ἐποίησεν αὐτὸν τῶν πρώτων φίλων ἡγεῖσθαι.
and confirmed him in the high priesthood, and in all the honors that he had before, and gave him preeminence among his chief friends.
28
Καὶ ἠξίωσεν Ἰωνάθαν τὸν βασιλέα ποιῆσαι τὴν Ἰουδαίαν ἀφορολόγητον, καὶ τὰς τρεῖς τοπαρχίας, καὶ τὴν Σαμαρεῖτιν, καὶ ἐπηγγείλατο αὐτῷ τάλαντα τριακόσια.
Then Jonathan desired the king, that he would make Judea free from tribute, as also the three governments, with the country of Samaria; and he promised him three hundred talents.
29
Καὶ εὐδόκησεν ὁ βασιλεύς, καὶ ἔγραψε τῷ Ἰωνάθαν ἐπιστολὰς περὶ πάντων τούτων ἐχούσας τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον·
So the king consented, and wrote letters unto Jonathan of all these things after this manner:
30
Βασιλεὺς Δημήτριος Ἰωνάθαν τῷ ἀδελφῷ χαίρειν, καὶ ἔθνει Ἰουδαίων.
King Demetrius unto his brother Jonathan, and unto the nation of the Jews, sendeth greeting:
31
Τὸ ἀντίγραφον τῆς ἐπιστολῆς ἧς ἐγράψαμεν Λασθένει τῷ συγγενεῖ ἡμῶν περὶ ὑμῶν, γεγράφαμεν καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς. ὅπως εἰδῆτε.
We send you here a copy of the letter which we did write unto our cousin Lasthenes concerning you, that ye might see it.
32
Βασιλεὺς Δημήτριος Λασθένει τῷ πατρὶ χαίρειν.
King Demetrius unto his father Lasthenes sendeth greeting:
33
Τῷ ἔθνει τῶν Ἰουδαίων φίλοις ἡμῶν καὶ συντηροῦσι τὰ πρὸς ἡμᾶς δίκαια ἐκρίναμεν ἀγαθοποιῆσαι, χάριν τῆς ἑξ αὐτῶν εὐνοίας πρὸς ἡμᾶς.
We are determined to do good to the people of the Jews, who are our friends, and keep covenants with us, because of their good will toward us.
34
Ἑστάκαμεν οὖν αὐτοῖς τὰ τε ὅρια τῆς Ἰουδαίας, καὶ τοὺς τρεῖς νομοὺς, Ἀφαίρεμα, καὶ Λύδδαν, καὶ Ῥαμαθὲμ, αἵτινες προσετέθησαν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ἀπὸ τῆς Σαμαρείτιδος, καὶ πάντα τὰ συγκυροῦντα αὐτοῖς πᾶσι τοῖς θυσιάζουσιν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, ἀντὶ τῶν βασιλικῶν ὧν ἐλάμβανεν ὁ βασιλεὺς παρʼ αὐτῶν τοπρότερον κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν ἀπὸ τῶν γεννημάτων τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀκροδρύων.
Wherefore we have ratified unto them the borders of Judea, with the three governments of Aphairema and Lydda and Rathamin, that are added unto Judea from the country of Samaria, and all things appertaining unto them, for all such as do sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the payments which the king received of them yearly aforetime out of the fruits of the earth and of trees.
35
Καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ ἀνήκοντα ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν τῶν δεκατῶν, καὶ τῶν τελῶν τῶν ἀνηκόντων ἡμῖν, καὶ τὰς τοῦ ἁλὸς λίμνας, καὶ τοὺς ἀνήκοντας ἡμῖν στεφάνους, πάντα ἐπαρκῶς παρίεμεν αὐτοῖς.
And as for other things that belong unto us, of the tithes and customs pertaining unto us, as also the saltpits, and the crown taxes, which are due unto us, we discharge them of them all for their relief.
36
Καὶ οὐκ ἀθετηθήσεται οὐδὲ ἓν τούτων ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον.
And nothing hereof shall be revoked from this time forth forever.
37
Νῦν οὖν ἐπιμέλεσθε τοῦ ποιῆσαι τούτων ἀντίγραφον· καὶ δοθήτω Ἰωνάθαν, καὶ τεθήτω ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ ἐν τόπῳ ἐπισήμῳ.
Now therefore see that thou make a copy of these things, and let it be delivered unto Jonathan, and set upon the holy mount in a conspicuous place.
38
Καὶ εἶδε Δημήτριος ὁ βασιλεὺς ὅτι ἡσύχασεν ἡ γῆ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτῷ ἀνθειστήκει, καὶ ἀπέλυσε πάσας τὰς δύναμεις αὐτοῦ ἕκαστον εἰς τὸν ἴδιον τόπον, πλὴν τῶν ξένων δυνάμεων ὧν ἐξενολόγησεν ἀπὸ τῶν νήσων τῶν ἐθνῶν· καὶ ἤχθραναν αὐτῷ πᾶσαι αἱ δυνάμεις τῶν πατέρων αὐτοῦ.
After this, when King Demetrius saw that the land was quiet before him, and that no resistance was made against him, he sent away all his forces, every one to his own place, except certain bands of strangers, whom he had gathered from the isles of the heathen: wherefore all the forces of his fathers hated him.
39
