Textorah

1 Maccabees 9

1
Καὶ ἤκουσε Δημήτριος ὅτι ἔπεσε Νικάνωρ καὶ αἱ δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ ἐν πολέμῳ, καὶ προσέθετο τὸν Βακχίδην καὶ τὸν Ἄλκιμον ἐκ δευτέρου ἀποστεῖλαι εἰς γῆν Ἰούδα, καὶ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας μετʼ αὐτῶν.
Furthermore when Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his host were slain in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus into the land of Judea the second time, and with them the chief strength of his host:
2
Καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν ὁδὸν τὴν εἰς Γάλγαλα, καὶ παρενέβαλον ἐπὶ Μαισαλὼθ τὴν ἐν Ἀρβήλοις, καὶ προκατελάβοντο αὐτὴν, καὶ ἀπώλεσαν ψυχὰς ἀνθρώπων πολλάς.
who went forth by the way that leadeth to Gilgal, and pitched their tents before Mesaloth, which is in Arbela, and after they had won it, they slew much people.
3
Καὶ τοῦ μηνὸς τοῦ πρώτου ἔτους τοῦ δευτέρου καὶ πεντηκοστοῦ καὶ ἑκατοστοῦ παρενέβαλον ἐπὶ Ἱερουσαλήμ.
Also the first month of the hundred fifty and second year they encamped before Jerusalem:
4
Καὶ ἀπῇραν καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν εἰς Βερέαν ἐν εἴκοσι χιλιάσιν ἀνδρῶν καὶ δισχιλίᾳ ἵππῳ.
from whence they removed, and went to Berea, with twenty thousand footmen and two thousand horsemen.
5
Καὶ Ἰούδας ἦν παρεμβεβληκὼς ἐν Ἐλεασὰ, καὶ τρισχίλιοι ἄνδρες ἐκλεκτοὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ.
Now Judas had pitched his tents at Elasa, and three thousand chosen men with him:
6
Καὶ ἴδον τὸ πλῆθος τῶν δυνάμεων ὅτι πολλοί εἰσι, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν σφόδρα· καὶ ἐξεῤῥύησαν πολλοὶ ἀπὸ τῆς παρεμβολῆς, οὐ κατελείφθησαν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀλλʼ ἢ ὀκτακόσιοι ἄνδρες.
who seeing the multitude of the other army to be so great, were sore afraid; whereupon many conveyed themselves out of the host, insomuch as there abode of them no more but eight hundred men.
7
Καὶ εἶδεν Ἰούδας ὅτι ἀπεῤῥύη ἡ παρεμβολὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὁ πόλεμος ἔθλιβεν αὐτόν· καὶ συνετρίβη τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι οὐκ εἶχε καιρὸν συναγαγεῖν αὐτούς.
When Judas therefore saw that his host slipped away, and that the battle pressed upon him, he was sore troubled in mind, and much distressed, for that he had no time to gather them together.
8
Καὶ ἐξελύθη, καὶ εἶπε τοῖς καταλειφθεῖσιν, ἀναστῶμεν καὶ ἀναβῶμεν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους ἡμῶν, ἐὰν ἄρα δυνώμεθα πολεμῆσαι αὐτούς.
Nevertheless unto them that remained he said, Let us arise and go up against our enemies, if peradventure we may be able to fight with them.
9
Καὶ ἀπέστρεψαν αὐτὸν, λέγοντες, οὐ μὴ δυνώμεθα, ἀλλʼ ἢ σώζωμεν τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχὰς τὸ νῦν, καὶ ἐπιστρέψωμεν μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν, καὶ πολεμήσωμεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ἡμεῖς δὲ ὀλίγοι.
But they dehorted him, saying, We shall never be able: let us now rather save our lives, and hereafter we will return with our brethren, and fight against them: for we are but few.
10
Καὶ εἶπεν Ἰούδας, μή μοι γένοιτο ποιῆσαι τὸ πρᾶγμα τοῦτο, φυγεῖν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν, καὶ εἰ ἤγγικεν ὁ καιρὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀποθάνωμεν ἐν ἀνδρείᾳ χάριν τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν, καὶ μὴ καταλίπωμεν αἰτίαν τῇ δόξῃ ἡμῶν.
Then Judas said, God forbid that I should do this thing, and flee away from them: if our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and let us not stain our honor.
