1. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 9 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
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2. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 6.9-6.10 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 6.9. וַיֹּאמֶר לֵךְ וְאָמַרְתָּ לָעָם הַזֶּה שִׁמְעוּ שָׁמוֹעַ וְאַל־תָּבִינוּ וּרְאוּ רָאוֹ וְאַל־תֵּדָעוּ׃ | 6.9. And He said: ‘Go, and tell this people: Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not." 6.10. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they, seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their ears, and understanding with their heart, return, and be healed.’" |
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3. Anon., Didache, 11.1-11.12 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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4. Clement of Rome, 1 Clement, 21.6 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 21.6. τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, οὗ τὸ αἷμα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἐδόθη, ἐντραπῶμεν, τοὺς προηγουμένους ἡμῶν αἰδεσθῶμεν, τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τιμήσωμεν, τοὺς νέους παιδεύσωμεν τὴν παιδείαν τοῦ φόβου τοῦ θεοῦ, τὰς γυναῖκας ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν διορθωσώμεθα. | |
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5. Ignatius, To Polycarp, 4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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6. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 11.169, 18.169-18.179, 20.17-20.96, 20.267 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 11.169. “You know, O Jews, that God hath kept our fathers, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in mind continually, and for the sake of their righteousness hath not left off the care of you. Indeed he hath assisted me in gaining this authority of the king to raise up our wall, and finish what is wanting of the temple. 18.169. but when Agrippa accused him of stealing some garments of his, (which was certainly true,) he ran away from him; but when he was caught, and brought before Piso, who was governor of the city, and the man was asked why he ran away, he replied, that he had somewhat to say to Caesar, that tended to his security and preservation: so Piso bound him, and sent him to Capreae. But Tiberius, according to his usual custom, kept him still in bonds, being a delayer of affairs, if ever there was any other king or tyrant that was so; 18.171. insomuch that when he was asked by his friends what was the reason of his delay in such cases, he said that he delayed to hear ambassadors, lest, upon their quick dismission, other ambassadors should be appointed, and return upon him; and so he should bring trouble upon himself in their public reception and dismission: 18.172. that he permitted those governors who had been sent once to their government [to stay there a long while], out of regard to the subjects that were under them; for that all governors are naturally disposed to get as much as they can; and that those who are not to fix there, but to stay a short time, and that at an uncertainty when they shall be turned out, do the more severely hurry themselves on to fleece the people; 18.173. but that if their government be long continued to them; they are at last satiated with the spoils, as having gotten a vast deal, and so become at length less sharp in their pillaging; but that if successors are sent quickly, the poor subjects, who are exposed to them as a prey, will not be able to bear the new ones, while they shall not have the same time allowed them wherein their predecessors had filled themselves, and so grew more unconcerned about getting more; and this because they are removed before they have had time [for their oppressions]. 18.174. He gave them an example to show his meaning: A great number of flies came about the sore places of a man that had been wounded; upon which one of the standers-by pitied the man’s misfortune, and thinking he was not able to drive those flies away himself, was going to drive them away for him; 18.175. but he prayed him to let them alone: the other, by way of reply, asked him the reason of such a preposterous proceeding, in preventing relief from his present misery; to which he answered, “If thou drivest these flies away, thou wilt hurt me worse; for as these are already full of my blood, they do not crowd about me, nor pain me so much as before, but are somewhat more remiss, while the fresh ones that come almost famished, and find me quite tired down already, will be my destruction. 18.176. For this cause, therefore, it is that I am myself careful not to send such new governors perpetually to those my subjects, who are already sufficiently harassed by many oppressions, as may, like these flies, further distress them; and so, besides their natural desire of gain, may have this additional incitement to it, that they expect to be suddenly deprived of that pleasure which they take in it.” 18.177. And, as a further attestation to what I say of the dilatory nature of Tiberius, I appeal to this his practice itself; for although he was emperor twenty-two years, he sent in all but two procurators to govern the nation of the Jews, Gratus, and his successor in the government, Pilate. 18.178. Nor was he in one way of acting with respect to the Jews, and in another with respect to the rest of his subjects. He further informed them, that even in the hearing of the causes of prisoners, he made such delays, because immediate death to those that must be condemned to die would be an alleviation of their present miseries, while those wicked wretches have not deserved any such favor; “but I do it, that, by being harassed with the present calamity, they may undergo greater misery.” 18.179. 6. On this account it was that Eutychus could not obtain a bearing, but was kept still in prison. However, some time afterward, Tiberius came from Capreae to Tusculanum, which is about a hundred furlongs from Rome. Agrippa then desired of Antonia that she would procure a hearing for Eutychus, let the matter whereof he accused him prove what it would. 20.17. He said further, that he would show them from hence how, at his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall down; and he promised them that he would procure them an entrance into the city through those walls, when they were fallen down. 20.17. 1. About this time it was that Helena, queen of Adiabene, and her son Izates, changed their course of life, and embraced the Jewish customs, and this on the occasion following: 20.18. And now arose a sedition between the high priests and the principal men of the multitude of Jerusalem; each of which got them a company of the boldest sort of men, and of those that loved innovations about them, and became leaders to them; and when they struggled together, they did it by casting reproachful words against one another, and by throwing stones also. And there was nobody to reprove them; but these disorders were done after a licentious manner in the city, as if it had no government over it. 20.18. Monobazus, the king of Adiabene, who had also the name of Bazeus, fell in love with his sister Helena, and took her to be his wife, and begat her with child. But as he was in bed with her one night, he laid his hand upon his wife’s belly, and fell asleep, and seemed to hear a voice, which bid him take his hand off his wife’s belly, and not hurt the infant that was therein, which, by God’s providence, would be safely born, and have a happy end. 20.19. Now this palace had been erected of old by the children of Asamoneus and was situate upon an elevation, and afforded a most delightful prospect to those that had a mind to take a view of the city, which prospect was desired by the king; and there he could lie down, and eat, and thence observe what was done in the temple; 20.19. This voice put him into disorder; so he awaked immediately, and told the story to his wife; and when his son was born, he called him Izates. 20.21. which was the origin of that envy which his other brethren, by the same father, bore to him; while on this account they hated him more and more, and were all under great affliction that their father should prefer Izates before them. 20.21. This was the beginning of greater calamities; for the robbers perpetually contrived to catch some of Aias’s servants; and when they had taken them alive, they would not let them go, till they thereby recovered some of their own Sicarii. And as they were again become no small number, they grew bold, and were a great affliction to the whole country. 20.22. Now although their father was very sensible of these their passions, yet did he forgive them, as not indulging those passions out of an ill disposition, but out of a desire each of them had to be beloved by their father. However, he sent Izates, with many presents, to Abennerig, the king of Charax-Spasini, and that out of the great dread he was in about him, lest he should come to some misfortune by the hatred his brethren bore him; and he committed his son’s preservation to him. 20.22. and while they were unwilling to keep by them the treasures that were there deposited, out of fear of [their being carried away by] the Romans; and while they had a regard to the making provision for the workmen; they had a mind to expend these treasures upon them; for if any one of them did but labor for a single hour, he received his pay immediately; so they persuaded him to rebuild the eastern cloisters. 20.23. Upon which Abennerig gladly received the young man, and had a great affection for him, and married him to his own daughter, whose name was Samacha: he also bestowed a country upon him, from which he received large revenues. 20.23. Now the number of years during the rule of these thirteen, from the day when our fathers departed out of Egypt, under Moses their leader, until the building of that temple which king Solomon erected at Jerusalem, were six hundred and twelve. 20.24. 2. But when Monobazus was grown old, and saw that he had but a little time to live, he had a mind to come to the sight of his son before he died. So he sent for him, and embraced him after the most affectionate manner, and bestowed on him the country called Carra; 20.24. and when he was destroyed at a feast by the treachery of his son-in-law, his own son, whose name was Hyrcanus, succeeded him, after he had held the high priesthood one year longer than his brother. This Hyrcanus enjoyed that dignity thirty years, and died an old man, leaving the succession to Judas, who was also called Aristobulus 20.25. it was a soil that bare amomum in great plenty: there are also in it the remains of that ark, wherein it is related that Noah escaped the deluge, and where they are still shown to such as are desirous to see them. 20.25. Accordingly, the number of the high priests, from the days of Herod until the day when Titus took the temple and the City, and burnt them, were in all twenty-eight; the time also that belonged to them was a hundred and seven years. 20.26. Accordingly, Izates abode in that country until his father’s death. But the very day that Monobazus died, queen Helena sent for all the grandees, and governors of the kingdom, and for those that had the armies committed to their command; 20.26. and what we have suffered from the Assyrians and Babylonians, and what afflictions the Persians and Macedonians, and after them the Romans, have brought upon us; for I think I may say that I have composed this history with sufficient accuracy in all things. 20.27. and when they were come, she made the following speech to them: “I believe you are not unacquainted that my husband was desirous Izates should succeed him in the government, and thought him worthy so to do. However, I wait your determination; for happy is he who receives a kingdom, not from a single person only, but from the willing suffrages of a great many.” 20.28. This she said, in order to try those that were invited, and to discover their sentiments. Upon the hearing of which, they first of all paid their homage to the queen, as their custom was, and then they said that they confirmed the king’s determination, and would submit to it; and they rejoiced that Izates’s father had preferred him before the rest of his brethren, as being agreeable to all their wishes: 20.29. but that they were desirous first of all to slay his brethren and kinsmen, that so the government might come securely to Izates; because if they were once destroyed, all that fear would be over which might arise from their hatred and envy to him. 20.31. So since these men had not prevailed with her, when they advised her to slay them, they exhorted her at least to keep them in bonds till he should come, and that for their own security; they also gave her counsel to set up some one whom she could put the greatest trust in, as a governor of the kingdom in the mean time. 20.32. So queen Helena complied with this counsel of theirs, and set up Monobazus, the eldest son, to be king, and put the diadem upon his head, and gave him his father’s ring, with its signet; as also the ornament which they call Sampser, and exhorted him to administer the affairs of the kingdom till his brother should come; 20.33. who came suddenly upon hearing that his father was dead, and succeeded his brother Monobazus, who resigned up the government to him. 20.34. 3. Now, during the time Izates abode at Charax-Spasini, a certain Jewish merchant, whose name was Aias, got among the women that belonged to the king, and taught them to worship God according to the Jewish religion. 20.35. He, moreover, by their means, became known to Izates, and persuaded him, in like manner, to embrace that religion; he also, at the earnest entreaty of Izates, accompanied him when he was sent for by his father to come to Adiabene; it also happened that Helena, about the same time, was instructed by a certain other Jew and went over to them. 20.36. But when Izates had taken the kingdom, and was come to Adiabene, and there saw his brethren and other kinsmen in bonds, he was displeased at it; 20.37. and as he thought it an instance of impiety either to slay or imprison them, but still thought it a hazardous thing for to let them have their liberty, with the remembrance of the injuries that had been offered them, he sent some of them and their children for hostages to Rome, to Claudius Caesar, and sent the others to Artabanus, the king of Parthia, with the like intentions. 20.38. 4. And when he perceived that his mother was highly pleased with the Jewish customs, he made haste to change, and to embrace them entirely; and as he supposed that he could not be thoroughly a Jew unless he were circumcised, he was ready to have it done. 20.39. But when his mother understood what he was about, she endeavored to hinder him from doing it, and said to him that this thing would bring him into danger; and that, as he was a king, he would thereby bring himself into great odium among his subjects, when they should understand that he was so fond of rites that were to them strange and foreign; and that they would never bear to be ruled over by a Jew. 20.41. and said that he was afraid lest such an action being once become public to all, he should himself be in danger of punishment for having been the occasion of it, and having been the king’s instructor in actions that were of ill reputation; and he said that he might worship God without being circumcised, even though he did resolve to follow the Jewish law entirely, which worship of God was of a superior nature to circumcision. 