1. Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, 4.28 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 4.28. וַעֲבַדְתֶּם־שָׁם אֱלֹהִים מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי אָדָם עֵץ וָאֶבֶן אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יִרְאוּן וְלֹא יִשְׁמְעוּן וְלֹא יֹאכְלוּן וְלֹא יְרִיחֻן׃ | 4.28. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell." |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Psalms, 115.5, 135.15-135.18 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 115.5. פֶּה־לָהֶם וְלֹא יְדַבֵּרוּ עֵינַיִם לָהֶם וְלֹא יִרְאוּ׃ 135.15. עֲצַבֵּי הַגּוֹיִם כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי אָדָם׃ 135.16. פֶּה־לָהֶם וְלֹא יְדַבֵּרוּ עֵינַיִם לָהֶם וְלֹא יִרְאוּ׃ 135.17. אָזְנַיִם לָהֶם וְלֹא יַאֲזִינוּ אַף אֵין־יֶשׁ־רוּחַ בְּפִיהֶם׃ 135.18. כְּמוֹהֶם יִהְיוּ עֹשֵׂיהֶם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־בֹּטֵחַ בָּהֶם׃ | 115.5. They have mouths, but they speak not; Eyes have they, but they see not;" 135.15. The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men's hands." 135.16. They have mouths, but they speak not; Eyes have they, but they see not;" 135.17. They have ears, but they hear not; Neither is there any breath in their mouths." 135.18. They that make them shall be like unto them; Yea, every one that trusteth in them." |
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3. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 46.7, 66.3 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 46.7. יִשָּׂאֻהוּ עַל־כָּתֵף יִסְבְּלֻהוּ וְיַנִּיחֻהוּ תַחְתָּיו וְיַעֲמֹד מִמְּקוֹמוֹ לֹא יָמִישׁ אַף־יִצְעַק אֵלָיו וְלֹא יַעֲנֶה מִצָּרָתוֹ לֹא יוֹשִׁיעֶנּוּ׃ 66.3. שׁוֹחֵט הַשּׁוֹר מַכֵּה־אִישׁ זוֹבֵחַ הַשֶּׂה עֹרֵף כֶּלֶב מַעֲלֵה מִנְחָה דַּם־חֲזִיר מַזְכִּיר לְבֹנָה מְבָרֵךְ אָוֶן גַּם־הֵמָּה בָּחֲרוּ בְּדַרְכֵיהֶם וּבְשִׁקּוּצֵיהֶם נַפְשָׁם חָפֵצָה׃ | 46.7. He is borne upon the shoulder, he is carried, and set in his place, and he standeth, from his place he doth not remove; yea, though one cry unto him, he cannot answer, nor save him out of his trouble." 66.3. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he broke a dog’s neck; He that offereth a meal-offering, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that maketh a memorial-offering of frankincense, as if he blessed an idol; according as they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations;" |
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4. Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah, 10.5, 10.8, 10.14 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 10.5. כְּתֹמֶר מִקְשָׁה הֵמָּה וְלֹא יְדַבֵּרוּ נָשׂוֹא יִנָּשׂוּא כִּי לֹא יִצְעָדוּ אַל־תִּירְאוּ מֵהֶם כִּי־לֹא יָרֵעוּ וְגַם־הֵיטֵיב אֵין אוֹתָם׃ 10.8. וּבְאַחַת יִבְעֲרוּ וְיִכְסָלוּ מוּסַר הֲבָלִים עֵץ הוּא׃ 10.14. נִבְעַר כָּל־אָדָם מִדַּעַת הֹבִישׁ כָּל־צוֹרֵף מִפָּסֶל כִּי שֶׁקֶר נִסְכּוֹ וְלֹא־רוּחַ בָּם׃ | 10.5. They are like a pillar in a garden of cucumbers, and speak not; They must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, Neither is it in them to do good." 10.8. But they are altogether brutish and foolish: The vanities by which they are instructed are but a stock;" 10.14. Every man is proved to be brutish, without knowledge, Every goldsmith is put to shame by the graven image, His molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them." |
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5. Anon., 1 Enoch, 94.7, 97.8, 98.2, 99.2, 99.7-99.9 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 94.7. Woe to those who build their houses with sin; For from all their foundations shall they be overthrown, And by the sword shall they fall. [And those who acquire gold and silver in judgement suddenly shall perish.] 97.8. Woe to you who acquire silver and gold in unrighteousness and say: ' We have become rich with riches and have possessions; And have acquired everything we have desired. 98.2. For ye men shall put on more adornments than a woman, And coloured garments more than a virgin: In royalty and in grandeur and in power, And in silver and in gold and in purple, And in splendour and in food they shall be poured out as water. 99.2. Woe to them who pervert the words of uprightness, And transgress the eternal law, And transform themselves into what they were not [into sinners]: They shall be trodden under foot upon the earth. 99.7. And again I swear to you, ye sinners, that sin is prepared for a day of unceasing bloodshed. And they who worship stones, and grave images of gold and silver and wood (and stone) and clay, and those who worship impure spirits and demons, and all kinds of idols not according to knowledge, shall get no manner of help from them. 99.8. And they shall become godless by reason of the folly of their hearts, And their eyes shall be blinded through the fear of their hearts And through visions in their dreams. 99.9. Through these they shall become godless and fearful; For they shall have wrought all their work in a lie, And shall have worshiped a stone: Therefore in an instant shall they perish. |