11
Καὶ ἀπῇρεν ἡ δύναμις ἀπὸ τῆς παρεμβολῆς, καὶ ἔστησαν εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐμερίσθη ἡ ἵππος εἰς δύο μέρη, καὶ οἱ σφενδονηταὶ καὶ οἱ τοξόται προεπορεύοντο τῆς δυνάμεως, καὶ οἱ πρωταγωνισταὶ πάντες οἱ δυνατοί.
With that the host [of Bacchides] removed out of their tents, and stood over against them, their horsemen being divided into two troops, and their slingers and archers going before the host, and they that marched in the foreward were all mighty men.
12
Βακχίδης δὲ ἦν ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ κέρατι, καὶ ἤγγισεν ἡ φάλαγξ ἐκ τῶν δύο μερῶν, καὶ ἐφώνουν ταῖς σάλπιγξι. Καὶ ἐσάλπισαν οἱ παρὰ Ἰούδα καὶ αὐτοὶ ταῖς σάλπιγξι,
As for Bacchides, he was in the right wing: so the host drew near on the two parts, and sounded their trumpets.
13
καὶ ἐσαλεύθη ἡ γῆ ἀπὸ τῆς φωνῆς τῶν παρεμβολῶν· καὶ ἐγένετο ὁ πόλεμος συνημένος ἀπὸ πρωΐθεν ἕως ἑσπέρας.
They also of Judas’ side, even they sounded their trumpets also, so that the earth shook at the noise of the armies, and the battle continued from morning till night.
14
Καὶ· εἶδεν Ἰούδας ὅτι Βακχίδης καὶ τὸ στερέωμα τῆς παρεμβολῆς ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς, καὶ συνῆλθον αὐτῷ πάντες οἱ εὔψυχοι τῇ καρδίᾳ.
Now when Judas perceived that Bacchides and the strength of his army were on the right side, he took with him all the hardy men,
15
Καὶ συνετρίβη τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας ἀπʼ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐδίωκεν ὀπίσω αὐτῶν ἕως Ἀζώτου ὄρους.
who discomfited the right wing, and pursued them unto the Mount Azotus.
16
Καὶ οἱ εἰς τὸ ἀριστερὸν κέρας ἴδον ὅτι συνετρίβη τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας, καὶ ἐπέστρεψαν κατὰ πόδας Ἰούδα καὶ τῶν μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν ὄπισθεν.
But when they of the left wing saw that they of the right wing were discomfited, they followed upon Judas and those that were with him hard at the heels from behind:
17
Καὶ ἐβαρύνθη ὁ πόλεμος, καὶ ἔπεσον τραυματίαι πολλοὶ ἐκ τούτων καὶ ἐκ τούτων.
whereupon there was a sore battle, insomuch as many were slain on both parts.
18
Καὶ Ἰούδας ἔπεσε, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἔφυγον.
Judas also was killed, and the remnant fled.
19
Καὶ ᾖραν Ἰωνάθαν καὶ Σίμων Ἰούδαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ τάφῳ τῶν πατέρων αὐτοῦ ἐν Μωδεεΐμ.
Then Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother, and buried him in the sepulcher of his fathers in Modein.
20
Καὶ ἔκλαυσαν αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐκόψαντο αὐτὸν πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ κοπετὸν μέγαν, καὶ ἐπένθουν ἡμέρας πολλὰς, καὶ εἶπον,
Moreover they bewailed him, and all Israel made great lamentation for him, and mourned many days, saying,
21
πῶς ἔπεσε δυνατὸς, σώζων τὸν Ἰσραήλ;
How is the valiant man fallen, that delivered Israel!
22
Καὶ τὰ περισσὰ τῶν λόγων Ἰούδα, καὶ τῶν πολέμων, καὶ τῶν ἀνδραγαθιῶν ὧν ἐποίησε, καὶ τῆς μεγαλωσύνης αὐτῶν, οὐ κατεγράφη, πολλὰ γὰρ ἦν σφόδρα.
As for the other things concerning Judas and his wars, and the noble acts which he did, and his greatness, they are not written, for they were very many.
23
Καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν Ἰούδα, ἐξέκυψαν οἱ ἄνομοι ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρίοις Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἀνέτειλαν πάντες οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀδικίαν.
Now after the death of Judas the wicked began to put forth their heads in all the coasts of Israel, and there arose up all such as wrought iniquity.
24
Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐγενήθη λιμὸς μέγας σφόδρα, καὶ ηὐτομόλησεν ἡ χώρα μετʼ αὐτῶν.
In those days also was there a very great famine, by reason whereof the country revolted, and went with them.