Τρύφων δὲ ἦν τῶν παρὰ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοπρότερον, καὶ εἶδεν ὅτι πᾶσαι αἱ δυνάμεις καταγογγύζουσι τοῦ Δημητρίου, καὶ ἐπορεύθη πρὸς Εἰμαλκουαὶ τὸν Ἄραβα, ὃς ἔτρεφε τὸν Ἀντίοχον τὸ παιδάριον τὸ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου·
Moreover there was one Trypho, that had been of Alexander’s part afore, who, seeing that all the host murmured against Demetrius, went to Imalkue the Arabian, that brought up Antiochus the young son of Alexander,
40
καὶ προσήδρευεν αὐτῷ, ὅπως παραδοῖ αὐτὸν αὐτῷ, ὅπως βασιλεύσῃ ἀντὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτῷ ὅσα συνετέλεσε Δημήτριος, καὶ τὴν ἔχθραν ἣν ἐχθραίνουσιν αὐτῷ αἱ δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἔμεινεν ἐκεῖ ἡμέρας πολλάς.
and lay sore upon him to deliver him [this young Antiochus], that he might reign in his father’s stead: he told him therefore all that Demetrius had done, and how his men of war were at enmity with him, and there he remained a long season.
41
Καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ἰωνάθαν πρὸς Δημήτριον τὸν βασιλέα, ἵνα ἐκβάλῃ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς ἄκρας ἐξ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ὀχυρώμασιν, ἦσαν γὰρ πολεμοῦντες τὸν Ἰσραήλ.
In the mean time Jonathan sent unto King Demetrius, that he would cast those of the tower out of Jerusalem, and those also in the fortresses: for they fought against Israel.
42
Καὶ ἀπέστειλε Δημήτριος πρὸς Ἰωνάθαν, λέγων, οὐ μόνον ταῦτα ποιήσω σοι καὶ τῷ ἔθνει σου, ἀλλὰ δόξῃ δοξάσω σε καὶ τὸ ἔθνος σου, ἐὰν εὐκαιρίας τύχω.
So Demetrius sent unto Jonathan, saying, I will not only do this for thee and thy people, but I will greatly honor thee and thy nation, if opportunity serve.
43
Νῦν οὖν ὀρθῶς ποιήσεις ἀποστείλας μοι ἄνδρας οἳ συμμαχήσουσιν, ὅτι ἀπέστησαν πᾶσαι αἱ δυνάμεις μου.
Now therefore thou shalt do well, if thou send me men to help me; for all my forces are gone from me.
44
Καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ἰωνάθαν ἄνδρας τρισχιλίους δυνατοὺς ἰσχύϊ αὐτῷ εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν, καὶ ἤλθοσαν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ εὐφράνθη ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τῇ ἐφόδῳ αὐτῶν.
Upon this Jonathan sent him three thousand strong men unto Antioch: and when they came to the king, the king was very glad of their coming.
45
Καὶ ἐπισυνήχθησαν οἱ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως εἰς μέσον τῆς πόλεως εἰς ἀνδρῶν δώδεκα μυριάδας, καὶ ἠβούλοντο ἀνελεῖν τὸν βασιλέα.
Howbeit they that were of the city gathered themselves together into the midst of the city, to the number of a hundred and twenty thousand men, and would have slain the king.
46
Καὶ ἔφυγεν ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν αὐλὴν, καὶ κατελάβοντο οἱ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως τὰς διόδους τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ἤρξαντο πολεμεῖν.
Wherefore the king fled into the court, but they of the city kept the passages of the city, and began to fight.
47
Καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἐπὶ βοήθειαν, καὶ ἐπισυνήχθησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν πάντες ἅμα· καὶ διεσπάρησαν ἐν τῇ πόλει πάντες ἅμα· καὶ ἀπέκτειναν ἐν τῇ πόλει τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ εἰς μυριάδας δέκα.
Then the king called to the Jews for help, who came unto him all at once, and dispersing themselves through the city slew that day in the city to the number of a hundred thousand.
48
Καὶ ἐνεπύρισαν τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ἐλάβοσαν σκῦλα πολλὰ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, καὶ ἔσωσαν τὸν βασιλέα.
Also they set fire on the city, and got many spoils that day, and delivered the king.
49
Καὶ ἴδον οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ὅτι κατεκράτησαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τῆς πόλεως, ὡς ἠβούλοντο, καὶ ἠσθένησαν ταῖς διανοίαις αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐκέκραξαν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα μετὰ δεήσεως, λέγοντες,
So when they of the city saw that the Jews had gotten the city as they would, their courage was abated: wherefore they made supplication to the king, and cried, saying,
50
δὸς ἡμῖν δεξιὰς, καὶ παυσάσθωσαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι πολεμοῦντες ἡμᾶς καὶ τὴν πόλιν.
Grant us peace, and let the Jews cease from assaulting us and the city.
51
Καὶ ἔῤῥιψαν τὰ ὅπλα, καὶ ἐποίησαν εἰρήνην· καὶ ἐδοξάσθησαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐναντίον τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ ἐνώπιον πάντων τῶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπέστρεψαν εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἔχοντες σκῦλα πολλά.
With that they cast away their weapons, and made peace; and the Jews were honored in the sight of the king, and in the sight of all that were in his realm; and they returned to Jerusalem, having great spoils.
52
Καὶ ἐκάθισε Δημήτριος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ θρόνου τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἡσύχασεν ἡ γῆ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ.
So King Demetrius sat on the throne of his kingdom, and the land was quiet before him.
53
Καὶ ἐψεύσατο πάντα ὅσα εἶπε, καὶ ἠλλοτριώθη τῷ Ἰωνάθαν, καὶ οὐκ ἀνταπέδωκε κατὰ τὰς εὐνοίας ἃς ἀνταπέδωκεν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἔθλιβεν αὐτὸν σφόδρα.
Nevertheless he dissembled in all that ever he spoke, and estranged himself from Jonathan, neither rewarded he him according to the benefits which he had received of him, but troubled him very sore.
54
Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἀπέστρεψε Τρύφων καὶ Ἀντίοχος μετʼ αὐτοῦ παιδάριον νεώτερον· καὶ ἐβασίλευσε καὶ ἐπέθετο διάδημα.
After this returned Trypho, and with him the young child Antiochus, who reigned, and was crowned.
55
Καὶ ἐπισυνήχθησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν πᾶσαι αἱ δυνάμεις ἃς ἀπεσκόρπισε Δημήτριος, καὶ ἐπολέμησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ ἔφυγε καὶ ἐτροπώθη.
Then there gathered unto him all the men of war, whom Demetrius had put away, and they fought against Demetrius, who turned his back and fled.
56
Καὶ ἔλαβε Τρύφων τὰ θηρία, καὶ κατεκράτησεν Ἀντιοχείας
Moreover Trypho took the elephants, and won Antioch.
57
Καὶ ἔγραψεν Ἀντίοχος ὁ νεώτερος τῷ Ἰωνάθαν, λέγων. ἵστημί σοι τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην, καὶ καθίστημί σε ἐπὶ τῶν τεσσάρων νομῶν, καὶ εἶναί σε τῶν φίλων τοῦ βασιλέως.
At that time young Antiochus wrote unto Jonathan, saying, I confirm thee in the high priesthood, and appoint thee ruler over the four governments, and to be one of the king’s friends.
58
Καὶ ἀπέστειλεν αὐτῷ χρυσώματα καὶ διακονίαν, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ἐξουσίαν πίνειν ἐν χρυσώμασι, καὶ εἶναι ἐν πορφύρᾳ, καὶ ἔχειν πόρπην χρυσῆν.
Upon this he sent him golden vessels to be served in, and gave him leave to drink in gold, and to be clothed in purple, and to wear a golden buckle.
59
Καὶ Σίμωνα τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ κατέστησε στρατηγὸν ἀπὸ τῆς κλίμακος Τύρου ἕως τῶν ὁρίων Αἰγύπτου.
His brother Simon also he made captain from the place called The ladder of Tyre unto the borders of Egypt.
60
Καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ἰωνάθαν, καὶ διεπορεύετο πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ, καὶ ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι, καὶ ἠθροίσθησαν πρὸς αὐτὸν πᾶσαι αἱ δυνάμεις Συρίας εἰς συμμαχίαν, καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς Ἀσκάλωνα, καὶ ἀπήντησαν αὐτῷ οἱ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐνδόξως.
Then Jonathan went forth, and passed through the cities beyond the water, and all the forces of Syria gathered themselves unto him for to help him: and when he came to Ascalon, they of the city met him honorably.
61
Καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ἐκεῖθεν εἰς Γάζαν, καὶ ἀπέκλεισαν οἱ ἀπὸ Γάζης, καὶ περιεκάθισε περὶ αὐτὴν, καὶ ἐνεπύρισε τὰ περιπόλια αὐτῆς πυρὶ, καὶ ἐσκύλευσεν αὐτά.