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6. Anon., Jubilees, 11.16-11.17, 12.1-12.8, 20.7 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 11.16. And in the thirty-seventh jubilee, in the sixth week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Îjâskâ, the daughter of Nêstâg of the Chaldees. And she bare him Terah in the seventh year of this week. 11.17. And the prince Mastêmâ sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which was sown in the land, in order to destroy the land, and rob the children of men of their labours. 12.1. And it came to pass in the sixth week, in the seventh year thereof, that Abram said to Terah his father, saying, "Father!" And he said, "Behold, here am I, my son. 12.2. And he said, "What help and profit have we from those idols which thou dost worship, And before which thou dost bow thyself? For there is no spirit in them, For they are dumb forms, and a misleading of the heart. Worship them not: 12.3. Worship the God of heaven, Who causeth the rain and the dew to descend on the earth, And doeth everything upon the earth, And hath created everything by His word, And all life is from before His face. 12.4. Why do ye worship things that have no spirit in them? For they are the work of (men's) hands, And on your shoulders do ye bear them 12.5. And ye have no help from them, But they are a great cause of shame to those who make them, And a misleading of the heart to those who worship them: Worship them not. 12.6. And his father said unto him, "I also know it, my son, but what shall I do with a people who have made me to serve before them? 12.7. And if I tell them the truth, they will slay me; for their soul cleaveth to them to worship them and honour them. Keep silent, my son, lest they slay thee. 12.8. And these words he spake to his two brothers, and they were angry with him and he kept silent. 20.7. and mutual corruption through fornication. br"And guard yourselves from all fornication and uncleanness, And from all pollution of sin, Lest ye make our name a curse, And your whole life a hissing |
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7. Dead Sea Scrolls, Epistle of Jeremiah, 63 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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8. Septuagint, Wisdom of Solomon, 13.6-13.7, 13.17, 14.12-14.31, 15.5, 15.15, 15.17 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 13.6. Yet these men are little to be blamed,for perhaps they go astray while seeking God and desiring to find him. 13.7. For as they live among his works they keep searching,and they trust in what they see, because the things that are seen are beautiful. 13.17. When he prays about possessions and his marriage and children,he is not ashamed to address a lifeless thing. 14.12. For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication,and the invention of them was the corruption of life 14.13. for neither have they existed from the beginning nor will they exist for ever. 14.14. For through the vanity of men they entered the world,and therefore their speedy end has been planned. 14.15. For a father, consumed with grief at an untimely bereavement,made an image of his child, who had been suddenly taken from him;and he now honored as a god what was once a dead human being,and handed on to his dependents secret rites and initiations. 14.16. Then the ungodly custom, grown strong with time, was kept as a law,and at the command of monarchs graven images were worshiped. 14.17. When men could not honor monarchs in their presence, since they lived at a distance,they imagined their appearance far away,and made a visible image of the king whom they honored,so that by their zeal they might flatter the absent one as though present. 14.18. Then the ambition of the craftsman impelled even those who did not know the king to intensify their worship. 14.19. For he, perhaps wishing to please his ruler,skilfully forced the likeness to take more beautiful form 14.20. and the multitude, attracted by the charm of his work,now regarded as an object of worship the one whom shortly before they had honored as a man. 14.21. And this became a hidden trap for mankind,because men, in bondage to misfortune or to royal authority,bestowed on objects of stone or wood the name that ought not to be shared. 14.22. Afterward it was not enough for them to err about the knowledge of God,but they live in great strife due to ignorance,and they call such great evils peace. 14.23. For whether they kill children in their initiations,or celebrate secret mysteries,or hold frenzied revels with strange customs 14.24. they no longer keep either their lives or their marriages pure,but they either treacherously kill one another,or grieve one another by adultery 14.25. and all is a raging riot of blood and murder,theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury 14.26. confusion over what is good, forgetfulness of favors,pollution of souls, sex perversion,disorder in marriage, adultery, and debauchery. 