25
Καὶ ἐξέλεξε Βακχίδης τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς ἄνδρας, καὶ κατέστησεν αὐτοὺς κυρίους τῆς χώρας.
Then Bacchides chose the wicked men, and made them lords of the country.
26
Καὶ ἐξεζήτουν καὶ ἐξηρεύνων τοὺς φίλους Ἰούδα, καὶ ἦγον αὐτοὺς πρὸς Βακχίδην· καὶ ἐξεδίκει ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐνέπαιζεν αὐτοῖς.
And they made inquiry and search for Judas’ friends, and brought them unto Bacchides, who took vengeance of them, and used them despitefully.
27
Καὶ ἐγένετο θλίψις μεγάλη ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ, ἥτις οὐκ ἐγένετο ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας οὐκ ὤφθη προφήτης ἐν αὐτοῖς.
So was there a great affliction in Israel, the like whereof was not since the time that a prophet was not seen among them.
28
Καὶ ἠθροίσθησαν πάντες οἱ φίλοι Ἱούδα, καὶ εἶπον τῷ Ἰωνάθαν,
For this cause all Judas’ friends came together, and said unto Jonathan,
29
ἀφʼ οὗ ὁ ἀδελφός σου Ἰούδας τετελεύτηκε, καὶ ἀνὴρ ὅμοιος αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐξελθεῖν πρὸς τοὺς ἐχθροὺς καὶ Βακχίδην, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐχθραίνουσι τοῦ ἔθνους ἡμῶν.
Since thy brother Judas died, we have no man like him to go forth against our enemies, and Bacchides, and against them of our nation that are adversaries to us.
30
Νῦν οὖν σε ᾑρετισάμεθα σήμερον, τοῦ εἶναι ἀντʼ αὐτοῦ ἡμῖν εἰς ἄρχοντα καὶ ἡγούμενον, τοῦ πολεμῆσαι τὸν πόλεμον ἡμῶν.
Now therefore we have chosen thee this day to be our prince and captain in his stead, that thou mayest fight our battles.
31
Καὶ ἐπεδέξατο Ἰωνάθαν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ τὴν ἥγησιν, καὶ ἀνέστη ἀντὶ Ἰούδα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ.
Upon this Jonathan took the governance upon him at that time, and rose up instead of his brother Judas.
32
Καὶ ἔγνω Βακχίδης, καὶ ἐζήτει αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι.
But when Bacchides got knowledge thereof, he sought for to slay him.
33
Καὶ ἔγνω Ἰωνάθαν, καὶ Σίμων ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντες οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔφυγον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον Θεκωὲ, καὶ παρενέβαλον ἐπὶ τὸ ὕδωρ λάκκου Ἀσφάρ.
Then Jonathan, and Simon his brother, and all that were with him, perceiving that, fled into the wilderness of Tekoa, and pitched their tents by the water of the pool Asphar.
34
Καὶ ἔγνω Βακχίδης τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων, καὶ ἦλθεν αὐτὸς καὶ πᾶν τὸ στράτευμα αὐτοῦ πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου.
Which when Bacchides understood, he came near to Jordan with all his host upon the Sabbath day.
35
Καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ἰωνάθαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἡγούμενον τοῦ ὄχλου, καὶ παρεκάλεσε τοὺς Ναυαταίους φίλους αὐτοῦ παραθέσθαι αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀποσκευὴν αὐτῶν τὴν πολλήν.
Now Jonathan had sent his brother [John], a captain of the people, to pray his friends the Nabateans, that they might leave with them their carriage, which was much.
36
Καὶ ἐξῆλθον υἱοὶ Ἰαμβρὶ ἐκ Μηδαβὰ, καὶ συνέλαβον Ἰωάννην, καὶ πάντα ὅσα εἶχε, καὶ ἀπῆλθον ἔχοντες.
But the children of Jambri came out of Medeba, and took John, and all that he had, and went their way with it.
37
Μετὰ δὲ τοὺς λόγους τούτους ἀπήγγειλαν τῷ Ἰωνάθαν καὶ Σίμωνι τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰαμβρὶ ποιοῦσι γάμον μέγαν, καὶ ἄγουσι τὴν νύμφην ἀπὸ Ναδαβὰθ, θυγατέρα ἑνὸς τῶν μεγιστάνων μεγάλων τῶν Χαναὰν, μετὰ παραπομπῆς μεγάλης.
After this came word to Jonathan and Simon his brother, that the children of Jambri made a great marriage, and were bringing the bride from Nadabath with a great train, as being the daughter of one of the great princes of Canaan.
