HOLY BIBLE: 2 Maccabees 11 (original) (raw)

6 ὡς δὲ μετέλαβον οἱ περὶ τὸν Μακκαβαῖον πολιορκοῦντα αὐτὸν τὰ ὀχυρώματα μετὰ ὀδυρμῶν καὶ δακρύων ἱκέτευον σὺν τοῖς ὄχλοις τὸν κύριον ἀγαθὸν ἄγγελον ἀποστεῖλαι πρὸς σωτηρίαν τῷ Ισραηλ 7 αὐτὸς δὲ πρῶτος ὁ Μακκαβαῖος ἀναλαβὼν τὰ ὅπλα προετρέψατο τοὺς ἄλλους ἅμα αὐτῷ διακινδυνεύοντας ἐπιβοηθεῖν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς αὐτῶν ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ προθύμως ἐξώρμησαν 8 αὐτόθι δὲ πρὸς τοῖς Ιεροσολύμοις ὄντων ἐφάνη προηγούμενος αὐτῶν ἔφιππος ἐν λευκῇ ἐσθῆτι πανοπλίαν χρυσῆν κραδαίνων 9 ὁμοῦ δὲ πάντες εὐλόγησαν τὸν ἐλεήμονα θεὸν καὶ ἐπερρώσθησαν ταῖς ψυχαῖς οὐ μόνον ἀνθρώπους θῆρας δὲ τοὺς ἀγριωτάτους καὶ σιδηρᾶ τείχη τιτρώσκειν ὄντες ἕτοιμοι 10 προῆγον ἐν διασκευῇ τὸν ἀ{P'} οὐρανοῦ σύμμαχον ἔχοντες ἐλεήσαντος αὐτοὺς τοῦ κυρίου 11 λεοντηδὸν δὲ ἐντινάξαντες εἰς τοὺς πολεμίους κατέστρωσαν αὐτῶν χιλίους πρὸς τοῖς μυρίοις ἱππεῖς δὲ ἑξακοσίους πρὸς τοῖς χιλίοις τοὺς δὲ πάντας ἠνάγκασαν φεύγειν 12 οἱ πλείονες δὲ αὐτῶν τραυματίαι γυμνοὶ διεσώθησαν καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Λυσίας αἰσχρῶς φεύγων διεσώθη

6 What did Machabaeus and his fellows, when they learned that the siege of the fortress was already begun? Most piteously they besought the Lord, amid the tears of a whole populace, a gracious angel he would send out for Israel’s deliverance. 7 Then they armed for battle, Machabaeus himself the first of all, as he summoned the rest to share with him the hour of danger, for the relief of their brethren. 8 So, in good heart, they set out together, and before they left Jerusalem a vision came to them; of a rider that went before them in white array, with armour of gold, brandishing his spear. 9 How they blessed God’s mercy, all of them, at the sight! How their courage rose, a match for all it should encounter, men or wild beast or walls of iron! 10 They marched on, ready for battle, sure now of a heavenly champion, and of the Lord’s favour; 11 and when they charged the enemy, they were very lions for valour. At their onslaught, fell eleven thousand of the foot, fell a thousand and six hundred of the horse; 12 and the whole army took to its heels, for the most part wounded and disarmed; Lysias himself, ingloriously enough, turned and fled.

6 Ut autem Machabæus et qui cum eo erant cognoverunt expugnari præsidia, cum fletu et lacrimis rogabant Dominum, et omnis turba simul, ut bonum angelum mitteret ad salutem Israël. 7 Et ipse primus Machabæus, sumptis armis, ceteros adhortatus est simul secum periculum subire, et ferre auxilium fratribus suis. 8 Cumque pariter prompto animo procederent, Jerosolymis apparuit præcedens eos eques in veste candida, armis aureis hastam vibrans. 9 Tunc omnes simul benedixerunt misericordem Dominum, et convaluerunt animis: non solum homines, sed et bestias ferocissimas, et muros ferreos parati penetrare. 10 Ibant igitur prompti, de cælo habentes adjutorem et miserantem super eos Dominum. 11 Leonum autem more impetu irruentes in hostes, prostraverunt ex eis undecim millia peditum, et equitum mille sexcentos: 12 universos autem in fugam verterunt, plures autem ex eis vulnerati nudi evaserunt. Sed et ipse Lysias turpiter fugiens evasit.

[1] A more probable reading in the Greek makes the distance not five furlongs, but about twenty miles, which would be a just estimate.

[2] vv. 29-31. The situation is not made fully clear, either in the Greek text or in the Latin. There seems to be a gap between verses 30 and 31, perhaps due to a mistake in the manuscripts. The allusion to faults committed ‘through inadvertence’ is perhaps only a diplomatic formula for granting a general amnesty.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd