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Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database



657
Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 6.39


nanWhen the sun shone upon the shields of gold and brass, the hills were ablaze with them and gleamed like flaming torches.


Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

6 results
1. Herodotus, Histories, 1.53, 1.74 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)

1.53. The Lydians who were to bring these gifts to the temples were instructed by Croesus to inquire of the oracles whether he was to send an army against the Persians and whether he was to add an army of allies. ,When the Lydians came to the places where they were sent, they presented the offerings, and inquired of the oracles, in these words: “Croesus, king of Lydia and other nations, believing that here are the only true places of divination among men, endows you with such gifts as your wisdom deserves. And now he asks you whether he is to send an army against the Persians, and whether he is to add an army of allies.” ,Such was their inquiry; and the judgment given to Croesus by each of the two oracles was the same: namely, that if he should send an army against the Persians he would destroy a great empire. And they advised him to discover the mightiest of the Greeks and make them his friends. 1.74. After this, since Alyattes would not give up the Scythians to Cyaxares at his demand, there was war between the Lydians and the Medes for five years; each won many victories over the other, and once they fought a battle by night. ,They were still warring with equal success, when it happened, at an encounter which occurred in the sixth year, that during the battle the day was suddenly turned to night. Thales of Miletus had foretold this loss of daylight to the Ionians, fixing it within the year in which the change did indeed happen. ,So when the Lydians and Medes saw the day turned to night, they stopped fighting, and both were the more eager to make peace. Those who reconciled them were Syennesis the Cilician and Labynetus the Babylonian; ,they brought it about that there should be a sworn agreement and a compact of marriage between them: they judged that Alyattes should give his daughter Aryenis to Astyages, son of Cyaxares; for without strong constraint agreements will not keep their force. ,These nations make sworn compacts as do the Greeks; and besides, when they cut the skin of their arms, they lick each other's blood.
2. Hebrew Bible, Daniel, 11.30 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)

11.30. For ships of Kittim shall come against him, and he shall be cowed, and he shall return, and have indignation against the holy covet, and shall do his pleasure; and he shall return, and have regard unto them that forsake the holy covet."
3. Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 3.31-3.33, 3.35-3.37, 4.26-4.35, 4.61, 6.5-6.6, 6.18-6.38, 6.40-6.63 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)