38
Καὶ ἐμνήσθησαν Ἰωάννου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀνέβησαν, καὶ ἐκρύβησαν ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην τοῦ ὄρους.
Therefore they remembered John their brother, and went up, and hid themselves under the covert of the mountain:
39
Καὶ ᾖραν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἴδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ θροῦς, καὶ ἀποσκευὴ πολλὴ, καὶ ὁ νυμφίος ἐξῆλθε καὶ οἱ φίλοι αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτῶν μετὰ τυμπάνων, και μουσικῶν, καὶ ὅπλων πολλῶν.
where they lifted up their eyes, and looked, and, behold, there was much ado and great carriage: and the bridegroom came forth, and his friends and brethren, to meet them with drums, and instruments of music, and many weapons.
40
Καὶ ἐξανέστησαν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνέδρου οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἰωνάθαν, καὶ ἀπέκτειναν αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἔπεσον τραυματίαι πολλοὶ, καὶ οἱ ἐπίλοιποι ἔφυγον εἰς τὸ ὄρος· καὶ ἔλαβον πάντα τὰ σκῦλα αὐτῶν.
Then Jonathan and they that were with him rose up against them from the place where they lay in ambush, and made a slaughter of them in such sort, as many fell down dead, and the remnant fled into the mountain, and they took all their spoils.
41
Καὶ μετεστράφη ὁ γάμος εἰς πένθος, καὶ ἡ φωνὴ μουσικῶν αὐτῶν εἰς θρῆνον.
Thus was the marriage turned into mourning, and the noise of their melody into lamentation.
42
Καὶ ἐξεδίκησαν τὴν ἐκδίκησιν αἵματος ἀδελφοῦ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀπέστρεψαν εἰς τὸ ἕλος τοῦ Ἰορδάνου.
So when they had avenged fully the blood of their brother, they turned again to the marsh of Jordan.
43
Καὶ ἤκουσε Βακχίδης, καὶ ἦλθε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων ἕως τῶν κρηπίδων τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ἐν δυνάμει πολλῇ.
Now when Bacchides heard hereof, he came on the Sabbath day unto the banks of Jordan with a great power.
44
Καὶ εἶπεν Ἰωνάθαν τοῖς παρʼ αὐτοῦ, ἀναστῶμεν νῦν καὶ πολεμήσωμεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν, οὐ γὰρ ἐστι σήμερον ὡς ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν.
Then Jonathan said to his company, Let us go up now and fight for our lives, for it standeth not with us today, as in time past:
45
Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ὁ πόλεμος ἐξεναντίας ἡμῶν καὶ ἐξόπισθεν ἡμῶν· τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν, καὶ ἕλος καὶ δρυμὸς, οὐκ ἔστι τόπος τοῦ ἐκκλῖναι.
for, behold, the battle is before us and behind us, and the water of Jordan on this side and that side, the marsh likewise and wood, neither is there place for us to turn aside.
46
Νῦν οὖν κεκράξατε εἰς οὐρανὸν, ὅπως διασωθῆτε ἐκ χειρὸς ἐχθρῶν ὑμῶν.
Wherefore cry ye now unto heaven, that ye may be delivered from the hand of your enemies.
47
Καὶ συνῆψεν ὁ πόλεμος· καὶ ἐξέτεινεν Ἰωνάθαν τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ πατάξαι τὸν Βακχίδην, καὶ ἐξέκλινεν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω.
With that they joined battle, and Jonathan stretched forth his hand to smite Bacchides, but he turned back from him.
48
Καὶ ἐνεπήδησεν Ἰωνάθαν καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν Ἰορδάνην, καὶ διεκολύμβησαν εἰς τὸ πέραν· καὶ οὐ διέβησαν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς τὸν Ἰορδάνην.
Then Jonathan and they that were with him leapt into Jordan, and swam over unto the farther bank: howbeit the other passed not over Jordan unto them.
49
Καὶ διέπεσον παρὰ Βακχίδου τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ εἰς χιλίους ἄνδρας.
So there were slain of Bacchides’ side that day about a thousand men.
50
Καὶ ἐπέστρεψεν εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε πόλεις ὀχυρὰς ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ, τὸ ὀχύρωμα τὸ ἐν Ἱεριχὼ, καὶ τὴν Ἐμμαοὺμ, καὶ τὴν Βαιθωρῶν, καὶ τὴν Βαιθὴλ, καὶ τὴν Θαμναθὰ, Φαραθωνὶ, καὶ τὴν Τεφὼν ἐν τείχεσιν ὑψηλοῖς καὶ πύλαις καὶ μοχλοῖς.