20.42. He added, that God would forgive him, though he did not perform the operation, while it was omitted out of necessity, and for fear of his subjects. So the king at that time complied with these persuasions of Aias. 20.43. But afterwards, as he had not quite left off his desire of doing this thing, a certain other Jew that came out of Galilee, whose name was Eleazar, and who was esteemed very skillful in the learning of his country, persuaded him to do the thing; 20.44. for as he entered into his palace to salute him, and found him reading the law of Moses, he said to him, “Thou dost not consider, O king! that thou unjustly breakest the principal of those laws, and art injurious to God himself, [by omitting to be circumcised]; for thou oughtest not only to read them, but chiefly to practice what they enjoin thee. 20.45. How long wilt thou continue uncircumcised? But if thou hast not yet read the law about circumcision, and dost not know how great impiety thou art guilty of by neglecting it, read it now.” 20.46. When the king had heard what he said, he delayed the thing no longer, but retired to another room, and sent for a surgeon, and did what he was commanded to do. He then sent for his mother, and Aias his tutor, and informed them that he had done the thing; 20.47. upon which they were presently struck with astonishment and fear, and that to a great degree, lest the thing should be openly discovered and censured, and the king should hazard the loss of his kingdom, while his subjects would not bear to be governed by a man who was so zealous in another religion; and lest they should themselves run some hazard, because they would be supposed the occasion of his so doing. 20.48. But it was God himself who hindered what they feared from taking effect; for he preserved both Izates himself and his sons when they fell into many dangers, and procured their deliverance when it seemed to be impossible, and demonstrated thereby that the fruit of piety does not perish as to those that have regard to him, and fix their faith upon him only. But these events we shall relate hereafter. 20.49. 5. But as to Helena, the king’s mother, when she saw that the affairs of Izates’s kingdom were in peace, and that her son was a happy man, and admired among all men, and even among foreigners, by the means of God’s providence over him, she had a mind to go to the city of Jerusalem, in order to worship at that temple of God which was so very famous among all men, and to offer her thank-offerings there. So she desired her son to give her leave to go thither; 20.51. Now her coming was of very great advantage to the people of Jerusalem; for whereas a famine did oppress them at that time, and many people died for want of what was necessary to procure food withal, queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and others of them to Cyprus, to bring a cargo of dried figs. 20.52. And as soon as they were come back, and had brought those provisions, which was done very quickly, she distributed food to those that were in want of it, and left a most excellent memorial behind her of this benefaction, which she bestowed on our whole nation. 20.53. And when her son Izates was informed of this famine, he sent great sums of money to the principal men in Jerusalem. However, what favors this queen and king conferred upon our city Jerusalem shall be further related hereafter. 20.54. 1. But now Artabanus, king of the Parthians perceiving that the governors of the provinces had framed a plot against him, did not think it safe for him to continue among them; but resolved to go to Izates, in hopes of finding some way for his preservation by his means, and, if possible, for his return to his own dominions. 20.55. So he came to Izates, and brought a thousand of his kindred and servants with him, and met him upon the road 20.56. while he well knew Izates, but Izates did not know him. When Artabanus stood near him, and, in the first place, worshipped him, according to the custom, he then said to him, “O king! do not thou overlook me thy servant, nor do thou proudly reject the suit I make thee; for as I am reduced to a low estate, by the change of fortune, and of a king am become a private man, I stand in need of thy assistance. 20.57. Have regard, therefore, unto the uncertainty of fortune, and esteem the care thou shalt take of me to be taken of thyself also; for if I be neglected, and my subjects go off unpunished, many other subjects will become the more insolent towards other kings also.” 20.58. And this speech Artabanus made with tears in his eyes, and with a dejected countece. Now as soon as Izates heard Artabanus’s name, and saw him stand as a supplicant before him, he leaped down from his horse immediately 20.59. and said to him, “Take courage, O king! nor be disturbed at thy present calamity, as if it were incurable; for the change of thy sad condition shall be sudden; for thou shalt find me to be more thy friend and thy assistant than thy hopes can promise thee; for I will either re-establish thee in the kingdom of Parthia, or lose my own.” 20.61. So he complied with his desire, and leaped upon his horse; and when he had brought him to his royal palace, he showed him all sorts of respect when they sat together, and he gave him the upper place at festivals also, as regarding not his present fortune, but his former dignity, and that upon this consideration also, that the changes of fortune are common to all men. 20.62. He also wrote to the Parthians, to persuade them to receive Artabanus again; and gave them his right hand and his faith, that he should forget what was past and done, and that he would undertake for this as a mediator between them. 20.63. Now the Parthians did not themselves refuse to receive him again, but pleaded that it was not now in their power so to do, because they had committed the government to another person, who had accepted of it, and whose name was Cinnamus; and that they were afraid lest a civil war should arise on this account. 20.64. When Cinnamus understood their intentions, he wrote to Artabanus himself, for he had been brought up by him, and was of a nature good and gentle also, and desired him to put confidence in him, and to come and take his own dominions again. 20.65. Accordingly, Artabanus trusted him, and returned home; when Cinnamus met him, worshipped him, and saluted him as a king, and took the diadem off his own head, and put it on the head of Artabanus. 20.66. 3. And thus was Artahanus restored to his kingdom again by the means of Izates, when he had lost it by the means of the grandees of the kingdom. Nor was he unmindful of the benefits he had conferred upon him, but rewarded him with such honors as were of the greatest esteem among them; 20.67. for he gave him leave to wear his tiara upright, and to sleep upon a golden bed, which are privileges and marks of honor peculiar to the kings of Parthia. 20.68. He also cut off a large and fruitful country from the king of Armenia, and bestowed it upon him. The name of the country is Nisibis, wherein the Macedonians had formerly built that city which they called Antioch of Mygodonla. And these were the honors that were paid Izates by the king of the Parthians. 20.69. 4. But in no long time Artabanus died, and left his kingdom to his son Bardanes. Now this Bardanes came to Izates, and would have persuaded him to join him with his army, and to assist him in the war he was preparing to make with the Romans; 20.71. and having besides sent his sons, five in number, and they but young also, to learn accurately the language of our nation, together with our learning, as well as he had sent his mother to worship at our temple, as I have said already, was the more backward to a compliance; and restrained Bardanes, telling him perpetually of the great armies and famous actions of the Romans, and thought thereby to terrify him, and desired thereby to hinder him from that expedition. 20.72. But the Parthian king was provoked at this his behavior, and denounced war immediately against Izates. Yet did he gain no advantage by this war, because God cut off all his hopes therein; 20.73. for the Parthians perceiving Bardanes’s intentions, and how he had determined to make war with the Romans, slew him, and gave his kingdom to his brother Gotarzes. 20.74. He also, in no long time, perished by a plot made against him, and Vologases, his brother, succeeded him, who committed two of his provinces to two of his brothers by the same father; that of the Medes to the elder, Pacorus; and Armenia to the younger, Tiridates. 20.75. 1. Now when the king’s brother, Monobazus, and his other kindred, saw how Izates, by his piety to God, was become greatly esteemed by all men, they also had a desire to leave the religion of their country, and to embrace the customs of the Jews; 20.76. but that act of theirs was discovered by Izates’s subjects. Whereupon the grandees were much displeased, and could not contain their anger at them; but had an intention, when they should find a proper opportunity, to inflict a punishment upon them. 20.77. Accordingly, they wrote to Abia, king of the Arabians, and promised him great sums of money, if he would make an expedition against their king; and they further promised him, that, on the first onset, they would desert their king, because they were desirous to punish him, by reason of the hatred he had to their religious worship; then they obliged themselves, by oaths, to be faithful to each other, and desired that he would make haste in this design. 20.78. The king of Arabia complied with their desires, and brought a great army into the field, and marched against Izates; and, in the beginning of the first onset, and before they came to a close fight, those Handees, as if they had a panic terror upon them, all deserted Izates, as they had agreed to do, and, turning their backs upon their enemies, ran away. 20.79. Yet was not Izates dismayed at this; but when he understood that the grandees had betrayed him, he also retired into his camp, and made inquiry into the matter; and as soon as he knew who they were that had made this conspiracy with the king of Arabia, he cut off those that were found guilty; and renewing the fight on the next day, he slew the greatest part of his enemies 20.81. 2. But although the grandees of Adiabene had failed in their first attempt, as being delivered up by God into their king’s hands, yet would they not even then be quiet, but wrote again to Vologases, who was then king of Parthia, and desired that he would kill Izates, and set over them some other potentate, who should be of a Parthian family; for they said that they hated their own king for abrogating the laws of their forefathers, and embracing foreign customs. 20.82. When the king of Parthia heard this, he boldly made war upon Izates; and as he had no just pretense for this war, he sent to him, and demanded back those honorable privileges which had been bestowed on him by his father, and threatened, on his refusal, to make war upon him. 20.83. Upon hearing of this, Izates was under no small trouble of mind, as thinking it would be a reproach upon him to appear to resign those privileges that had been bestowed upon him out of cowardice; 20.84. yet because he knew, that though the king of Parthia should receive back those honors, yet would he not be quiet, he resolved to commit himself to God, his Protector, in the present danger he was in of his life; 20.85. and as he esteemed him to be his principal assistant, he intrusted his children and his wives to a very strong fortress, and laid up his corn in his citadels, and set the hay and the grass on fire. And when he had thus put things in order, as well as he could, he awaited the coming of the enemy. 20.86. And when the king of Parthia was come, with a great army of footmen and horsemen, which he did sooner than was expected, (for he marched in great haste,) and had cast up a bank at the river that parted Adiabene from Media,—Izates also pitched his camp not far off, having with him six thousand horsemen. 20.87. But there came a messenger to Izates, sent by the king of Parthia, who told him how large his dominions were, as reaching from the river Euphrates to Bactria, and enumerated that king’s subjects; 20.88. he also threatened him that he should be punished, as a person ungrateful to his lords; and said that the God whom he worshipped could not deliver him out of the king’s hands. 20.89. When the messenger had delivered this his message, Izates replied that he knew the king of Parthia’s power was much greater than his own; but that he knew also that God was much more powerful than all men. And when he had returned him this answer, he betook himself to make supplication to God, and threw himself upon the ground, and put ashes upon his head, in testimony of his confusion, and fasted, together with his wives and children. Then he called upon God, and said 20.91. Thus did he lament and bemoan himself, with tears in his eyes; whereupon God heard his prayer. And immediately that very night Vologases received letters, the contents of which were these, that a great band of Dahe and Sacse, despising him, now he was gone so long a journey from home, had made an expedition, and laid Parthia waste; so that he [was forced to] retire back, without doing any thing. And thus it was that Izates escaped the threatenings of the Parthians, by the providence of God. 20.92. 3. It was not long ere Izates died, when he had completed fifty-five years of his life, and had ruled his kingdom twenty-four years. He left behind him twenty-four sons and twenty-four daughters. 20.93. However, he gave order that his brother Monobazus should succeed in the government, thereby requiting him, because, while he was himself absent after their father’s death, he had faithfully preserved the government for him. 20.94. But when Helena, his mother, heard of her son’s death, she was in great heaviness, as was but natural, upon her loss of such a most dutiful son; yet was it a comfort to her that she heard the succession came to her eldest son. Accordingly, she went to him in haste; and when she was come into Adiabene, she did not long outlive her son Izates. 20.95. But Monobazus sent her bones, as well as those of Izates, his brother, to Jerusalem, and gave order that they should be buried at the pyramids which their mother had erected; they were three in number, and distant no more than three furlongs from the city Jerusalem. 20.96. But for the actions of Monobazus the king, which he did during the rest of his life, we will relate them hereafter. 20.267. with which accounts I shall put an end to these Antiquities, which are contained in twenty books, and sixty thousand verses. And if God permit me, I will briefly run over this war again, with what befell us therein to this very day, which is the thirteenth year of the reign of Caesar Domitian, and the fifty-sixth year of my own life. |