From whence he went to Gaza, but they of Gaza shut him out; wherefore he laid siege unto it, and burned the suburbs thereof with fire, and spoiled them.
62
Καὶ ἠξίωσαν οἱ ἀπὸ Γάζης τὸν Ἰωνάθαν, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς δεξιάς, καὶ ἔλαβε τοὺς υἱοὺς ἀρχόντων αὐτῶν εἰς ὅμηρα, καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ διῆλθε τὴν χώραν ἕως Δαμασκοῦ.
Afterward, when they of Gaza made supplication unto Jonathan, he made peace with them, and took the sons of their chief men for hostages, and sent them to Jerusalem, and passed through the country unto Damascus.
63
Καὶ ἤκουσεν Ἰωνάθαν ὅτι παρῆσαν οἱ ἄρχοντες Δημητρίου εἰς Κάδης τὴν ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ, μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς, βουλόμενοι μεταστῆσαι αὐτὸν τῆς χρείας.
Now when Jonathan heard that Demetrius’ princes were come to Kadesh, which is in Galilee, with a great power, purposing to remove him out of the country,
64
Καὶ συνήντησεν αὐτοῖς, τὸν δὲ ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Σίμωνα κατέλιπεν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ.
he went to meet them, and left Simon his brother in the country.
65
Καὶ παρενέβαλε Σίμων ἐπὶ Βαιθσούρα, καὶ ἐπολέμει αὐτὴν ἡμέρας πολλὰς, καὶ συνέκλεισεν αὐτήν.
Then Simon encamped against Beth-zur, and fought against it a long season, and shut it up:
66
Καὶ ἠξίωσαν αὐτὸν τοῦ δεξιὰς λαβεῖν, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐξέβαλεν αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖθεν, καὶ κατελάβετο τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ἔθετο ἐπʼ αὐτῇ φρουράν.
but they desired to have peace with him, which he granted them, and then put them out from thence, and took the city, and set a garrison in it.
67
Καὶ Ἰωνάθαν καὶ ἡ παρεμβολὴ αὐτοῦ παρενέβαλον ἐπὶ τὸ ὕδωρ Γεννησάρ, καὶ ὤρθρισαν τοπρωῒ εἰς τὸ πεδίον Νασώρ.
As for Jonathan and his host, they pitched at the water of Gennesaret, from whence betimes in the morning they got them to the plain of Hazor.
68
Καὶ ἰδοὺ παρεμβολὴ ἀλλοφύλων ἀπήντα αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ, καὶ ἐξέβαλον ἔνεδρον ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀπήντησαν ἐξεναντίας.
And, behold, the host of strangers met them in the plain, who, having laid men in ambush for him in the mountains, came themselves over against him.
69
Τὰ δὲ ἔνεδρα ἐξανέστησαν ἐκ τῶν τόπων αὐτῶν, καὶ συνῆψαν πόλεμον· καὶ ἔφυγον οἱ παρὰ Ἰωνάθαν πάντες,
So when they that lay in ambush rose out of their places, and joined battle, all that were of Jonathan’s side fled;
70
οὐδὲ εἷς κατελείφθη ἀπʼ αὐτῶν, πλὴν Ματταθίας ὁ τοῦ Ἀβεσσαλώμου, καὶ Ἰούδας ὁ τοῦ Χαλφί, ἄρχοντες τῆς στρατιᾶς τῶν δυνάμεων.
insomuch as there was not one of them left, except Mattathias the [son] of Absalom, and Judas the [son] of Chalphi, the captains of the host.
71
Καὶ διέῤῥηξεν Ἰωνάθαν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπέθηκε γῆν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ προσηύξατο.
Then Jonathan rent his clothes, and cast earth upon his head, and prayed.
72
Καὶ ὑπέστρεψε πρὸς αὐτοὺς πολέμῳ, καὶ ἐτροπώσατο αὐτούς, καὶ ἔφυγον.
Afterward turning again to battle, he put them to flight, and so they ran away.
73
Καὶ ἴδον οἱ φεύγοντες οἱ παρʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπέστρεψαν πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ ἐδίωκον μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἕως Κάδης ἕως της παρεμβολῆς αὐτῶν, καὶ παρενέβαλον ἐκεῖ.
Now when his own men that were fled saw this, they turned again unto him, and with him pursued them to Kadesh, even unto their own tents, and there they camped.
74
Καὶ ἔπεσον ἐκ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐν τῇ ἡμέρα ἐκείνῃ εἰς ἄνδρας τρισχιλίους· καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν Ἰωνάθαν εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ.
So there were slain of the heathen that day about three thousand men: but Jonathan returned to Jerusalem.