14.27. For the worship of idols not to be named is the beginning and cause and end of every evil. 14.28. For their worshipers either rave in exultation,or prophesy lies,or live unrighteously, or readily commit perjury; 14.29. for because they trust in lifeless idols they swear wicked oaths and expect to suffer no harm. 14.30. But just penalties will overtake them on two counts:because they thought wickedly of God in devoting themselves to idols,and because in deceit they swore unrighteously through contempt for holiness. 14.31. For it is not the power of the things by which men swear,but the just penalty for those who sin,that always pursues the transgression of the unrighteous. 15.5. whose appearance arouses yearning in fools,so that they desire the lifeless form of a dead image. 15.15. For they thought that all their heathen idols were gods,though these have neither the use of their eyes to see with,nor nostrils with which to draw breath,nor ears with which to hear,nor fingers to feel with,and their feet are of no use for walking. 15.17. He is mortal, and what he makes with lawless hands is dead,for he is better than the objects he worships,since he has life, but they never have. |
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9. Septuagint, 3 Maccabees, 4.16 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 4.16. The king was greatly and continually filled with joy, organizing feasts in honor of all his idols, with a mind alienated from truth and with a profane mouth, praising speechless things that are not able even to communicate or to come to one's help, and uttering improper words against the supreme God. |
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10. Anon., Sibylline Oracles, 3.30, 3.105-3.161, 8.359, 8.366, 8.375-8.399, 8.402 (1st cent. BCE - 5th cent. CE)
| 3.30. 30 This is the God who formed four-lettered Adam 3.30. As foolish men go seeking day by day 3.105. 105 Creation itself together and pick out 3.106. What is pure. No more laughing spheres of light 3.107. Nor night, nor dawn, nor many days of care 3.108. Nor spring, nor winter, nor the summer-time 3.109. Nor autumn. And then of the mighty God 3.110. 110 The judgment midway in a mighty age 3.111. Shall come, when all these things shall come to pass. 3.112. O navigable waters and each land 3.113. of the Orient and of the Occident 3.114. Subject shall all things be to him who come 3.115. 115 Into the world again, and therefore he 3.116. Himself became first conscious of his power. 3.117. But when the threatenings of the mighty God 3.118. Are fulfilled, which he threatened mortals once 3.119. When in Assyrian land they built a tower;– 3.120. 120 (And they all spoke one language, and resolved 3.121. To mount aloft into the starry heaven; 3.122. But on the air the Immortal straightway put 3.123. A mighty force; and then winds from above 3.124. Cast down the great tower and stirred mortals up 3.125. 125 To wrangling with each other; therefore men 3.126. Gave to that city the name of Babylon);– 3.127. Now when the tower fell and the tongues of men 3.128. Turned to all sorts of sounds, straightway all earth 3.129. Was filled with men and kingdoms were divided; 3.130. 130 And then the generation tenth appeared 3.131. of mortal men, from the time when the flood 3.132. Came upon earlier men. And Cronos reigned 3.133. And Titan and Iapetus; and men called them 3.134. Best offspring of Gaia and of Uranus 3.135. 135 Giving to them names both of earth and heaven 3.136. Since they were very first of mortal men. 3.137. So there were three divisions of the earth 3.138. According to the allotment of each man 3.139. And each one having his own portion reigned 3.140. 140 And fought not; for a father's oaths were there 3.141. And equal were their portions. But the time 3.142. Complete of old age on the father came 3.143. And he died; and the sons infringing oath 3.144. Stirred up against each other bitter strife 3.145. 145 Which one should have the royal rank and rule 3.146. Over all mortals; and against each other 3.147. Cronos and Titan fought. But Rhea and Gaia 3.148. And Aphrodite fond of crowns, Demeter 3.149. And Hestia and Dione of fair lock 3.150. 150 Brought them to friendship, and together called 3.151. All who were kings, both brothers and near kin 3.152. And others of the same ancestral blood 3.153. And they judged Cronos should reign king of all 3.154. For he was oldest and of noblest form. 3.155. 155 But Titan laid on Cronos mighty oath 3.156. To rear no male posterity, that he 3.157. Himself might reign when age and fate should come 3.158. To Cronos. And whenever Rhea bore 3.159. Beside her sat the Titans, and all male 3.160. 160 In pieces tore, but let the females live 3.161. To be reared by the mother. But When now 8.359. Bringing the likeness antitypical 8.366. And a fish of the sea live thousand men 8.375. 375 Shall search the heart and bare it to conviction; 8.376. For of all things is he himself the ear 8.377. And mind and sight, and Word that maketh form 8.378. To whom all things submit, and he preserve 8.379. Them that are dead and every sickness heals. 8.380. 380 Into the hands of lawless men, at last 8.381. And faithless he shall come, and they will give 8.382. To God rude buffetings with impure hand 8.383. And poisonous spittle with polluted mouths. 8.384. And he to whips will openly give then 8.385. 385 His holy back; [for he unto the world 8.386. A holy virgin shall himself commit.] 8.387. And silent he will be when buffeted 8.388. Lest anyone should know whose son he i 8.389. Or whence he came, that he may talk to the dead. 8.390. 390 And he shall also wear a crown of thorns; 8.391. For of thorns is the crown an ornament 8.392. Elect, eternal. They shall pierce his side 8.393. With a reed that they may fulfill their law; 8.394. For of reeds shaken by another spirit 8.395. 395 Were nourished inclinations of the soul 8.396. of anger and revenge. But when these thing 8.397. Shall be accomplished, of the which I spoke 8.398. Then unto him shall every law be loosed 8.399. Which from the first by the decrees of men 8.402. But gall for food and vinegar to drink |