Afterward returned [Bacchides] to Jerusalem, and repaired the strong cities in Judea; the fort in Jericho, and Emmaus, and Beth-horon, and Bethel, and Timnath, Pharathon, and Tephon, [these did he strengthen] with high walls, with gates, and with bars.
51
Καὶ ἔθετο φρουρὰν ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῦ ἐχθραίνειν τῷ Ἰσραήλ.
And in them he set a garrison, that they might work malice upon Israel.
52
Καὶ ὠχύρωσε τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἐν Βαιθσούρᾳ, καὶ τὴν Γάζαρα, καὶ τὴν ἄκραν, καὶ ἔθετο ἐν αὐταῖς δυνάμεις καὶ παραθέσεις βρωμάτων.
He fortified also the city Beth-zur, and Gazara, and the tower, and put forces in them, and provision of victuals.
53
Καὶ ἔλαβε τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἡγουμένων τῆς χώρας ὅμηρα, καὶ ἔθετο αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἄκρᾳ ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐν φυλακῇ.
Besides, he took the chief men’s sons in the country for hostages, and put them into the tower at Jerusalem to be kept.
54
Καὶ ἐν ἔτει τρίτῳ καὶ πεντηκοστῷ καὶ ἑκατοστῷ, μηνι τῷ δευτέρῳ, ἐπέταξεν Ἄλκιμος καθαιρεῖν τὸ τεῖχος τῆς αὐλῆς τῶν ἁγίων τῆς ἐσωτέρας, καὶ καθεῖλε τὰ ἔργα τῶν προφητῶν, καὶ ἐνήρξατο τοῦ καθαιρεῖν.
Moreover in the hundred fifty and third year, in the second month, Alcimus commanded that the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary should be pulled down; he pulled down also the works of the prophets.
55
Ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἐπλήγη Ἄλκιμος, καὶ ἐνεποδίσθη τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπεφράγη τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ παρελύθη, καὶ οὐκ ἐδύνατο ἔτι λαλῆσαι λόγον καὶ ἐντείλασθαι περὶ τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ.
And as he began to pull down, even at that time was Alcimus plagued, and his enterprises hindered: for his mouth was stopped, and he was taken with a palsy, so that he could no more speak anything, nor give order concerning his house.
56
Καὶ ἀπέθανεν Ἄλκιμος ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ μετὰ βασάνου μεγάλης.
So Alcimus died at that time with great torment.
57
Καὶ εἶδε Βακχίδης ὅτι ἀπέθανεν Ἄλκιμος, καὶ ἀπέστρεψε πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα· καὶ ἡσύχασεν ἡ γῆ Ἰούδα ἔτη δύο.
Now when Bacchides saw that Alcimus was dead, he returned to the king: whereupon the land of Judah was in rest two years.
58
Καὶ ἐβουλεύσαντο πάντες οἱ ἄνομοι, λέγοντες, ἰδοὺ Ἰωνάθαν καὶ οἱ παρʼ αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ κατοικοῦσι πεποιθότες· νῦν οὖν ἄξομεν τὸν Βακχίδην, καὶ συλλήμψεται αὐτοὺς πάντας ἐν νυκτὶ μιᾷ.
Then all the ungodly men held a council, saying, Behold, Jonathan and his company are at ease, and dwell without care: now therefore we will bring Bacchides hither, who shall take them all in one night.
59
Καὶ πορευθέντες συνεβουλεύσαντο αὐτῷ.
So they went and consulted with him.
60
Καὶ ἀπῇρε τοῦ ἐλθεῖν μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς, καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ἐπιστολὰς λάθρα πᾶσι τοῖς συμμάχοις αὐτοῦ τοῖς ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ, ὅπως συλλάβωσι τὸν Ἰωνάθαν, καὶ τοὺς μετʼ αὐτοῦ· καὶ οὐκ ἐδύναντο, ὅτι ἐγνώσθη αὐτοῖς ἡ βουλὴ αὐτῶν.
Then removed he, and came with a great host, and sent letters privily to his adherents in Judea, that they should take Jonathan and those that were with him: howbeit they could not, because their counsel was known unto them.
61
Καὶ συνελάβοντο ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῆς χώρας τῶν ἀρχηγῶν τῆς κακίας εἰς πεντήκοντα ἄνδρας, καὶ ἀπέκτειναν αὐτούς.