How it works

A parallel reader for the Hebrew Bible and its oldest witnesses: the Masoretic text, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint, each with an English translation where one is available.

Reading a chapter

Choose a book and chapter at the top, or type a reference into Go to (Isa 53:11, 1 Sam 3, sam 3:4, ii kgs 2, ben sira 51). Book names can be abbreviated; a name shared by numbered books (sam, kings, chr, macc) opens the first of them unless you add the number. The arrow keys move between chapters, and the address bar keeps a link to the verse you clicked, so you can bookmark or share a place.

Each row is one verse. Rows follow the Masoretic verse numbering, so the Hebrew, JPS and Samaritan columns line up exactly. The Septuagint is numbered differently in many places (Psalms, Jeremiah, Exodus 35–40, parts of Kings, Proverbs, Daniel, and dozens of chapter boundaries). Its verses are placed against their Masoretic counterparts, and a small tag such as 50:3 shows the Septuagint's own number when it differs. Greek verses that have no Masoretic counterpart (for example the Prayer of Azariah in Daniel 3) appear in reading order as separate rows marked LXX.

Columns

The chips at the top switch columns on and off. Drag a chip (or a column heading) to reorder; with a chip focused, the ← → keys move it. Your choice is remembered. The Samaritan columns appear only in Genesis–Deuteronomy; the scrolls column appears wherever a manuscript survives, including Ben Sira. Columns marked † are licensed for non-commercial use only.

Words: lexicon and concordance

Hover over any Hebrew word (Masoretic, Samaritan or scroll) or any Greek word to see its dictionary form, Strong's number, a short gloss and its grammar. Click the word to open the concordance on the right: the full lexicon entry, then every occurrence, grouped by book — for Hebrew, separately for the Masoretic text, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the scrolls (with the manuscript named). Click a reference to go there; every form of the word in the chapter is highlighted. You can also type a word or a Strong's number into Lexicon at the top.

In the Masoretic text, a Ketiv (the written form, unpointed) is shown in grey immediately before its Qere (the form read aloud); both carry the Qere's dictionary entry.

Variants

The Samaritan Pentateuch and every scroll are compared word by word with the Masoretic text of the same verse:

In the scrolls, letters in brackets are a modern editor's reconstruction and are never counted as variants; letters with a dotted overline are uncertain; ◦ is a trace of an unreadable letter. Manuscripts written in paleo-Hebrew script, and divine names that square-script scrolls write in paleo-Hebrew, are shown in paleo-Hebrew letters (switchable under Display). Hover a manuscript to see its edition. Display → Dead Sea Scrolls can hide the manuscripts that agree with the Masoretic text, or strip the reconstructions to show only what survives.

The comparison is automatic. It aligns words by spelling, so a transposition or a long rewritten passage can be marked imperfectly, and the spelling rule cannot tell a suffix from a vowel letter. Treat the colours as a finding aid and check a critical edition before building an argument on a reading.