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7. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 2.103, 7.252-7.406 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.103. This man deceived the Jews that were at Crete, and got a great deal of money of them for traveling in splendor; and thence sailed to Melos, where he was thought so certainly genuine, that he got a great deal more money, and prevailed with those that had treated him to sail along with him to Rome. 7.252. 1. When Bassus was dead in Judea, Flavius Silva succeeded him as procurator there; who, when he saw that all the rest of the country was subdued in this war, and that there was but one only stronghold that was still in rebellion, he got all his army together that lay in different places, and made an expedition against it. This fortress was called Masada. 7.253. It was one Eleazar, a potent man, and the commander of these Sicarii, that had seized upon it. He was a descendant from that Judas who had persuaded abundance of the Jews, as we have formerly related, not to submit to the taxation when Cyrenius was sent into Judea to make one; 7.254. for then it was that the Sicarii got together against those that were willing to submit to the Romans, and treated them in all respects as if they had been their enemies, both by plundering them of what they had, by driving away their cattle, and by setting fire to their houses; 7.255. for they said that they differed not at all from foreigners, by betraying, in so cowardly a manner, that freedom which Jews thought worthy to be contended for to the utmost, and by owning that they preferred slavery under the Romans before such a contention. 7.256. Now this was in reality no better than a pretense and a cloak for the barbarity which was made use of by them, and to color over their own avarice, which they afterwards made evident by their own actions; 7.257. for those that were partners with them in their rebellion joined also with them in the war against the Romans, and went further lengths with them in their impudent undertakings against them; 7.258. and when they were again convicted of dissembling in such their pretenses, they still more abused those that justly reproached them for their wickedness. 7.259. And indeed that was a time most fertile in all manner of wicked practices, insomuch that no kind of evil deeds were then left undone; nor could anyone so much as devise any bad thing that was new 7.261. The one part were desirous of tyrannizing over others, and the rest of offering violence to others, and of plundering such as were richer than themselves. 7.262. They were the Sicarii who first began these transgressions, and first became barbarous towards those allied to them, and left no words of reproach unsaid, and no works of perdition untried, in order to destroy those whom their contrivances affected. 7.263. Yet did John demonstrate by his actions that these Sicarii were more moderate than he was himself, for he not only slew all such as gave him good counsel to do what was right, but treated them worst of all, as the most bitter enemies that he had among all the Citizens; nay, he filled his entire country with ten thousand instances of wickedness, such as a man who was already hardened sufficiently in his impiety towards God would naturally do; 7.264. for the food was unlawful that was set upon his table, and he rejected those purifications that the law of his country had ordained; so that it was no longer a wonder if he, who was so mad in his impiety towards God, did not observe any rules of gentleness and common affection towards men. 7.265. Again, therefore, what mischief was there which Simon the son of Gioras did not do? or what kind of abuses did he abstain from as to those very free-men who had set him up for a tyrant? 7.266. What friendship or kindred were there that did not make him more bold in his daily murders? for they looked upon the doing of mischief to strangers only as a work beneath their courage, but thought their barbarity towards their nearest relations would be a glorious demonstration thereof. 7.267. The Idumeans also strove with these men who should be guilty of the greatest madness! for they [all], vile wretches as they were, cut the throats of the high priests, that so no part of a religious regard to God might be preserved; they thence proceeded to destroy utterly the least remains of a political government 7.268. and introduced the most complete scene of iniquity in all instances that were practicable; under which scene that sort of people that were called zealots grew up, and who indeed corresponded to the name; 7.269. for they imitated every wicked work; nor, if their memory suggested any evil thing that had formerly been done, did they avoid zealously to pursue the same; 7.271. Accordingly, they all met with such ends as God deservedly brought upon them in way of punishment; 7.272. for all such miseries have been sent upon them as man’s nature is capable of undergoing, till the utmost period of their lives, and till death came upon them in various ways of torment; 7.273. yet might one say justly that they suffered less than they had done, because it was impossible they could be punished according to their deserving. 7.274. But to make a lamentation according to the deserts of those who fell under these men’s barbarity, this is not a proper place for it;—I therefore now return again to the remaining part of the present narration. 7.275. 2. For now it was that the Roman general came, and led his army against Eleazar and those Sicarii who held the fortress Masada together with him; and for the whole country adjoining, he presently gained it, and put garrisons into the most proper places of it; 7.276. he also built a wall quite round the entire fortress, that none of the besieged might easily escape; he also set his men to guard the several parts of it; 7.277. he also pitched his camp in such an agreeable place as he had chosen for the siege, and at which place the rock belonging to the fortress did make the nearest approach to the neighboring mountain, which yet was a place of difficulty for getting plenty of provisions; 7.278. for it was not only food that was to be brought from a great distance [to the army], and this with a great deal of pain to those Jews who were appointed for that purpose, but water was also to be brought to the camp, because the place afforded no fountain that was near it. 7.279. When therefore Silva had ordered these affairs beforehand, he fell to besieging the place; which siege was likely to stand in need of a great deal of skill and pains, by reason of the strength of the fortress, the nature of which I will now describe. 7.281. Now, of the ways that lead to it, one is that from the lake Asphaltitis, towards the sunrising, and another on the west, where the ascent is easier: 7.282. the one of these ways is called the Serpent, as resembling that animal in its narrowness and its perpetual windings; for it is broken off at the prominent precipices of the rock, and returns frequently into itself, and lengthening again by little and little, hath much ado to proceed forward; 7.283. and he that would walk along it must first go on one leg, and then on the other; there is also nothing but destruction, in case your feet slip; for on each side there is a vastly deep chasm and precipice, sufficient to quell the courage of everybody by the terror it infuses into the mind. 7.284. When, therefore, a man hath gone along this way for thirty furlongs, the rest is the top of the hill—not ending at a small point, but is no other than a plain upon the highest part of the mountain. 7.285. Upon this top of the hill, Jonathan the high priest first of all built a fortress, and called it Masada: after which the rebuilding of this place employed the care of king Herod to a great degree; 7.286. he also built a wall round about the entire top of the hill, seven furlongs long; it was composed of white stone; its height was twelve, and its breadth eight cubits; 7.287. there were also erected upon that wall thirty-eight towers, each of them fifty cubits high; out of which you might pass into lesser edifices, which were built on the inside, round the entire wall; 7.288. for the king reserved the top of the hill, which was of a fat soil, and better mould than any valley for agriculture, that such as committed themselves to this fortress for their preservation might not even there be quite destitute of food, in case they should ever be in want of it from abroad. 7.289. Moreover, he built a palace therein at the western ascent; it was within and beneath the walls of the citadel, but inclined to its north side. Now the wall of this palace was very high and strong, and had at its four corners towers sixty cubits high. 7.291. at every one of the places that were inhabited, both above and round about the palace, and before the wall; and by this contrivance he endeavored to have water for several uses, as if there had been fountains there. 7.292. Here was also a road digged from the palace, and leading to the very top of the mountain, which yet could not be seen by such as were without [the walls]; nor indeed could enemies easily make use of the plain roads; 7.293. for the road on the east side, as we have already taken notice, could not be walked upon, by reason of its nature; and for the western road, he built a large tower at its narrowest place, at no less a distance from the top of the hill than a thousand cubits; which tower could not possibly be passed by, nor could it be easily taken; nor indeed could those that walked along it without any fear (such was its contrivance) easily get to the end of it; 7.294. and after such a manner was this citadel fortified, both by nature and by the hands of men, in order to frustrate the attacks of enemies. 7.295. 4. As for the furniture that was within this fortress, it was still more wonderful on account of its splendor and long continuance; 7.296. for here was laid up corn in large quantities, and such as would subsist men for a long time; here was also wine and oil in abundance, with all kinds of pulse and dates heaped up together; 7.297. all which Eleazar found there, when he and his Sicarii got possession of the fortress by treachery. These fruits were also fresh and full ripe, and no way inferior to such fruits newly laid in, although they were little short of a hundred years from the laying in these provisions [by Herod], till the place was taken by the Romans; nay, indeed, when the Romans got possession of those fruits that were left, they found them not corrupted all that while; 7.298. nor should we be mistaken, if we supposed that the air was here the cause of their enduring so long; this fortress being so high, and so free from the mixture of all terrene and muddy particles of matter. 7.299. There was also found here a large quantity of all sorts of weapons of war, which had been treasured up by that king, and were sufficient for ten thousand men; there was cast iron, and brass, and tin, which show that he had taken much pains to have all things here ready for the greatest occasions; 7.301. who did not conceal her intentions, but spoke often to Antony, and desired him to cut off Herod, and entreated him to bestow the kingdom of Judea upon her. 7.302. And certainly it is a great wonder that Antony did never comply with her commands in this point, as he was so miserably enslaved to his passion for her; nor should anyone have been surprised if she had been gratified in such her request. 7.303. So the fear of these dangers made Herod rebuild Masada, and thereby leave it for the finishing stroke of the Romans in this Jewish war. 7.304. 5. Since therefore the Roman commander Silva had now built a wall on the outside, round about this whole place, as we have said already, and had thereby made a most accurate provision to prevent anyone of the besieged running away, he undertook the siege itself, though he found but one single place that would admit of the banks he was to raise; 7.305. for behind that tower which secured the road that led to the palace, and to the top of the hill from the west; there was a certain eminency of the rock, very broad and very prominent, but three hundred cubits beneath the highest part of Masada; it was called the White Promontory. 7.306. Accordingly, he got upon that part of the rock, and ordered the army to bring earth; and when they fell to that work with alacrity, and abundance of them together, the bank was raised, and became solid for two hundred cubits in height. 7.307. Yet was not this bank thought sufficiently high for the use of the engines that were to be set upon it; but still another elevated work of great stones compacted together was raised upon that bank; this was fifty cubits, both in breadth and height. 7.308. The other machines that were now got ready were like to those that had been first devised by Vespasian, and afterward by Titus, for sieges. 7.309. There was also a tower made of the height of sixty cubits, and all over plated with iron, out of which the Romans threw darts and stones from the engines, and soon made those that fought from the walls of the place to retire, and would not let them lift up their heads above the works. 7.311. However, the Sicarii made haste, and presently built another wall within that, which should not be liable to the same misfortune from the machines with the other; it was made soft and yielding, and so was capable of avoiding the terrible blows that affected the other. It was framed after the following manner: 7.312. They laid together great beams of wood lengthways, one close to the end of another, and the same way in which they were cut: there were two of these rows parallel to one another, and laid at such a distance from each other as the breadth of the wall required, and earth was put into the space between those rows. 7.313. Now, that the earth might not fall away upon the elevation of this bank to a greater height, they further laid other beams over across them, and thereby bound those beams together that lay lengthways. 7.314. This work of theirs was like a real edifice; and when the machines were applied, the blows were weakened by its yielding; and as the materials by such concussion were shaken closer together, the pile by that means became firmer than before. 7.315. When Silva saw this, he thought it best to endeavor the taking of this wall by setting fire to it; so he gave order that the soldiers should throw a great number of burning torches upon it: 7.316. accordingly, as it was chiefly made of wood, it soon took fire; and when it was once set on fire, its hollowness made that fire spread to a mighty flame. 7.317. Now, at the very beginning of this fire, a north wind that then blew proved terrible to the Romans; for by bringing the flame downward, it drove it upon them, and they were almost in despair of success, as fearing their machines would be burnt: 7.318. but after this, on a sudden the wind changed into the south, as if it were done by Divine Providence, and blew strongly the contrary way, and carried the flame, and drove it against the wall, which was now on fire through its entire thickness. 7.319. So the Romans, having now assistance from God, returned to their camp with joy, and resolved to attack their enemies the very next day; on which occasion they set their watch more carefully that night, lest any of the Jews should run away from them without being discovered. 7.321. but when he saw their wall burned down by the fire, and could devise no other way of escaping, or room for their further courage, and setting before their eyes what the Romans would do to them, their children, and their wives, if they got them into their power, he consulted about having them all slain. 