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11. Philo of Alexandria, On The Life of Abraham, 64 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 64. And we have witnesses of this in the lawgivers who have enacted the second punishment next to death, namely, banishment, against those who are convicted of the most atrocious crimes: a punishment which indeed is not second to any, as it appears to me, if truth be the judge, but which is, in fact, much more grievous than death, since death is the end of all misfortunes, but banishment is not the end but the beginning of new calamities, inflicting instead of our death unaccompanied by pain ten thousand deaths with acute sensation. |
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12. Philo of Alexandria, On The Cherubim, 2-3, 1 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1. And God cast out Adam, and placed him opposite the paradise of happiness; and he placed there On the Cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of Life. In this place Moses uses the expression, "He cast out," but previously he said, "He sent out," not using the various expressions at random, but being well aware with reference to what parts he was employing them with propriety and felicity. 1. I have in my former treatises set forth the lives of Moses and the other wise men down to his time, whom the sacred scriptures point out as the founders and leaders of our nation, and as its unwritten laws; I will now, as seems pointed out by the natural order of my subject, proceed to describe accurately the character of those laws which are recorded in writing, not omitting any allegorical meaning which may perchance be concealed beneath the plain language, from that natural love of more recondite and laborious knowledge which is accustomed to seek for what is obscure before, and in preference to, what is evident. |
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13. Philo of Alexandria, On The Preliminary Studies, 65 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 65. But still what advantage is derived from all that is said? For men, instead of attending, turn their mind in other directions, some to marine and mercantile affairs, others to rents and agriculture; some to public honours and affairs of state, some to the gains to be derived from each different profession and art, others to revenging themselves upon their enemies, others again to the enjoyments to be derived from the indulgence of the amorous appetites, and in short every body is under the influence of some distracting idea or other; so that, as far as the subjects of the discussion are concerned, they are completely deaf, and are present with their bodies only, but are at a distance as to their minds, being in no particular different from images or statues. |
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14. Philo of Alexandria, On The Decalogue, 76 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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15. Philo of Alexandria, On Flight And Finding, 53 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 53. But Moses has spoken more accurately about flights when he was establishing the law with respect to homicides, in which he goes through every species of homicide, that of intentional murder, that of unintentional slaying, that of murder by deliberate attack, or by crafty treachery. Repeat the law: "If any man strike another and he die, the striker shall die the death." And if a man do it not intentionally, but if God delivers him into his hand, then I will give thee a place to which he who has slain another shall flee. And if any one set upon his neighbour to slay him by treachery, and flee away, thou shalt drag him even from the altar to put him to Death. |
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16. Philo of Alexandria, Against Flaccus, 151, 181, 105 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 105. for some men of those who, in the time of Tiberius, and of Caesar his father, had the government, seeking to convert their governorship and viceroyalty into a sovereignty and tyranny, filled all the country with intolerable evils, with corruption, and rapine, and condemnation of persons who had done no wrong, and with banishment and exile of such innocent men, and with the slaughter of the nobles without a trial; and then, after the appointed period of their government had expired, when they returned to Rome, the emperors exacted of them an account and relation of all that they had done, especially if by chance the cities which they had been oppressing sent any embassy to complain; |