Books outside the Hebrew Bible

Besides the Septuagint-only books, the book list has 1 Enoch and Jubilees (“Other ancient books”), shown in R. H. Charles's English with the Qumran copies beside them, and Psalms has a chapter 151. Their scroll copies — like those of Tobit and Ben Sira — have no verse numbers in the data: each fragment is placed by its published identification, and its lines are spread over those verses, so treat the exact verse boundaries as approximate. Aramaic copies (Tobit 4Q196–199 and all of Enoch) are marked “Aramaic” and have no word lookups.

Rabbinic citations

The small ❝ under a verse number opens the passages of rabbinic literature that cite that verse — Mishnah, Tosefta, both Talmuds, Midrash, Targum and Kabbalah (and, if you tick the box, later halakhah, liturgy and thought) — fetched live from Sefaria, so it needs an internet connection. Each passage is listed with Sefaria's date for the work it comes from and a link to read it there. Sefaria's links include allusions and discussions as well as quotations; those it classes as quotations are marked. It works for the Hebrew Bible, Ben Sira (by Kahana's numbering, e.g. the Talmud's quotations of Ben Sira), Tobit and Jubilees. For 1 Enoch, which the rabbis do not quote, it lists instead the Zohar's passages about a “Book of Enoch”.

How the Septuagint is aligned

Each Greek verse is placed by combining three things: the standard table of Septuagint–Masoretic verse correspondences (SIL's lxx.vrs), the table of Masoretic–English numbering differences, and a comparison of the English of Brenton's Septuagint with the JPS English, which confirms each pairing and catches displaced verses. Where no Masoretic verse is similar enough, the Greek verse stands on its own row.

The Greek word data

No openly licensed word-by-word analysis of Brenton's Greek exists, so each Greek word is matched to the most frequent analysis of the same form in the openly licensed Swete Septuagint (Morpheus parser), then to a lexicon entry. About 95% of words are identified. Parses of ambiguous forms (e.g. αὐτοῦ, τοῦ) can be wrong; the card says "automatic parse" as a reminder.

About the texts

What each column is, where it comes from, and what to keep in mind when reading it.

Masoretic Text — Westminster Leningrad Codex

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew Bible as transmitted by the Masoretes, scribal scholars active in Tiberias and elsewhere roughly from the 7th to the 10th century, who fixed its vowel points, accents and marginal notes (the Masorah) around a consonantal text that was already essentially stable by the 1st–2nd century CE. The Leningrad Codex (St Petersburg, Firkovich I B 19 A), copied in 1008/1009 CE in the Ben Asher tradition, is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible; the slightly older Aleppo Codex lost most of the Torah in 1947. It is the base of the standard critical editions (BHK, BHS, BHQ).

The Westminster Leningrad Codex is the public-domain digital transcription of it maintained by the J. Alan Groves Center at Westminster Theological Seminary. In this edition a Ketiv appears as its own unpointed word before the pointed Qere.

JPS 1917 — The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text

The first English Bible translation produced by a committee of Jewish scholars for the Jewish Publication Society of America, under Max L. Margolis as editor-in-chief, published in 1917. Its language deliberately follows the cadence of the King James and Revised Versions, but its renderings follow the Masoretic text and Jewish exegetical tradition, and it keeps the Hebrew chapter and verse numbering. It is in the public domain; its successor, the New JPS (Tanakh, 1985), is not. The electronic edition used here writes the divine names as “HaShem” and “G-d”.

Septuagint — Brenton's Greek text and the Updated Brenton English

The Septuagint is the Jewish translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek. The Torah was translated in Alexandria in the 3rd century BCE (the Letter of Aristeas tells the legend of 72 translators under Ptolemy II); the other books followed over the next two centuries. Because it was made from Hebrew manuscripts older than the Masoretic text, it often preserves a different Hebrew text: Jeremiah is about one-seventh shorter and differently ordered (a shorter Hebrew text of this type survives at Qumran in 4QJerb,d), Job is about one-sixth shorter, and Esther and Daniel have long additions. It was the Bible of Philo, Josephus and the New Testament writers, and became the Old Testament of the Greek church, which in turn led Jewish translators (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion) to produce closer revisions.

Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton published an English translation in 1844 and a Greek–English edition in 1851. His Greek is essentially the Sixtine (Roman) edition of 1587, which follows the 4th-century Codex Vaticanus. It is older and less critical than the modern editions of Rahlfs (1935) and Göttingen, which are under copyright. The English column is the Updated Brenton (Adam Boyd, 2020), Brenton's translation with modernised spelling and wording, dedicated to the public domain.

Samaritan Pentateuch †

The Torah as preserved by the Samaritan community of Mount Gerizim (Nablus), written in the Samaritan script, a descendant of the paleo-Hebrew alphabet. It differs from the Masoretic text in about 6,000 places, most of them spelling or grammar; in about 1,900 of them it agrees with the Septuagint. Some readings are distinctively Samaritan, above all the commandment to build an altar on Mount Gerizim added after the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21) and “Gerizim” for “Ebal” in Deut 27:4. Many others — harmonising expansions that copy one passage into its parallel — are shared with “pre-Samaritan” Qumran manuscripts such as 4QpaleoExodm and 4QNumb, showing that the text type is older than the Samaritan schism.

European scholars learned of it in 1616, when Pietro della Valle brought a manuscript from Damascus; it was printed in the Paris (1645) and London (1657) Polyglots, collated by Benjamin Kennicott (1776–80) and edited critically by August von Gall (1914–18). The Hebrew here is Aleksandr Sigalov's digital text, based on Kennicott and checked against von Gall; the English is Sigalov's adaptation of the King James Version to the Samaritan readings. For modern scholarship see Abraham Tal's edition of MS Shechem 6 and Stefan Schorch's critical editio maior.

Dead Sea Scrolls and other Judean Desert manuscripts †

Between 1947 and 1956 the remains of about 950 manuscripts were found in eleven caves near Khirbet Qumran. Some 230 are biblical — every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented, from tiny fragments to the complete Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) — dating from about 250 BCE to 68 CE. They are a thousand years older than the Leningrad Codex. Most are close to the ancestor of the Masoretic text (“proto-Masoretic”), but others agree with the Septuagint (4QJerb, 4QSama in places), with the Samaritan text type, or with neither — evidence that several forms of the text circulated side by side before the Masoretic text prevailed.

Manuscripts from other sites fill out the picture: Masada (before its fall in 73/74 CE; excavated by Yigael Yadin, 1963–65) and the Bar Kokhba refuges of Wadi Murabba'at and Naḥal Ḥever (132–135 CE), whose biblical texts are already virtually identical with the Masoretic text, as well as Naḥal Ṣe'elim, Wadi Sdeir and Naḥal Arugot. The official publication is the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert series (Oxford, 1955–2010).

The transcriptions here are those of Martin G. Abegg Jr., James E. Bowley and Edward M. Cook, as converted by the Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer (ETCBC). Each manuscript is labelled with its siglum (e.g. 4QIsad), its DJD number, its find-site and the column or fragment and line. Besides the biblical manuscripts, the copies of Ben Sira, Tobit, 1 Enoch, Jubilees and Psalm 151 are shown under those books. Not every manuscript is in the dataset — notably the Greek scrolls (such as the Greek Minor Prophets from Naḥal Ḥever) are absent, and the Masada Ben Sira scroll is added separately (see Ben Sira).

Ben Sira

The Wisdom of Yeshua ben Eleazar ben Sira, composed in Hebrew in Jerusalem around 190–180 BCE and translated into Greek by his grandson in Egypt after 132 BCE (his prologue explains the difficulty of rendering Hebrew into Greek). It belongs to the Septuagint and to the Catholic and Orthodox canons (Latin Ecclesiasticus) but not to the Jewish one, although the Talmud and midrash quote it. Its Hebrew text was lost to the West until 1896, when Solomon Schechter, Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson identified medieval copies in the Cairo Genizah; ancient Hebrew copies then emerged at Qumran and Masada.

About two-thirds of the Hebrew is now known, from six medieval Genizah manuscripts (A–F, 10th–12th century) and three ancient ones: 2QSir (2Q18; Sir 6:14–15, 20–32), the acrostic of Sir 51:13–20, 30 in the Psalms Scroll 11QPsa (columns 21–22), and the Masada scroll (Mas1h), found by Yigael Yadin in 1964 in a casemate room of the fortress and published in 1965: seven columns with Sir 39:27–44:17, copied in the early 1st century BCE, little more than a century after the author. Its agreement with Genizah manuscript B showed that the medieval copies descend from the ancient Hebrew rather than from a translation back from Greek or Syriac.