7.322. Now, as he judged this to be the best thing they could do in their present circumstances, he gathered the most courageous of his companions together, and encouraged them to take that course by a speech which he made to them in the manner following: 7.323. “Since we, long ago, my generous friends, resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice. 7.324. And let us not at this time bring a reproach upon ourselves for self-contradiction, while we formerly would not undergo slavery, though it were then without danger, but must now, together with slavery, choose such punishments also as are intolerable; I mean this, upon the supposition that the Romans once reduce us under their power while we are alive. We were the very first that revolted from them, and we are the last that fight against them; 7.325. and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God hath granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom, which hath not been the case of others, who were conquered unexpectedly. 7.326. It is very plain that we shall be taken within a day’s time; but it is still an eligible thing to die after a glorious manner, together with our dearest friends. This is what our enemies themselves cannot by any means hinder, although they be very desirous to take us alive. Nor can we propose to ourselves any more to fight them, and beat them. 7.327. It had been proper indeed for us to have conjectured at the purpose of God much sooner, and at the very first, when we were so desirous of defending our liberty, and when we received such sore treatment from one another, and worse treatment from our enemies, and to have been sensible that the same God, who had of old taken the Jewish nation into his favor, had now condemned them to destruction; 7.328. for had he either continued favorable, or been but in a lesser degree displeased with us, he had not overlooked the destruction of so many men, or delivered his most holy city to be burnt and demolished by our enemies. 7.329. To be sure we weakly hoped to have preserved ourselves, and ourselves alone, still in a state of freedom, as if we had been guilty of no sins ourselves against God, nor been partners with those of others; we also taught other men to preserve their liberty. 7.331. for the nature of this fortress which was in itself unconquerable, hath not proved a means of our deliverance; and even while we have still great abundance of food, and a great quantity of arms, and other necessaries more than we want, we are openly deprived by God himself of all hope of deliverance; 7.332. for that fire which was driven upon our enemies did not of its own accord turn back upon the wall which we had built; this was the effect of God’s anger against us for our manifold sins, which we have been guilty of in a most insolent and extravagant manner with regard to our own countrymen; 7.333. the punishments of which let us not receive from the Romans, but from God himself, as executed by our own hands; for these will be more moderate than the other. 7.334. Let our wives die before they are abused, and our children before they have tasted of slavery; and after we have slain them, let us bestow that glorious benefit upon one another mutually, and preserve ourselves in freedom, as an excellent funeral monument for us. 7.335. But first let us destroy our money and the fortress by fire; for I am well assured that this will be a great grief to the Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our bodies, and shall fail of our wealth also; 7.336. and let us spare nothing but our provisions; for they will be a testimonial when we are dead that we were not subdued for want of necessaries, but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death before slavery.” 7.337. 7. This was Eleazar’s speech to them. Yet did not the opinions of all the auditors acquiesce therein; but although some of them were very zealous to put his advice in practice, and were in a manner filled with pleasure at it, and thought death to be a good thing 7.338. yet had those that were most effeminate a commiseration for their wives and families; and when these men were especially moved by the prospect of their own certain death, they looked wistfully at one another, and by the tears that were in their eyes declared their dissent from his opinion. 7.339. When Eleazar saw these people in such fear, and that their souls were dejected at so prodigious a proposal, he was afraid lest perhaps these effeminate persons should, by their lamentations and tears, enfeeble those that heard what he had said courageously; 7.341. So he made a lamentable groan, and fixing his eyes intently on those that wept, he spake thus:—“Truly, I was greatly mistaken when I thought to be assisting to brave men who struggled hard for their liberty, and to such as were resolved either to live with honor, or else to die; 7.342. but I find that you are such people as are no better than others, either in virtue or in courage, and are afraid of dying, though you be delivered thereby from the greatest miseries, while you ought to make no delay in this matter, nor to await anyone to give you good advice; 7.343. for the laws of our country, and of God himself, have from ancient times, and as soon as ever we could use our reason, continually taught us, and our forefathers have corroborated the same doctrine by their actions, and by their bravery of mind, that it is life that is a calamity to men, and not death; 7.344. for this last affords our souls their liberty, and sends them by a removal into their own place of purity, where they are to be insensible of all sorts of misery; for while souls are tied down to a mortal body, they are partakers of its miseries; and really, to speak the truth, they are themselves dead; for the union of what is divine to what is mortal is disagreeable. 7.345. It is true, the power of the soul is great, even when it is imprisoned in a mortal body; for by moving it after a way that is invisible, it makes the body a sensible instrument, and causes it to advance further in its actions than mortal nature could otherwise do. 7.346. However, when it is freed from that weight which draws it down to the earth and is connected with it, it obtains its own proper place, and does then become a partaker of that blessed power, and those abilities, which are then every way incapable of being hindered in their operations. It continues invisible, indeed, to the eyes of men, as does God himself; 7.347. for certainly it is not itself seen while it is in the body; for it is there after an invisible manner, and when it is freed from it, it is still not seen. It is this soul which hath one nature, and that an incorruptible one also; but yet it is the cause of the change that is made in the body; 7.348. for whatsoever it be which the soul touches, that lives and flourishes; and from whatsoever it is removed, that withers away and dies; such a degree is there in it of immortality. 7.349. Let me produce the state of sleep as a most evident demonstration of the truth of what I say; wherein souls, when the body does not distract them, have the sweetest rest depending on themselves, and conversing with God, by their alliance to him; they then go everywhere, and foretell many futurities beforehand. 7.351. We, therefore, who have been brought up in a discipline of our own, ought to become an example to others of our readiness to die; yet if we dostand in need of foreigners to support us in this matter, let us regard those Indians who profess the exercise of philosophy; 7.352. for these good men do but unwillingly undergo the time of life, and look upon it as a necessary servitude 7.353. and make haste to let their souls loose from their bodies; nay, when no misfortune presses them to it, nor drives them upon it, these have such a desire of a life of immortality, that they tell other men beforehand that they are about to depart; and nobody hinders them, but everyone thinks them happy men, and gives them letters to be carried to their familiar friends [that are dead]; 7.354. o firmly and certainly do they believe that souls converse with one another [in the other world]. 7.355. So when these men have heard all such commands that were to be given them, they deliver their body to the fire; and, in order to their getting their soul a separation from the body in the greatest purity, they die in the midst of hymns of commendations made to them; 7.356. for their dearest friends conduct them to their death more readily than do any of the rest of mankind conduct their fellow-citizens when they are going a very long journey, who at the same time weep on their own account, but look upon the others as happy persons, as so soon to be made partakers of the immortal order of beings. 7.357. Are not we, therefore, ashamed to have lower notions than the Indians? and by our own cowardice to lay a base reproach upon the laws of our country, which are so much desired and imitated by all mankind? 7.358. But put the case that we had been brought up under another persuasion, and taught that life is the greatest good which men are capable of, and that death is a calamity; however, the circumstances we are now in ought to be an inducement to us to bear such calamity courageously, since it is by the will of God, and by necessity, that we are to die; 7.359. for it now appears that God hath made such a decree against the whole Jewish nation, that we are to be deprived of this life which [he knew] we would not make a due use of. 7.361. What Roman weapons, I pray you, were those by which the Jews at Caesarea were slain? 7.362. On the contrary, when they were no way disposed to rebel, but were all the while keeping their seventh day festival, and did not so much as lift up their hands against the citizens of Caesarea, yet did those citizens run upon them in great crowds, and cut their throats, and the throats of their wives and children, and this without any regard to the Romans themselves, who never took us for their enemies till we revolted from them. 7.363. But some may be ready to say, that truly the people of Caesarea had always a quarrel against those that lived among them, and that when an opportunity offered itself, they only satisfied the old rancor they had against them. 7.364. What then shall we say to those of Scythopolis, who ventured to wage war with us on account of the Greeks? Nor did they do it by way of revenge upon the Romans, when they acted in concert with our countrymen. 7.365. Wherefore you see how little our goodwill and fidelity to them profited us, while they were slain, they and their whole families, after the most inhuman manner, which was all the requital that was made them for the assistance they had afforded the others; 7.366. for that very same destruction which they had prevented from falling upon the others did they suffer themselves from them, as if they had been ready to be the actors against them. It would be too long for me to speak at this time of every destruction brought upon us; 7.367. for you cannot but know that there was not anyone Syrian city which did not slay their Jewish inhabitants, and were not more bitter enemies to us than were the Romans themselves; 7.368. nay, even those of Damascus, when they were able to allege no tolerable pretense against us, filled their city with the most barbarous slaughters of our people, and cut the throats of eighteen thousand Jews, with their wives and children. 7.369. And as to the multitude of those that were slain in Egypt, and that with torments also, we have been informed they were more than sixty thousand; those, indeed, being in a foreign country, and so naturally meeting with nothing to oppose against their enemies, were killed in the manner forementioned. As for all those of us who have waged war against the Romans in our own country, had we not sufficient reason to have sure hopes of victory? 7.371. But then these advantages sufficed us but for a short time, and only raised our hopes, while they really appeared to be the origin of our miseries; for all we had hath been taken from us, and all hath fallen under our enemies, as if these advantages were only to render their victory over us the more glorious, and were not disposed for the preservation of those by whom these preparations were made. 7.372. And as for those that are already dead in the war, it is reasonable we should esteem them blessed, for they are dead in defending, and not in betraying their liberty; but as to the multitude of those that are now under the Romans, who would not pity their condition? and who would not make haste to die, before he would suffer the same miseries with them? 7.373. Some of them have been put upon the rack, and tortured with fire and whippings, and so died. Some have been halfdevoured by wild beasts, and yet have been reserved alive to be devoured by them a second time, in order to afford laughter and sport to our enemies; 7.374. and such of those as are alive still are to be looked on as the most miserable, who, being so desirous of death, could not come at it. 7.375. And where is now that great city, the metropolis of the Jewish nation, which was fortified by so many walls round about, which had so many fortresses and large towers to defend it, which could hardly contain the instruments prepared for the war, and which had so many ten thousands of men to fight for it? 7.376. Where is this city that was believed to have God himself inhabiting therein? It is now demolished to the very foundations, and hath nothing but that monument of it preserved, I mean the camp of those that hath destroyed it, which still dwells upon its ruins; 7.377. ome unfortunate old men also lie upon the ashes of the temple, and a few women are there preserved alive by the enemy, for our bitter shame and reproach. 7.378. Now, who is there that revolves these things in his mind, and yet is able to bear the sight of the sun, though he might live out of danger? Who is there so much his country’s enemy, or so unmanly, and so desirous of living, as not to repent that he is still alive? 7.379. And I cannot but wish that we had all died before we had seen that holy city demolished by the hands of our enemies, or the foundations of our holy temple dug up after so profane a manner. 7.381. for we were born to die, as well as those were whom we have begotten; nor is it in the power of the most happy of our race to avoid it. 7.382. But for abuses, and slavery, and the sight of our wives led away after an ignominious manner, with their children, these are not such evils as are natural and necessary among men; although such as do not prefer death before those miseries, when it is in their power so to do, must undergo even them, on account of their own cowardice. 7.383. We revolted from the Romans with great pretensions to courage; and when, at the very last, they invited us to preserve ourselves, we would not comply with them. 7.384. Who will not, therefore, believe that they will certainly be in a rage at us, in case they can take us alive? Miserable will then be the young men who will be strong enough in their bodies to sustain many torments! miserable also will be those of elder years, who will not be able to bear those calamities which young men might sustain. 7.385. One man will be obliged to hear the voice of his son implore help of his father, when his hands are bound. 7.386. But certainly our hands are still at liberty, and have a sword in them; let them then be subservient to us in our glorious design; let us die before we become slaves under our enemies, and let us go out of the world, together with our children and our wives, in a state of freedom. 7.387. This it is that our laws command us to do; this it is that our wives and children crave at our hands; nay, God himself hath brought this necessity upon us; while the Romans desire the contrary, and are afraid lest any of us should die before we are taken. 