3.31. He was greatly perplexed in mind, and determined to go to Persia and collect the revenues from those regions and raise a large fund. 3.32. He left Lysias, a distinguished man of royal lineage, in charge of the kings affairs from the river Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. 3.33. Lysias was also to take care of Antiochus his son until he returned. 3.35. Lysias was to send a force against them to wipe out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remt of Jerusalem; he was to banish the memory of them from the place 3.36. settle aliens in all their territory, and distribute their land. 3.37. Then the king took the remaining half of his troops and departed from Antioch his capital in the one hundred and forty-seventh year. He crossed the Euphrates river and went through the upper provinces. 4.26. Those of the foreigners who escaped went and reported to Lysias all that had happened. 4.27. When he heard it, he was perplexed and discouraged, for things had not happened to Israel as he had intended, nor had they turned out as the king had commanded him. 4.28. But the next year he mustered sixty thousand picked infantrymen and five thousand cavalry to subdue them. 4.29. They came into Idumea and encamped at Beth-zur, and Judas met them with ten thousand men. 4.30. When he saw that the army was strong, he prayed, saying, "Blessed art thou, O Savior of Israel, who didst crush the attack of the mighty warrior by the hand of thy servant David, and didst give the camp of the Philistines into the hands of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and of the man who carried his armor. 4.31. So do thou hem in this army by the hand of thy people Israel, and let them be ashamed of their troops and their cavalry. 4.32. Fill them with cowardice; melt the boldness of their strength; let them tremble in their destruction. 4.33. Strike them down with the sword of those who love thee, and let all who know thy name praise thee with hymns. 4.34. Then both sides attacked, and there fell of the army of Lysias five thousand men; they fell in action. 4.35. And when Lysias saw the rout of his troops and observed the boldness which inspired those of Judas, and how ready they were either to live or to die nobly, he departed to Antioch and enlisted mercenaries, to invade Judea again with an even larger army. 4.61. And he stationed a garrison there to hold it. He also fortified Beth-zur, so that the people might have a stronghold that faced Idumea. 6.5. Then some one came to him in Persia and reported that the armies which had gone into the land of Judah had been routed; 6.6. that Lysias had gone first with a strong force, but had turned and fled before the Jews; that the Jews had grown strong from the arms, supplies, and abundant spoils which they had taken from the armies they had cut down; 6.18. Now the men in the citadel kept hemming Israel in around the sanctuary. They were trying in every way to harm them and strengthen the Gentiles. 6.19. So Judas decided to destroy them, and assembled all the people to besiege them. 6.20. They gathered together and besieged the citadel in the one hundred and fiftieth year; and he built siege towers and other engines of war. 6.21. But some of the garrison escaped from the siege and some of the ungodly Israelites joined them. 6.22. They went to the king and said, "How long will you fail to do justice and to avenge our brethren? 6.23. We were happy to serve your father, to live by what he said and to follow his commands. 6.24. For this reason the sons of our people besieged the citadel and became hostile to us; moreover, they have put to death as many of us as they have caught, and they have seized our inheritances. 6.25. And not against us alone have they stretched out their hands, but also against all the lands on their borders. 6.26. And behold, today they have encamped against the citadel in Jerusalem to take it; they have fortified both the sanctuary and Beth-zur; 6.27. and unless you quickly prevent them, they will do still greater things, and you will not be able to stop them. 6.28. The king was enraged when he heard this. He assembled all his friends, the commanders of his forces and those in authority. 6.29. And mercenary forces came to him from other kingdoms and from islands of the seas. 6.30. The number of his forces was a hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants accustomed to war. 6.31. They came through Idumea and encamped against Beth-zur, and for many days they fought and built engines of war; but the Jews sallied out and burned these with fire, and fought manfully. 6.32. Then Judas marched away from the citadel and encamped at Beth-zechariah, opposite the camp of the king. 6.33. Early in the morning the king rose and took his army by a forced march along the road to Beth-zechariah, and his troops made ready for battle and sounded their trumpets. 6.34. They showed the elephants the juice of grapes and mulberries, to arouse them for battle. 6.35. And they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes; with each elephant they stationed a thousand men armed with coats of mail, and with brass helmets on their heads; and five hundred picked horsemen were assigned to each beast. 6.36. These took their position beforehand wherever the beast was; wherever it went they went with it, and they never left it. 6.37. And upon the elephants were wooden towers, strong and covered; they were fastened upon each beast by special harness, and upon each were four armed men who fought from there, and also its Indian driver. 6.38. The rest of the horsemen were stationed on either side, on the two flanks of the army, to harass the enemy while being themselves protected by the phalanxes. 6.40. Now a part of the kings army was spread out on the high hills, and some troops were on the plain, and they advanced steadily and in good order. 6.41. All who heard the noise made by their multitude, by the marching of the multitude and the clanking of their arms, trembled, for the army was very large and strong. 6.42. But Judas and his army advanced to the battle, and six hundred men of the kings army fell. 6.43. And Eleazar, called Avaran, saw that one of the beasts was equipped with royal armor. It was taller than all the others, and he supposed that the king was upon it. 6.44. So he gave his life to save his people and to win for himself an everlasting name. 6.45. He courageously ran into the midst of the phalanx to reach it; he killed men right and left, and they parted before him on both sides. 6.46. He got under the elephant, stabbed it from beneath, and killed it; but it fell to the ground upon him and he died. 6.47. And when the Jews saw the royal might and the fierce attack of the forces, they turned away in flight. 6.48. The soldiers of the kings army went up to Jerusalem against them, and the king encamped in Judea and at Mount Zion. 6.49. He made peace with the men of Beth-zur, and they evacuated the city, because they had no provisions there to withstand a siege, since it was a sabbatical year for the land. 6.50. So the king took Beth-zur and stationed a guard there to hold it. 6.51. Then he encamped before the sanctuary for many days. He set up siege towers, engines of war to throw fire and stones, machines to shoot arrows, and catapults. 6.52. The Jews also made engines of war to match theirs, and fought for many days. 6.53. But they had no food in storage, because it was the seventh year; those who found safety in Judea from the Gentiles had consumed the last of the stores. 6.54. Few men were left in the sanctuary, because famine had prevailed over the rest and they had been scattered, each to his own place. 6.55. Then Lysias heard that Philip, whom King Antiochus while still living had appointed to bring up Antiochus his son to be king 6.56. had returned from Persia and Media with the forces that had gone with the king, and that he was trying to seize control of the government. 6.57. So he quickly gave orders to depart, and said to the king, to the commanders of the forces, and to the men, "We daily grow weaker, our food supply is scant, the place against which we are fighting is strong, and the affairs of the kingdom press urgently upon us. 6.58. Now then let us come to terms with these men, and make peace with them and with all their nation 6.59. and agree to let them live by their laws as they did before; for it was on account of their laws which we abolished that they became angry and did all these things. 6.60. The speech pleased the king and the commanders, and he sent to the Jews an offer of peace, and they accepted it. 6.61. So the king and the commanders gave them their oath. On these conditions the Jews evacuated the stronghold. 6.62. But when the king entered Mount Zion and saw what a strong fortress the place was, he broke the oath he had sworn and gave orders to tear down the wall all around. 6.63. Then he departed with haste and returned to Antioch. He found Philip in control of the city, but he fought against him, and took the city by force.
4. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 4.26, 5.25, 8.14, 8.29, 10.4, 10.26, 11.1-11.13, 11.23, 13.9-13.26 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)