Here the book is shown in Brenton's Greek and English. The Hebrew column is the Kahana edition, as transcribed on Hebrew Wikisource and distributed by Sefaria (CC BY-SA): a running text built on the Genizah manuscripts, in which words in [brackets] are Kahana's restorations; chapters with no surviving Hebrew are empty. Kahana numbers the verses in the Hebrew order — in the Greek, two blocks of chapters 30–36 are transposed — so his verses have been matched to Brenton's by content for this site, with his own number shown as “Heb.” where it differs. The scrolls column has the three ancient witnesses; the Masada text is Eric Reymond's transcription from bensira.org. Their placement was made for this site by matching the text; there is no Masoretic text to compare them with, so no variants are marked.

Psalm 151

The Septuagint Psalter ends with a short psalm “outside the number”, in which David recalls tending his father's sheep, his anointing and his victory over Goliath. It belongs to the Greek, Syriac and Ethiopic Bibles but not to the Hebrew one, and was long thought to have been composed in Greek — until the Psalms Scroll from Qumran Cave 11 (11QPsa, published by James Sanders in 1965) turned out to contain a longer Hebrew original in its 28th column, as two poems (151A on David's music and anointing, 151B, broken off, on Goliath). The Greek is a condensed translation of them. The psalm is shown as chapter 151 of Psalms, with the scroll's lines under the Greek verses they correspond to.

Tobit

A Jewish novella of the Eastern diaspora (probably 3rd–2nd century BCE): the pious exile Tobit, blinded in Nineveh, sends his son Tobias to recover money in Media, guided by the angel Raphael in disguise; on the way Tobias marries Sarah and drives off the demon Asmodeus. It is in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Orthodox canons. It survives in two Greek forms — a shorter one (Codices Vaticanus and Alexandrinus, printed by Brenton) and a longer one (Codex Sinaiticus) — and the Qumran copies, four in Aramaic (4Q196–199) and one in Hebrew (4Q200), published by Joseph Fitzmyer in 1995, side with the longer form, which is now generally taken as nearer the original. Their verse placement here follows Fitzmyer's identifications.

1 Enoch

A collection of five works ascribed to Enoch, the seventh from Adam who “walked with God” (Gen 5:24): the Book of the Watchers (ch. 1–36, 3rd century BCE), on the angels who descended to the daughters of men; the Parables (37–71); the Astronomical Book (72–82); the Dream Visions (83–90), with the “Animal Apocalypse” of Israel's history; and the Epistle of Enoch (91–108). It is quoted in the Letter of Jude (1:14–15) and is canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose Ge'ez version is the only complete text; Greek survives for about a third. Józef Milik published the Aramaic fragments from Qumran Cave 4 in 1976: eleven copies, covering every part except the Parables, the oldest from around 200 BCE. The English is R. H. Charles's 1917 translation from the Ethiopic (public domain). The Astronomical scrolls (4Q208–211) contain a much longer calendar than the Ethiopic; only their few passages that match chapters 76–82 are placed.

Jubilees

A retelling of Genesis and Exodus 1–14 as revealed to Moses on Sinai by an “angel of the presence”, dated by a calendar of 49-year jubilees and a 364-day solar year (mid-2nd century BCE). Like 1 Enoch it is canonical only in the Ethiopian church, whose Ge'ez version is the only complete text; parts survive in Latin, Syriac and Greek quotations. Fragments of about fifteen Hebrew copies were found at Qumran, more than of most biblical books, and are published in DJD 13 (VanderKam and Milik, 1994) and DJD 23. The English is R. H. Charles's 1917 translation (public domain).

Lexicon and concordance data

Hebrew words carry the analysis of STEPBible's Translators Amalgamated Hebrew OT (Tyndale House, Cambridge): extended Strong's numbers — James Strong's 1890 numbering, subdivided to follow the Brown–Driver–Briggs lexicon (1906) — with morphology from the ETCBC and an abridged BDB for definitions. Samaritan and scroll words take the analysis of the Masoretic word they correspond to, or, where they differ, of the same written form elsewhere in the Masoretic text. Greek words are matched through the Swete Septuagint and the Morpheus parser to STEPBible's Greek lexicon, which draws on Abbott-Smith (1922) and Liddell–Scott–Jones.

† Licensed for non-commercial use only. Full credits and licences: Credits and licences.