7.388. Let us therefore make haste, and instead of affording them so much pleasure, as they hope for in getting us under their power, let us leave them an example which shall at once cause their astonishment at our death, and their admiration of our hardiness therein.” 7.389. 1. Now as Eleazar was proceeding on in this exhortation, they all cut him off short, and made haste to do the work, as full of an unconquerable ardor of mind, and moved with a demoniacal fury. So they went their ways, as one still endeavoring to be before another, and as thinking that this eagerness would be a demonstration of their courage and good conduct, if they could avoid appearing in the last class; so great was the zeal they were in to slay their wives and children, and themselves also! 7.391. for the husbands tenderly embraced their wives, and took their children into their arms, and gave the longest parting kisses to them, with tears in their eyes. 7.392. Yet at the same time did they complete what they had resolved on, as if they had been executed by the hands of strangers; and they had nothing else for their comfort but the necessity they were in of doing this execution, to avoid that prospect they had of the miseries they were to suffer from their enemies. 7.393. Nor was there at length anyone of these men found that scrupled to act their part in this terrible execution, but every one of them dispatched his dearest relations. Miserable men indeed were they! whose distress forced them to slay their own wives and children with their own hands, as the lightest of those evils that were before them. 7.394. So they being not able to bear the grief they were under for what they had done any longer, and esteeming it an injury to those they had slain, to live even the shortest space of time after them,—they presently laid all they had upon a heap, and set fire to it. 7.395. They then chose ten men by lot out of them to slay all the rest; every one of whom laid himself down by his wife and children on the ground, and threw his arms about them, and they offered their necks to the stroke of those who by lot executed that melancholy office; 7.396. and when these ten had, without fear, slain them all, they made the same rule for casting lots for themselves, that he whose lot it was should first kill the other nine, and after all should kill himself. Accordingly, all these had courage sufficient to be no way behind one another in doing or suffering; 7.397. o, for a conclusion, the nine offered their necks to the executioner, and he who was the last of all took a view of all the other bodies, lest perchance some or other among so many that were slain should want his assistance to be quite dispatched; and when he perceived that they were all slain, he set fire to the palace, and with the great force of his hand ran his sword entirely through himself, and fell down dead near to his own relations. 7.398. So these people died with this intention, that they would not leave so much as one soul among them all alive to be subject to the Romans. 7.399. Yet was there an ancient woman, and another who was of kin to Eleazar, and superior to most women in prudence and learning, with five children, who had concealed themselves in caverns under ground, and had carried water thither for their drink, and were hidden there when the rest were intent upon the slaughter of one another. 7.401. This calamitous slaughter was made on the fifteenth day of the month Xanthicus [Nisan]. 7.402. 2. Now for the Romans, they expected that they should be fought in the morning, when, accordingly, they put on their armor, and laid bridges of planks upon their ladders from their banks, to make an assault upon the fortress, which they did; 7.403. but saw nobody as an enemy, but a terrible solitude on every side, with a fire within the place, as well as a perfect silence. So they were at a loss to guess at what had happened. At length they made a shout, as if it had been at a blow given by the batteringram, to try whether they could bring anyone out that was within; 7.404. the women heard this noise, and came out of their underground cavern, and informed the Romans what had been done, as it was done; and the second of them clearly described all both what was said and what was done, and the manner of it; 7.405. yet did they not easily give their attention to such a desperate undertaking, and did not believe it could be as they said; they also attempted to put the fire out, and quickly cutting themselves a way through it, they came within the palace 7.406. and so met with the multitude of the slain, but could take no pleasure in the fact, though it were done to their enemies. Nor could they do other than wonder at the courage of their resolution, and the immovable contempt of death which so great a number of them had shown, when they went through with such an action as that was. |
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8. Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, 1.247, 2.257, 2.261 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.247. on which account he received him, and took care of all the multitude that was with him, while the country supplied all that was necessary for the food of the men. He also allotted cities and villages for this exile, that was to be from its beginning during those fatally determined thirteen years. Moreover, he pitched a camp for his Ethiopian army, as a guard to king Amenophis, upon the borders of Egypt. 2.257. Nay, Plato principally imitated our legislator in this point, that he enjoined his citizens to have the main regard to this precept, “That every one of them should learn their laws accurately.” He also ordained, that they should not admit of foreigners intermixing with their own people at random; and provided that the commonwealth should keep itself pure, and consist of such only as persevered in their own laws. 2.261. whereas we, though we do not think fit to imitate other institutions, yet do we willingly admit of those that desire to partake of ours, which I think I may reckon to be a plain indication of our humanity, and at the same time of our magimity also. /p |
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9. Josephus Flavius, Life, 74, 102 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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10. Juvenal, Satires, 3.119 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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11. Mishnah, Yoma, 7.1 (1st cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 7.1. The high priest [then] came to read. If he wished to read in linen garments, he reads, and if not he reads in his own white cloak. The synagogue attendant would take a Torah scroll and give it to the head of the synagogue, and the head of the synagogue gives it to deputy high priest, and the deputy high priest gives it to the high priest, and the high priest stands and receives it, and reads, [section] beginning] “After the death …” (Leviticus 16:1-34) and “But on the tenth…” (Leviticus 23:26-32). Then he would roll up the Torah scroll and put it in his bosom and say, “More than what I have read out before you is written here.” And “On the tenth …” (Numbers 29:7-11) which is in the Book of Numbers he recites by heart. And he recites on it eight benedictions: “For the law”, “For the Temple service,” “For thanksgiving,” “For the forgiveness of sins” and “For the Temple” on its own, and “For Israel” on its own and “For Jerusalem” on its own, “For the priests” on their own and “For the rest of the prayer.”" |
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12. New Testament, 1 Peter, 2.18, 5.14 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.18. Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the wicked. 5.14. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. |
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13. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 1.1, 1.11, 1.14-1.16, 1.23, 4.11-4.14, 5.1, 5.3-5.5, 5.9, 7.1, 7.25, 8.1, 9.3, 10.31, 12.1-12.2, 16.1, 16.6, 16.9, 16.11, 16.15, 16.19 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.1. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the willof God, and our brother Sosthenes 1.11. For it has been reported to me concerning you, mybrothers, by those who are from Chloe's household, that there arecontentions among you. 1.14. I thank God that Ibaptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius 1.15. o that no oneshould say that I had baptized you into my own name. 1.16. (I alsobaptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don't know whetherI baptized any other.) 1.23. but we preach Christ crucified; astumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks 4.11. Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, arenaked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place. 4.12. We toil,working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted,we endure. 4.13. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filthof the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even until now. 4.14. I don'twrite these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my belovedchildren. 5.1. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality amongyou, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among theGentiles, that one has his father's wife. 5.3. For I most assuredly, as being absent in body butpresent in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged himwho has done this thing. 5.4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our LordJesus Christ 5.5. are to deliver such a one to Satan for thedestruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day ofthe Lord Jesus. 5.9. I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners; 7.1. Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it isgood for a man not to touch a woman. 7.25. Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord,but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord tobe trustworthy. 8.1. Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we allhave knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 9.3. My defense to those who examine me isthis. 10.31. Whether thereforeyou eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 12.1. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I don't want you tobe ignorant. 12.2. You know that when you were heathen, you were ledaway to those mute idols, however you might be led. 16.1. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commandedthe assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise. 16.6. But with you itmay be that I will stay, or even winter, that you may send me on myjourney wherever I go. 16.9. for a greatand effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 16.11. Therefore let noone despise him. But set him forward on his journey in peace, that hemay come to me; for I expect him with the brothers. 16.15. Now I beg you, brothers (you know the house of Stephanas,that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have setthemselves to minister to the saints) 16.19. The assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greetyou much in the Lord, together with the assembly that is in theirhouse. |
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14. New Testament, 1 Thessalonians, 1.9-1.10, 2.2, 2.14-2.18, 3.5, 3.13, 4.1-4.12 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.9. For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you; and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God 1.10. and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead -- Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. 2.2. but having suffered before and been shamefully treated, as you know, at Philippi, we grew bold in our God to tell you the gospel of God in much conflict. 2.14. For you, brothers, became imitators of the assemblies of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus; for you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews; 2.15. who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and didn't please God, and are contrary to all men; 2.16. forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost. 2.17. But we, brothers, being bereaved of you for a short season, in presence, not in heart, tried even harder to see your face with great desire 2.18. because we wanted to come to you -- indeed, I, Paul, once and again -- but Satan hindered us. 3.5. For this cause I also, when I couldn't stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain. 3.13. to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. 4.1. Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more. 4.2. For you know what charge we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 4.3. For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality 4.4. that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor 4.5. not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don't know God; 4.6. that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified. 4.7. For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. 4.8. Therefore he who rejects doesn't reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you. 4.9. But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that one write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another 4.10. for indeed you do it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, that you abound more and more; 4.11. and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we charged you; 4.12. that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing. |
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15. New Testament, 1 Timothy, 2.7-2.9 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.7. to which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth in Christ, not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 2.8. I desire therefore that the men in every place pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. 2.9. In the same way, that women also adorn themselves in decent clothing, with modesty and propriety; not just with braided hair, gold, pearls, or expensive clothing; |
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16. New Testament, 3 John, 10 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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17. New Testament, 2 Corinthians, 1.1, 1.15-1.16, 2.3, 2.5, 7.6, 7.8, 7.12, 11.7-11.9, 11.24, 11.26, 12.14, 13.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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18. New Testament, 2 Thessalonians, 3.17 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 3.17. The greeting of me, Paul, with my own hand, which is the sign in every letter: this is how I write. |
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19. New Testament, 2 Timothy, 3.6, 4.19 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 3.6. For of these are those who creep into houses, and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts 4.19. Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus. |