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17. Philo of Alexandria, On The Embassy To Gaius, 100-109, 11, 111-116, 12, 178, 181-189, 19, 190-198, 21, 24, 31-33, 341, 349-368, 370-371, 39-41, 44-45, 47, 49, 53, 55, 66-79, 8, 80-89, 9, 90-99, 10 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 10. and the sovereignty of the most numerous, and most valuable, and important portions of the habitable world, which is fact one may fairly call the whole world, being not only all that is bounded by the two rivers, the Euphrates and the Rhine; the one of which confines Germany and all the more uncivilised nations; and the Euphrates, on the other hand, bridles Parthia and the nations of the Sarmatians and Scythians, which are not less barbarous and uncivilised than the Germanic tribes; but, even as I said before, all the world, from the rising to the setting sun, all the land in short on this side of the Ocean and beyond the Ocean, at which all the Roman people and all Italy rejoiced, and even all the Asiatic and European nations. |
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18. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 11.209, 18.240-18.260, 19.278, 19.280-19.291 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 11.209. 5. Now there was one Haman, the son of Amedatha, by birth an Amalekite, that used to go in to the king; and the foreigners and Persians worshipped him, as Artaxerxes had commanded that such honor should be paid to him; 18.241. She was therefore grieved and much displeased at so great a mutation of his affairs; and chiefly when she saw him marching among the multitude with the usual ensigns of royal authority, she was not able to conceal how miserable she was, by reason of the envy she had towards him; but she excited her husband, and desired him that he would sail to Rome, to court honors equal to his; 18.242. for she said that she could not bear to live any longer, while Agrippa, the son of that Aristobulus who was condemned to die by his father, one that came to her husband in such extreme poverty, that the necessaries of life were forced to be entirely supplied him day by day; and when he fled away from his creditors by sea, he now returned a king; while he was himself the son of a king, and while the near relation he bare to royal authority called upon him to gain the like dignity, he sat still, and was contented with a privater life. 18.243. “But then, Herod, although thou wast formerly not concerned to be in a lower condition than thy father from whom thou wast derived had been, yet do thou now seek after the dignity which thy kinsman hath attained to; and do not thou bear this contempt, that a man who admired thy riches should be in greater honor than thyself, nor suffer his poverty to show itself able to purchase greater things than our abundance; nor do thou esteem it other than a shameful thing to be inferior to one who, the other day, lived upon thy charity. 18.244. But let us go to Rome, and let us spare no pains nor expenses, either of silver or gold, since they cannot be kept for any better use than for the obtaining of a kingdom.” 18.245. 2. But for Herod, he opposed her request at this time, out of the love of ease, and having a suspicion of the trouble he should have at Rome; so he tried to instruct her better. But the more she saw him draw back, the more she pressed him to it, and desired him to leave no stone unturned in order to be king; 18.246. and at last she left not off till she engaged him, whether he would or not, to be of her sentiments, because he could no otherwise avoid her importunity. So he got all things ready, after as sumptuous a manner as he was able, and spared for nothing, and went up to Rome, and took Herodias along with him. 18.247. But Agrippa, when he was made sensible of their intentions and preparations, he also prepared to go thither; and as soon as he heard they set sail, he sent Fortunatus, one of his freed-men, to Rome, to carry presents to the emperor, and letters against Herod, and to give Caius a particular account of those matters, if he should have any opportunity. 18.248. This man followed Herod so quick, and had so prosperous a voyage, and came so little after Herod, that while Herod was with Caius, he came himself, and delivered his letters; for they both sailed to Dicearchia, and found Caius at Bairn 18.249. which is itself a little city of Campania, at the distance of about five furlongs from Dicearchia. There are in that place royal palaces, with sumptuous apartments, every emperor still endeavoring to outdo his predecessor’s magnificence; the place also affords warm baths, that spring out of the ground of their own accord, which are of advantage for the recovery of the health of those that make use of them; and, besides, they minister to men’s luxury also. 18.251. as a demonstration of which he alleged, that he had armor sufficient for seventy thousand men ready in his armory. Caius was moved at this information, and asked Herod whether what was said about the armor was true; 18.252. and when he confessed there was such armor there, for he could not deny the same, the truth of it being too notorious, Caius took that to be a sufficient proof of the accusation, that he intended to revolt. So he took away from him his tetrarchy, and gave it by way of addition to Agrippa’s kingdom; he also gave Herod’s money to Agrippa, and, by way of punishment, awarded him a perpetual banishment, and appointed Lyons, a city of Gaul, to be his place of habitation. 