Wherefore they took of the men of the country, that were authors of that mischief, about fifty persons, and slew them.
62
Καὶ ἐξεχώρησεν Ἰωνάθαν, καὶ Σίμων, καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ εἰς Βαιθβασὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ ᾠκοδόμησε τὰ καθῃρημένα αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐστερέωσαν αὐτήν.
Afterward Jonathan, and Simon, and they that were with him, got them away to Bethbasi, which is in the wilderness, and they repaired the decays thereof, and made it strong.
63
Καὶ ἔγνω Βακχίδης, καὶ συνήγαγε πᾶν τὸ πλῆθος αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τῆς Ἰουδαίας παρήγγειλε.
Which thing when Bacchides knew, he gathered together all his host, and sent word to them that were of Judea.
64
Καὶ ἐλθὼν παρενέβαλεν ἐπὶ Βαιθβασὶ, καὶ ἐπολέμησεν αὐτὴν ἡμέρας πολλὰς, καὶ ἐποίησε μηχανάς.
Then went he and laid siege against Bethbasi; and they fought against it a long season, and made engines of war.
65
Καὶ ἀπέλιπεν Ἰωνάθαν Σίμωνα τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ πόλει, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν εἰς τὴν χώραν, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐν ἀριθμῷ.
But Jonathan left his brother Simon in the city, and went forth himself into the country, and with a certain number went he forth.
66
Καὶ ἐπάταξεν Ὀδοαῤῥὴν, καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς Φασιρὼν ἐν τῷ σκηνώματι αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐξήρξατο τύπτειν, καὶ ἀναβαίνειν ἐν δυνάμεσι·
And he smote Odomera and his brethren, and the children of Phasiron in their tent.
67
καὶ Σίμων, καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἐξῆλθον ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ἐνεπύρισαν τὰς μηχανάς.
And when he began to smite them, and came up with his forces, Simon and his company went out of the city, and burned up the engines of war,
68
Καὶ ἐπολέμησαν πρὸς τὸν Βακχίδην, καὶ συνετρίβη ὑπʼ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔθλιβον αὐτὸν σφόδρα, ὅτι ἦν ἡ βουλὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ ἔφοδος αὐτοῦ κενή.
and fought against Bacchides, who was discomfited by them, and they afflicted him sore: for his counsel and travail was in vain.
69
Καὶ ὠργίσθηθυμῷ τοῖς ἀνδράσι τοῖς ἀνόμοις τοῖς συμβουλεύσασιν αὐτῷ ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὴν χώραν, καὶ ἀπέκτειναν ἐξ αὐτῶν πολλούς, καὶ ἐβουλεύσατο τοῦ ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ.
Wherefore he was very wroth at the wicked men that gave him counsel to come into the country, insomuch as he slew many of them, and purposed to return into his own country.
70
Καὶ ἐπέγνω Ἰωνάθαν, καὶ ἀπέστειλε πρὸς αὐτὸν πρέσβεις, τοῦ συνθέσθαι πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰρήνην, καὶ ἀποδοῦναι αὐτοῖς τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν.
Whereof when Jonathan had knowledge, he sent ambassadors unto him, to the end he should make peace with him, and deliver them the prisoners.
71
Καὶ ἀπεδέξατο, καὶ ἐποίησε κατὰ τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὤμοσεν αὐτῷ μὴ ἐκζητῆσαι αὐτῷ κακὸν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ.
Which thing he accepted, and did according to his demands, and swore unto him that he would never do him harm all the days of his life.
72
Καὶ ἀπέδωκεν αὐτῷ τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν ἣν ᾐχμαλώτευσε τοπρότερον ἐκ γῆς Ἰούδα· καὶ ἀποστρέψας ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ προσέθετο ἔτι ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὰ ὅρια αὐτῶν.
When therefore he had restored unto him the prisoners that he had taken aforetime out of the land of Judea, he returned and went his way into his own land, neither came he anymore into their borders.
73
Καὶ κατέπαυσε ῥομφαία ἐξ Ἰσραήλ· καὶ ᾤκησεν Ἰωνάθαν ἐν Μαχμάς· καὶ ἤρξατο Ἰωνάθαν κρίνειν τὸν λαὸν καὶ ἠφάνισε τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς ἐξ Ἰσραήλ.
Thus the sword ceased from Israel: but Jonathan dwelt at Michmash, and began to govern the people; and he destroyed the ungodly men out of Israel.

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.