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20. New Testament, Acts, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.20, 2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.14, 2.15, 2.16, 2.17, 2.18, 2.19, 2.20, 2.21, 2.22, 2.23, 2.24, 2.25, 2.26, 2.27, 2.28, 2.29, 2.30, 2.31, 2.32, 2.33, 2.34, 2.35, 2.36, 2.37, 2.38, 2.39, 2.40, 3.17, 3.18, 3.19, 3.20, 3.21, 3.22, 3.23, 3.24, 3.25, 3.26, 4.10, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 5.11, 6.1, 6.9, 6.10, 6.11, 6.12, 6.13, 6.14, 6.15, 7.48, 7.49, 7.50, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 8.10, 8.11, 8.12, 8.13, 8.14, 8.15, 8.16, 8.17, 8.18, 8.19, 8.20, 8.21, 8.22, 8.23, 8.24, 8.25, 8.26, 8.27, 8.28, 8.29, 8.30, 8.31, 8.32, 8.33, 8.34, 8.35, 8.36, 8.37, 8.38, 8.39, 8.40, 9.1, 9.2, 9.10, 9.25, 9.32, 9.33, 9.34, 9.35, 9.36, 9.37, 9.38, 9.39, 9.40, 9.41, 9.42, 10, 10.1-11.18, 10.20, 10.24, 10.25, 10.26, 10.27, 10.28, 10.29, 10.30, 10.31, 10.32, 10.33, 10.34, 10.35, 10.36, 10.37, 10.38, 10.39, 10.40, 10.41, 10.42, 10.43, 10.44, 10.45, 10.46, 10.47, 10.48, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.8, 11.9, 11.10, 11.11, 11.12, 11.13, 11.14, 11.15, 11.16, 11.17, 11.18, 11.28, 12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.8, 12.9, 12.10, 12.11, 12.12, 13.5, 13.7, 13.8, 13.9, 13.10, 13.11, 13.12, 13.14, 13.15, 13.16, 13.17, 13.18, 13.19, 13.20, 13.21, 13.22, 13.23, 13.24, 13.25, 13.26, 13.27, 13.28, 13.29, 13.30, 13.31, 13.32, 13.33, 13.34, 13.35, 13.36, 13.37, 13.38, 13.39, 13.40, 13.41, 13.42, 13.43, 13.44, 13.45, 13.46, 13.47, 13.48, 13.49, 13.50, 13.51, 13.52, 14.1, 14.2, 14.5, 14.19, 15, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6, 15.7, 15.8, 15.9, 15.10, 15.11, 15.12, 15.13, 15.14, 15.15, 15.16, 15.17, 15.18, 15.19, 15.20, 15.21, 16, 16.1, 16.10, 16.11, 16.12, 16.13, 16.14, 16.15, 16.16, 16.17, 16.18, 16.19, 16.20, 16.21, 16.22, 16.23, 16.24, 16.25, 16.26, 16.27, 16.28, 16.29, 16.30, 16.31, 16.32, 16.33, 16.34, 17, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, 17.5, 17.6, 17.7, 17.8, 17.9, 17.10, 17.11, 17.12, 17.13, 17.14, 17.15, 17.16, 17.17, 17.18, 17.19, 17.20, 17.21, 17.22, 17.23, 17.24, 17.25, 17.26, 17.27, 17.28, 17.29, 17.30, 17.31, 17.32, 17.33, 17.34, 18, 18.1, 18.3, 18.4, 18.5, 18.6, 18.7, 18.8, 18.9, 18.10, 18.11, 18.12, 18.13, 18.14, 18.15, 18.16, 18.17, 18.18, 18.19, 18.20, 18.21, 18.24, 18.25, 18.26, 18.27, 19, 19.1, 19.2, 19.3, 19.4, 19.5, 19.6, 19.7, 19.8, 19.9, 19.10, 19.17, 19.19, 19.23, 19.24, 19.25, 19.26, 19.27, 19.28, 19.29, 19.30, 19.31, 19.32, 19.33, 19.34, 19.35, 19.36, 19.37, 19.38, 19.39, 19.40, 19.41, 20, 20.7, 20.8, 20.9, 20.10, 20.11, 20.12, 20.20, 20.38, 21.5, 21.17, 21.20, 21.39, 22.22, 22.24, 23.12, 23.13, 23.14, 23.15, 24.14, 26, 26.22, 26.27, 27.27, 27.28, 27.31, 27.34, 27.35, 27.36, 27.37, 27.41, 27.43, 28.1, 28.2, 28.3, 28.4, 28.5, 28.6, 28.7, 28.25, 28.26 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.1. The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach |
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21. New Testament, Philemon, 2, 22, 17 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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22. New Testament, Colossians, 1.27, 3.22, 4.1, 4.10-4.18 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.27. to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; 3.22. Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. 4.1. Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. 4.10. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, "if he comes to you, receive him") 4.11. and Jesus who is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These are my only fellow workers for the Kingdom of God, men who have been a comfort to me. 4.12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 4.13. For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. 4.14. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you. 4.15. Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house. 4.16. When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 4.17. Tell Archippus, "Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it. 4.18. The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. |
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23. New Testament, Ephesians, 6.5 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 6.5. Servants, be obedient to those who according to the flesh are your masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as to Christ; |
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24. New Testament, Galatians, 1.16, 2.2, 2.8-2.9, 2.12-2.15, 3.8, 3.14, 6.11 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.16. to reveal his Son in me,that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn't immediately conferwith flesh and blood 2.2. I went up byrevelation, and I laid before them the gospel which I preach among theGentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear thatI might be running, or had run, in vain. 2.8. (for he who appointedPeter to the apostleship of the circumcision appointed me also to theGentiles); 2.9. and when they perceived the grace that was given tome, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars,gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should goto the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision. 2.12. For before some people came fromJames, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back andseparated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 2.13. And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy; so that evenBarnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. 2.14. But when I sawthat they didn't walk uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, Isaid to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live as theGentiles do, and not as the Jews do, why do you compel the Gentiles tolive as the Jews do? 2.15. We, being Jews by nature, and not Gentile sinners 3.8. The Scripture,foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached thegospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you all the nations will beblessed. 3.14. that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentilesthrough Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spiritthrough faith. 6.11. See with what large letters I write to you with my own hand. |
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25. New Testament, Philippians, 2.29-2.30, 4.21-4.22 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.29. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honor 2.30. because for the work of Christ he came near to death, risking his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me. 4.21. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 4.22. All the saints greet you, especially those who are of Caesar's household. |
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26. New Testament, Romans, 2.14, 3.29, 4.10, 4.17-4.18, 6.1, 9.10, 9.24, 9.30-9.31, 10.19-10.20, 11.11-11.14, 11.25, 15.9-15.12, 15.16, 15.18, 15.22, 15.24, 15.27, 16.1-16.23 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.14. (for when Gentiles who don't have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves 3.29. Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn't he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also 4.10. How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 4.17. As it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations." This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were. 4.18. Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "So will your seed be. 6.1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 9.10. Not only so, but Rebecca also conceived by one, by our father Isaac. 9.24. us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? 9.30. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who didn't follow after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith; 9.31. but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, didn't arrive at the law of righteousness. 10.19. But I ask, didn't Israel know? First Moses says, "I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, With a nation void of understanding I will make you angry. 10.20. Isaiah is very bold, and says, "I was found by those who didn't seek me. I was revealed to those who didn't ask for me. 11.11. I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. 11.12. Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? 11.13. For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; 11.14. if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. 11.25. For I don't desire, brothers, to have you ignorant of this mystery, so that you won't be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in 15.9. and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore will I give praise to you among the Gentiles, And sing to your name. 15.10. Again he says, "Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people. 15.11. Again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Let all the peoples praise him. 15.12. Again, Isaiah says, "There will be the root of Jesse, He who arises to rule over the Gentiles; On him will the Gentiles hope. 15.16. that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 15.18. For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed 15.22. Therefore also I was hindered these many times from coming to you 15.24. whenever I journey to Spain, I will come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. 15.27. Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in fleshly things. 16.1. I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the assembly that is at Cenchreae 16.2. that you receive her in the Lord, in a way worthy of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may need from you, for she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self. 16.3. Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus 16.4. who for my life, laid down their own necks; to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles. 16.5. Greet the assembly that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits of Achaia to Christ. 16.6. Greet Mary, who labored much for us. 16.7. Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives and my fellow prisoners, who are notable among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 16.8. Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. 16.9. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. 16.10. Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. 16.11. Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet them of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. 16.12. Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved, who labored much in the Lord. 16.13. Greet Rufus, the chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 16.14. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. 16.15. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16.16. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The assemblies of Christ greet you. 16.17. Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them. 16.18. For those who are such don't serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent. 16.19. For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil. 16.20. And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 16.21. Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my relatives. 16.22. I, Tertius, who write the letter, greet you in the Lord. 16.23. Gaius, my host and host of the whole assembly, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, as does Quartus, the brother. |
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27. New Testament, Titus, 3.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 3.13. Send Zenas, the lawyer, and Apollos on their journey speedily, that nothing may be lacking for them. |
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28. New Testament, John, 1.18, 4.1-4.30, 11.1-11.44, 14.6, 18.37 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.18. No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. 4.1. Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 4.2. (although Jesus himself didn't baptize, but his disciples) 4.3. he left Judea, and departed into Galilee. 4.4. He needed to pass through Samaria. 4.5. So he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. 4.6. Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 4.7. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink. 4.8. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 4.9. The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, "How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 4.10. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. 4.11. The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From where then have you that living water? 4.12. Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his sons, and his cattle? 4.13. Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again 4.14. but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. 4.15. The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I don't get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw. 4.16. Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here. 4.17. The woman answered, "I have no husband."Jesus said to her, "You said well, 'I have no husband,' 4.18. for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly. 4.19. The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 4.20. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. 4.21. Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. 4.22. You worship that which you don't know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. 4.23. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshippers. 4.24. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. 4.25. The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah comes," (he who is called Christ). "When he has come, he will declare to us all things. 4.26. Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who speaks to you. 4.27. At this, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, "What are you looking for?" or, "Why do you speak with her? 4.28. So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people 4.29. Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ? 4.30. They went out of the city, and were coming to him. 11.1. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister, Martha. 11.2. It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick. 11.3. The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, "Lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick. 11.4. But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God's Son may be glorified by it. 11.5. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 11.6. When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was. 11.7. Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let's go into Judea again. 11.8. The disciples told him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again? 11.9. Jesus answered, "Aren't there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he doesn't stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 11.10. But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn't in him. 11.11. He said these things, and after that, he said to them, "Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep. 11.12. The disciples therefore said, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. 11.13. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep. 11.14. So Jesus said to them plainly then, "Lazarus is dead. 11.15. I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let's go to him. 11.16. Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let's go also, that we may die with him. 11.17. So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already. 11.18. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away. 11.19. Many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 11.20. Then when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary stayed in the house. 11.21. Therefore Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. 11.22. Even now I know that, whatever you ask of God, God will give you. 11.23. Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again. 11.24. Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 11.25. Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet will he live. 11.26. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? 11.27. She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God's Son, he who comes into the world. 11.28. When she had said this, she went away, and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, "The Teacher is here, and is calling you. 11.29. When she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him. 11.30. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him. 11.31. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there. 11.32. Therefore when Mary came to where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. 11.33. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled 11.34. and said, "Where have you laid him?"They told him, "Lord, come and see. 11.35. Jesus wept. 11.36. The Jews therefore said, "See how much affection he had for him! 11.37. Some of them said, "Couldn't this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying? 11.38. Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 11.39. Jesus said, "Take away the stone."Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days. 11.40. Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see God's glory? 11.41. So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, "Father, I thank you that you listened to me. 11.42. I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me. 11.43. When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out! 11.44. He who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Free him, and let him go. 14.6. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. 18.37. Pilate therefore said to him, "Are you a king then?"Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. |