18.253. But when he was informed that Herodias was Agrippa’s sister, he made her a present of what money was her own, and told her that it was her brother who prevented her being put under the same calamity with her husband. 18.254. But she made this reply: “Thou, indeed, O emperor! actest after a magnificent manner, and as becomes thyself in what thou offerest me; but the kindness which I have for my husband hinders me from partaking of the favor of thy gift; for it is not just that I, who have been made a partner in his prosperity, should forsake him in his misfortunes.” 18.255. Hereupon Caius was angry at her, and sent her with Herod into banishment, and gave her estate to Agrippa. And thus did God punish Herodias for her envy at her brother, and Herod also for giving ear to the vain discourses of a woman. 18.256. Now Caius managed public affairs with great magimity during the first and second year of his reign, and behaved himself with such moderation, that he gained the good-will of the Romans themselves, and of his other subjects. But, in process of time, he went beyond the bounds of human nature in his conceit of himself, and by reason of the vastness of his dominions made himself a god, and took upon himself to act in all things to the reproach of the Deity itself. 18.257. 1. There was now a tumult arisen at Alexandria, between the Jewish inhabitants and the Greeks; and three ambassadors were chosen out of each party that were at variance, who came to Caius. Now one of these ambassadors from the people of Alexandria was Apion, who uttered many blasphemies against the Jews; and, among other things that he said, he charged them with neglecting the honors that belonged to Caesar; 18.258. for that while all who were subject to the Roman empire built altars and temples to Caius, and in other regards universally received him as they received the gods, these Jews alone thought it a dishonorable thing for them to erect statues in honor of him, as well as to swear by his name. 18.259. Many of these severe things were said by Apion, by which he hoped to provoke Caius to anger at the Jews, as he was likely to be. But Philo, the principal of the Jewish embassage, a man eminent on all accounts, brother to Alexander the alabarch, and one not unskillful in philosophy, was ready to betake himself to make his defense against those accusations; 19.278. 2. Now about this time there was a sedition between the Jews and the Greeks, at the city of Alexandria; for when Caius was dead, the nation of the Jews, which had been very much mortified under the reign of Caius, and reduced to very great distress by the people of Alexandria, recovered itself, and immediately took up their arms to fight for themselves. 19.281. Since I am assured that the Jews of Alexandria, called Alexandrians, have been joint inhabitants in the earliest times with the Alexandrians, and have obtained from their kings equal privileges with them, as is evident by the public records that are in their possession, and the edicts themselves; 19.282. and that after Alexandria had been subjected to our empire by Augustus, their rights and privileges have been preserved by those presidents who have at divers times been sent thither; and that no dispute had been raised about those rights and privileges 19.283. even when Aquila was governor of Alexandria; and that when the Jewish ethnarch was dead, Augustus did not prohibit the making such ethnarchs, as willing that all men should be so subject [to the Romans] as to continue in the observation of their own customs, and not be forced to transgress the ancient rules of their own country religion; 19.284. but that, in the time of Caius, the Alexandrians became insolent towards the Jews that were among them, which Caius, out of his great madness and want of understanding, reduced the nation of the Jews very low, because they would not transgress the religious worship of their country, and call him a god: 19.285. I will therefore that the nation of the Jews be not deprived of their rights and privileges, on account of the madness of Caius; but that those rights and privileges which they formerly enjoyed be preserved to them, and that they may continue in their own customs. And I charge both parties to take very great care that no troubles may arise after the promulgation of this edict.” 19.286. 