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29. New Testament, Luke, 2.1, 3.1, 3.4, 4.17, 7.36-7.48, 8.1-8.4, 8.40-8.56, 10.38-10.42, 13.10-13.17, 16.16, 20.42, 24.44 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.1. Now it happened in those days, that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 3.1. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene 3.4. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. 4.17. The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written 7.36. One of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered into the Pharisee's house, and sat at the table. 7.37. Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that he was reclining in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 7.38. Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 7.39. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner. 7.40. Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."He said, "Teacher, say on. 7.41. A certain lender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 7.42. When they couldn't pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most? 7.43. Simon answered, "He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most."He said to him, "You have judged correctly. 7.44. Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. 7.45. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. 7.46. You didn't anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 7.47. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. 7.48. He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven. 8.1. It happened soon afterwards, that he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God. With him were the twelve 8.2. and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; 8.3. and Joanna, the wife of Chuzas, Herod's steward; Susanna; and many others; who ministered to them from their possessions. 8.4. When a great multitude came together, and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable. 8.40. It happened, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 8.41. Behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus' feet, and begged him to come into his house 8.42. for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went, the multitudes thronged him. 8.43. A woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians, and could not be healed by any 8.44. came behind him, and touched the fringe of his cloak, and immediately the flow of her blood stopped. 8.45. Jesus said, "Who touched me?"When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes press and jostle you, and you say, 'Who touched me?' 8.46. But Jesus said, "Someone did touch me, for I perceived that power has gone out of me. 8.47. When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. 8.48. He said to her, "Daughter, cheer up. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. 8.49. While he still spoke, one from the ruler of the synagogue's house came, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead. Don't trouble the Teacher. 8.50. But Jesus hearing it, answered him, "Don't be afraid. Only believe, and she will be healed. 8.51. When he came to the house, he didn't allow anyone to enter in, except Peter, John, James, the father of the girl, and her mother. 8.52. All were weeping and mourning her, but he said, "Don't weep. She isn't dead, but sleeping. 8.53. They laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. 8.54. But he put them all outside, and taking her by the hand, he called, saying, "Little girl, arise! 8.55. Her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately. He commanded that something be given to her to eat. 8.56. Her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had been done. 10.38. It happened as they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 10.39. She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 10.40. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me. 10.41. Jesus answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things 10.42. but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her. 13.10. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. 13.11. Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up. 13.12. When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity. 13.13. He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight, and glorified God. 13.14. The ruler of the synagogue, being indigt because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, "There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day! 13.15. Therefore the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water? 13.16. Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day? 13.17. As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. 16.16. The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the gospel of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 20.42. David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'The Lord said to my Lord,"Sit at my right hand 24.44. He said to them, "This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled. |
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30. New Testament, Mark, 5.21-5.43, 6.11, 7.24, 14.1-14.9 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 5.21. When Jesus had crossed back over in the boat to the other side, a great multitude was gathered to him; and he was by the sea. 5.22. Behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came; and seeing him, he fell at his feet 5.23. and begged him much, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live. 5.24. He went with him, and a great multitude followed him, and they pressed upon him on all sides. 5.25. A certain woman, who had an issue of blood for twelve years 5.26. and had suffered many things by many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse 5.27. having heard the things concerning Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his clothes. 5.28. For she said, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well. 5.29. Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 5.30. Immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd, and asked, "Who touched my clothes? 5.31. His disciples said to him, "You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, 'Who touched me?' 5.32. He looked around to see her who had done this thing. 5.33. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 5.34. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease. 5.35. While he was still speaking, they came from the synagogue ruler's house saying, "Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more? 5.36. But Jesus, when he heard the message spoken, immediately said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Don't be afraid, only believe. 5.37. He allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. 5.38. He came to the synagogue ruler's house, and he saw an uproar, weeping, and great wailing. 5.39. When he had entered in, he said to them, "Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep. 5.40. They laughed him to scorn. But he, having put them all out, took the father of the child and her mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was lying. 5.41. Taking the child by the hand, he said to her, "Talitha cumi;" which means, being interpreted, "Young lady, I tell you, get up. 5.42. Immediately the young lady rose up, and walked, for she was twelve years old. They were amazed with great amazement. 5.43. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and commanded that something should be given to her to eat. 6.11. Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them. Assuredly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! 7.24. From there he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house, and didn't want anyone to know it, but he couldn't escape notice. 14.1. It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might sieze him by deception, and kill him. 14.2. For they said, "Not during the feast, because there might be a riot of the people. 14.3. While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard -- very costly. She broke the jar, and poured it over his head. 14.4. But there were some who were indigt among themselves, saying, "Why has this ointment been wasted? 14.5. For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor." They grumbled against her. 14.6. But Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. 14.7. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me. 14.8. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying. 14.9. Most assuredly I tell you, wherever this gospel may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her. |
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31. New Testament, Matthew, 9.18-9.25, 15.22-15.28, 26.7-26.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 9.18. While he told these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live. 9.19. Jesus got up and followed him, as did his disciples. 9.20. Behold, a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years came behind him, and touched the tassels of his garment; 9.21. for she said within herself, "If I just touch his garment, I will be made well. 9.22. But Jesus, turning around and seeing her, said, "Daughter, cheer up! Your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour. 9.23. When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd in noisy disorder 9.24. he said to them, "Make room, because the girl isn't dead, but sleeping."They were ridiculing him. 9.25. But when the crowd was put out, he entered in, took her by the hand, and the girl arose. 15.22. Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely demonized! 15.23. But he answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away; for she cries after us. 15.24. But he answered, "I wasn't sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 15.25. But she came and worshiped him, saying, "Lord, help me. 15.26. But he answered, "It is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. 15.27. But she said, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 15.28. Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that hour. 26.7. a woman came to him having an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. 26.8. But when his disciples saw this, they were indigt, saying, "Why this waste? 26.9. For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. 26.10. But Jesus, knowing this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? Because she has done a good work for me. 26.11. For you always have the poor with you; but you don't always have me. 26.12. For in pouring this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 26.13. Most assuredly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her. |
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32. Polycarp of Smyrna, Letter To The Philippians, 1.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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33. Seneca The Younger, Letters, 108.22 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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34. Suetonius, Claudius, 25.3-25.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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35. Suetonius, Iulius, 25 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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36. Tacitus, Annals, 2.85.4, 11.15.1, 15.44, 15.44.3-15.44.5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 11.15.1. He next consulted the senate on the question of founding a college of diviners, so that "the oldest art of Italy should not become extinct through their indolence. often, in periods of public adversity, they had called in diviners, on whose advice religious ceremonies had been renewed and, for the future, observed with greater correctness; while the Etruscan nobles, voluntarily or at the instance of the Roman senate, had kept up the art and propagated it in certain families. Now that work was done more negligently through the public indifference to all liberal accomplishments, combined with the progress of alien superstitions. For the moment, indeed, all was flourishing; but they must show their gratitude to the favour of Heaven by making sure that the sacred rituals observed in the time of hazard were not forgotten in the day of prosperity." A senatorial decree was accordingly passed, instructing the pontiffs to consider what points in the discipline of the haruspices needed to be maintained or strengthened. 15.44. So far, the precautions taken were suggested by human prudence: now means were sought for appeasing deity, and application was made to the Sibylline books; at the injunction of which public prayers were offered to Vulcan, Ceres, and Proserpine, while Juno was propitiated by the matrons, first in the Capitol, then at the nearest point of the sea-shore, where water was drawn for sprinkling the temple and image of the goddess. Ritual banquets and all-night vigils were celebrated by women in the married state. But neither human help, nor imperial munificence, nor all the modes of placating Heaven, could stifle scandal or dispel the belief that the fire had taken place by order. Therefore, to scotch the rumour, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of men, loathed for their vices, whom the crowd styled Christians. Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus, and the pernicious superstition was checked for a moment, only to break out once more, not merely in Judaea, the home of the disease, but in the capital itself, where all things horrible or shameful in the world collect and find a vogue. First, then, the confessed members of the sect were arrested; next, on their disclosures, vast numbers were convicted, not so much on the count of arson as for hatred of the human race. And derision accompanied their end: they were covered with wild beasts' skins and torn to death by dogs; or they were fastened on crosses, and, when daylight failed were burned to serve as lamps by night. Nero had offered his Gardens for the spectacle, and gave an exhibition in his Circus, mixing with the crowd in the habit of a charioteer, or mounted on his car. Hence, in spite of a guilt which had earned the most exemplary punishment, there arose a sentiment of pity, due to the impression that they were being sacrificed not for the welfare of the state but to the ferocity of a single man. |
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37. Tacitus, Histories, 5.5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 5.5. Whatever their origin, these rites are maintained by their antiquity: the other customs of the Jews are base and abominable, and owe their persistence to their depravity. For the worst rascals among other peoples, renouncing their ancestral religions, always kept sending tribute and contributions to Jerusalem, thereby increasing the wealth of the Jews; again, the Jews are extremely loyal toward one another, and always ready to show compassion, but toward every other people they feel only hate and enmity. They sit apart at meals, and they sleep apart, and although as a race, they are prone to lust, they abstain from intercourse with foreign women; yet among themselves nothing is unlawful. They adopted circumcision to distinguish themselves from other peoples by this difference. Those who are converted to their ways follow the same practice, and the earliest lesson they receive is to despise the gods, to disown their country, and to regard their parents, children, and brothers as of little account. However, they take thought to increase their numbers; for they regard it as a crime to kill any late-born child, and they believe that the souls of those who are killed in battle or by the executioner are immortal: hence comes their passion for begetting children, and their scorn of death. They bury the body rather than burn it, thus following the Egyptians' custom; they likewise bestow the same care on the dead, and hold the same belief about the world below; but their ideas of heavenly things are quite the opposite. The Egyptians worship many animals and monstrous images; the Jews conceive of one god only, and that with the mind alone: they regard as impious those who make from perishable materials representations of gods in man's image; that supreme and eternal being is to them incapable of representation and without end. Therefore they set up no statues in their cities, still less in their temples; this flattery is not paid their kings, nor this honour given to the Caesars. But since their priests used to chant to the accompaniment of pipes and cymbals and to wear garlands of ivy, and because a golden vine was found in their temple, some have thought that they were devotees of Father Liber, the conqueror of the East, in spite of the incongruity of their customs. For Liber established festive rites of a joyous nature, while the ways of the Jews are preposterous and mean. |
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38. Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds And Sayings, 1.3.3 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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39. Apuleius, The Golden Ass, 10.23 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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40. Cassius Dio, Roman History, 60.6.6 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 60.6.6. As for the Jews, who had again increased so greatly that by reason of their multitude it would have been hard without raising a tumult to bar them from the city, he did not drive them out, but ordered them, while continuing their traditional mode of life, not to hold meetings. He also disbanded the clubs, which had been reintroduced by Gaius. |
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41. Hermas, Similitudes, 8.10.3, 9.27.2 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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42. Irenaeus, Refutation of All Heresies, 1.28 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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43. Tatian, Oration To The Greeks, 18 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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44. Tertullian, To The Heathen, 1.3 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 1.3. Since, therefore, you who are in other cases most scrupulous and persevering in investigating charges of far less serious import, relinquish your care in cases like ours, which are so horrible, and of such surpassing sin that impiety is too mild a word for them, by declining to hear confession, which should always be an important process for those who conduct judicial proceedings; and failing to make a full inquiry, which should be gone into by such as sue for a condemnation, it becomes evident that the crime laid to our charge consists not of any sinful conduct, but lies wholly in our name. If, indeed, any real crimes were clearly adducible against us, their very names would condemn us, if found applicable, so that distinct sentences would be pronounced against us in this wise: Let that murderer, or that incestuous criminal, or whatever it be that we are charged with, be led to execution, be crucified, or be thrown to the beasts. Your sentences, however, import only that one has confessed himself a Christian. No name of a crime stands against us, but only the crime of a name. Now this in very deed is neither more nor less than the entire odium which is felt against us. The name is the cause: some mysterious force intensified by your ignorance assails it, so that you do not wish to know for certain that which for certain you are sure you know nothing of; and therefore, further, you do not believe things which are not submitted to proof, and, lest they should be easily refuted, you refuse to make inquiry, so that the odious name is punished under the presumption of (real) crimes. In order, therefore, that the issue may be withdrawn from the offensive name, we are compelled to deny it; then upon our denial we are acquitted, with an entire absolution for the past: we are no longer murderers, no longer incestuous, because we have lost that name. But since this point is dealt with in a place of its own, do you tell us plainly why you are pursuing this name even to extirpation? What crime, what offense, what fault is there in a name? For you are barred by the rule which puts it out of your power to allege crimes (of any man), which no legal action moots, no indictment specifies, no sentence enumerates. In any case which is submitted to the judge, inquired into against the defendant, responded to by him or denied, and cited from the bench, I acknowledge a legal charge. Concerning, then, the merit of a name, whatever offense names may be charged with, whatever impeachment words may be amenable to, I for my part think, that not even a complaint is due to a word or a name, unless indeed it has a barbarous sound, or smacks of ill-luck, or is immodest, or is indecorous for the speaker, or unpleasant to the hearer. These crimes in (mere) words and names are just like barbarous words and phrases, which have their fault, and their solecism, and their absurdity of figure. The name Christian, however, so far as its meaning goes, bears the sense of anointing. Even when by a faulty pronunciation you call us Chrestians (for you are not certain about even the sound of this noted name), you in fact lisp out the sense of pleasantness and goodness. You are therefore vilifying in harmless men even the harmless name we bear, which is not inconvenient for the tongue, nor harsh to the ear, nor injurious to a single being, nor rude for our country, being a good Greek word, as many others also are, and pleasant in sound and sense. Surely, surely, names are not things which deserve punishment by the sword, or the cross, or the beasts. |
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45. Tertullian, Against Marcion, 1.16 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 1.16. Since, then, that other world does not appear, nor its god either, the only resource left to them is to divide things into the two classes of visible and invisible, with two gods for their authors, and so to claim the invisible for their own, (the supreme) God. But who, except an heretical spirit, could ever bring his mind to believe that the invisible part of creation belongs to him who had previously displayed no visible thing, rather than to Him who, by His operation on the visible world, produced a belief in the invisible also, since it is far more reasonable to give one's assent after some samples (of a work) than after none? We shall see to what author even (your favourite) apostle attributes Colossians 1:16 the invisible creation, when we come to examine him. At present (we withhold his testimony), for we are for the most part engaged in preparing the way, by means of common sense and fair arguments, for a belief in the future support of the Scriptures also. We affirm, then, that this diversity of things visible and invisible must on this ground be attributed to the Creator, even because the whole of His work consists of diversities - of things corporeal and incorporeal; of animate and iimate; of vocal and mute of moveable and stationary; of productive and sterile; of arid and moist; of hot and cold. Man, too, is himself similarly tempered with diversity, both in his body and in his sensation. Some of his members are strong, others weak; some comely, others uncomely; some twofold, others unique; some like, others unlike. In like manner there is diversity also in his sensation: now joy, then anxiety; now love, then hatred; now anger, then calmness. Since this is the case, inasmuch as the whole of this creation of ours has been fashioned with a reciprocal rivalry among its several parts, the invisible ones are due to the visible, and not to be ascribed to any other author than Him to whom their counterparts are imputed, marking as they do diversity in the Creator Himself, who orders what He forbade, and forbids what He ordered; who also strikes and heals. Why do they take Him to be uniform in one class of things alone, as the Creator of visible things, and only them; whereas He ought to be believed to have created both the visible and the invisible, in just the same way as life and death, or as evil things and peace? And verily, if the invisible creatures are greater than the visible, which are in their own sphere great, so also is it fitting that the greater should be His to whom the great belong; because neither the great, nor indeed the greater, can be suitable property for one who seems to possess not even the smallest things. |
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46. Tertullian, Apology, 3 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 3. What are we to think of it, that most people so blindly knock their heads against the hatred of the Christian name; that when they bear favourable testimony to any one, they mingle with it abuse of the name he bears? A good man, says one, is Gaius Seius, only that he is a Christian. So another, I am astonished that a wise man like Lucius should have suddenly become a Christian. Nobody thinks it needful to consider whether Gaius is not good and Lucius wise, on this very account that he is a Christian; or a Christian, for the reason that he is wise and good. They praise what they know, they abuse what they are ignorant of, and they inspire their knowledge with their ignorance; though in fairness you should rather judge of what is unknown from what is known, than what is known from what is unknown. Others, in the case of persons whom, before they took the name of Christian, they had known as loose, and vile, and wicked, put on them a brand from the very thing which they praise. In the blindness of their hatred, they fall foul of their own approving judgment! What a woman she was! How wanton! How gay! What a youth he was! How profligate! How libidinous!- they have become Christians! So the hated name is given to a reformation of character. Some even barter away their comforts for that hatred, content to bear injury, if they are kept free at home from the object of their bitter enmity. The wife, now chaste, the husband, now no longer jealous, casts out of his house; the son, now obedient, the father, who used to be so patient, disinherits; the servant, now faithful, the master, once so mild, commands away from his presence; it is a high offense for any one to be reformed by the detested name. Goodness is of less value than hatred of Christians. Well now, if there is this dislike of the name, what blame can you attach to names? What accusation can you bring against mere designations, save that something in the word sounds either barbarous, or unlucky, or scurrilous, or unchaste? But Christian, so far as the meaning of the word is concerned, is derived from anointing. Yes, and even when it is wrongly pronounced by you Chrestianus (for you do not even know accurately the name you hate), it comes from sweetness and benignity. You hate, therefore, in the guiltless, even a guiltless name. But the special ground of dislike to the sect is, that it bears the name of its Founder. Is there anything new in a religious sect getting for its followers a designation from its master? Are not the philosophers called from the founders of their systems - Platonists, Epicureans, Pythagoreans? Are not the Stoics and Academics so called also from the places in which they assembled and stationed themselves? And are not physicians named from Erasistratus, grammarians from Aristarchus, cooks even from Apicius? And yet the bearing of the name, transmitted from the original institutor with whatever he has instituted, offends no one. No doubt, if it is proved that the sect is a bad one, and so its founder bad as well, that will prove that the name is bad and deserves our aversion, in respect of the character both of the sect and its author. Before, therefore, taking up a dislike to the name, it behooved you to consider the sect in the author, or the author in the sect. But now, without any sifting and knowledge of either, the mere name is made matter of accusation, the mere name is assailed, and a sound alone brings condemnation on a sect and its author both, while of both you are ignorant, because they have such and such a designation, not because they are convicted of anything wrong. |
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47. Tertullian, On The Flesh of Christ, 2.4 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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48. Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics, 30 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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49. Augustine, Enarrationes In Psalmos, 102.9 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
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50. Epigraphy, Cij, 694
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51. Epigraphy, Cil, 6.9053
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