3. And such were the contents of this edict on behalf of the Jews that was sent to Alexandria. But the edict that was sent into the other parts of the habitable earth was this which follows: 19.287. “Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, high priest, tribune of the people, chosen consul the second time, ordains thus: 19.288. Upon the petition of king Agrippa and king Herod, who are persons very dear to me, that I would grant the same rights and privileges should be preserved to the Jews which are in all the Roman empire, which I have granted to those of Alexandria, I very willingly comply therewith; and this grant I make not only for the sake of the petitioners 19.289. but as judging those Jews for whom I have been petitioned worthy of such a favor, on account of their fidelity and friendship to the Romans. I think it also very just that no Grecian city should be deprived of such rights and privileges, since they were preserved to them under the great Augustus. 19.291. And I will that this decree of mine be engraven on tables by the magistrates of the cities, and colonies, and municipal places, both those within Italy and those without it, both kings and governors, by the means of the ambassadors, and to have them exposed to the public for full thirty days, in such a place whence it may plainly be read from the ground.” |
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19. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 2.184 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.184. 1. Now Caius Caesar did so grossly abuse the fortune he had arrived at, as to take himself to be a god, and to desire to be so called also, and to cut off those of the greatest nobility out of his country. He also extended his impiety as far as the Jews. |
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20. Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, 2.33-2.34 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.33. 4. But let us now see what those heavy and wicked crimes are which Apion charges upon the Alexandrian Jews. “They came (says he) out of Syria, and inhabited near the tempestuous sea, and were in the neighborhood of the dashing of the waves.” 2.34. Now, if the place of habitation includes any thing that is reproachful, this man reproaches not his own real country [Egypt], but what he pretends to be his own country, Alexandria; for all are agreed in this, that the part of that city which is near the sea is the best part of all for habitation. |
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21. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 8.4, 12.2 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 8.4. Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we knowthat no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other Godbut one. 12.2. You know that when you were heathen, you were ledaway to those mute idols, however you might be led. |
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22. New Testament, Apocalypse, 9.20 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 9.20. The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn't worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk. |
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23. New Testament, Matthew, 1.11-1.12, 1.17, 24.20 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.11. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon. 1.12. After the exile to Babylon, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel became the father of Zerubbabel. 1.17. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations. 24.20. Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath |
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24. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, 2.5.2-2.5.5 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
| 2.5.2. Josephus also makes mention of these things in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities, in the following words: A sedition having arisen in Alexandria between the Jews that dwell there and the Greeks, three deputies were chosen from each faction and went to Caius. 2.5.3. One of the Alexandrian deputies was Apion, who uttered many slanders against the Jews; among other things saying that they neglected the honors due to Caesar. For while all other subjects of Rome erected altars and temples to Caius, and in all other respects treated him just as they did the gods, they alone considered it disgraceful to honor him with statues and to swear by his name. 2.5.4. And when Apion had uttered many severe charges by which he hoped that Caius would be aroused, as indeed was likely, Philo, the chief of the Jewish embassy, a man celebrated in every respect, a brother of Alexander the Alabarch, and not unskilled in philosophy, was prepared to enter upon a defense in reply to his accusations. 2.5.5. But Caius prevented him and ordered him to leave, and being very angry, it was plain that he meditated some severe measure against them. And Philo departed covered with insult and told the Jews that were with him to be of good courage; for while Caius was raging against them he was in fact already contending with God. |
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25. Anon., Joseph And Aseneth, 8.6
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26. Papyri, Cpj, 2.153
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