4.26. So Jason, who after supplanting his own brother was supplanted by another man, was driven as a fugitive into the land of Ammon.' 5.25. When this man arrived in Jerusalem, he pretended to be peaceably disposed and waited until the holy sabbath day; then, finding the Jews not at work, he ordered his men to parade under arms.' 8.14. Others sold all their remaining property, and at the same time besought the Lord to rescue those who had been sold by the ungodly Nicanor before he ever met them,' 8.29. When they had done this, they made common supplication and besought the merciful Lord to be wholly reconciled with his servants.' 10.4. And when they had done this, they fell prostrate and besought the Lord that they might never again fall into such misfortunes, but that, if they should ever sin, they might be disciplined by him with forbearance and not be handed over to blasphemous and barbarous nations.' 10.26. Falling upon the steps before the altar, they besought him to be gracious to them and to be an enemy to their enemies and an adversary to their adversaries, as the law declares.' 11.1. Very soon after this, Lysias, the king's guardian and kinsman, who was in charge of the government, being vexed at what had happened,' 11.2. gathered about eighty thousand men and all his cavalry and came against the Jews. He intended to make the city a home for Greeks,' 11.3. and to levy tribute on the temple as he did on the sacred places of the other nations, and to put up the high priesthood for sale every year.' 11.4. He took no account whatever of the power of God, but was elated with his ten thousands of infantry, and his thousands of cavalry, and his eighty elephants.' 11.5. Invading Judea, he approached Beth-zur, which was a fortified place about five leagues from Jerusalem, and pressed it hard.' 11.6. When Maccabeus and his men got word that Lysias was besieging the strongholds, they and all the people, with lamentations and tears, besought the Lord to send a good angel to save Israel.' 11.7. Maccabeus himself was the first to take up arms, and he urged the others to risk their lives with him to aid their brethren. Then they eagerly rushed off together.' 11.8. And there, while they were still near Jerusalem, a horseman appeared at their head, clothed in white and brandishing weapons of gold.' 11.9. And they all together praised the merciful God, and were strengthened in heart, ready to assail not only men but the wildest beasts or walls of iron.' 11.10. They advanced in battle order, having their heavenly ally, for the Lord had mercy on them.' 11.11. They hurled themselves like lions against the enemy, and slew eleven thousand of them and sixteen hundred horsemen, and forced all the rest to flee.' 11.12. Most of them got away stripped and wounded, and Lysias himself escaped by disgraceful flight.' 11.13. And as he was not without intelligence, he pondered over the defeat which had befallen him, and realized that the Hebrews were invincible because the mighty God fought on their side. So he sent to them' 11.23. Now that our father has gone on to the gods, we desire that the subjects of the kingdom be undisturbed in caring for their own affairs.' 13.9. The king with barbarous arrogance was coming to show the Jews things far worse than those that had been done in his father's time. 13.10. But when Judas heard of this, he ordered the people to call upon the Lord day and night, now if ever to help those who were on the point of being deprived of the law and their country and the holy temple,' 13.11. and not to let the people who had just begun to revive fall into the hands of the blasphemous Gentiles. 13.12. When they had all joined in the same petition and had besought the merciful Lord with weeping and fasting and lying prostrate for three days without ceasing, Judas exhorted them and ordered them to stand ready.' 13.13. After consulting privately with the elders, he determined to march out and decide the matter by the help of God before the king's army could enter Judea and get possession of the city.' 13.14. So, committing the decision to the Creator of the world and exhorting his men to fight nobly to the death for the laws, temple, city, country, and commonwealth, he pitched his camp near Modein.' 13.15. He gave his men the watchword, 'God's victory,'and with a picked force of the bravest young men, he attacked the king's pavilion at night and slew as many as two thousand men in the camp. He stabbed the leading elephant and its rider.' 13.16. In the end they filled the camp with terror and confusion and withdrew in triumph. 13.17. This happened, just as day was dawning, because the Lord's help protected him.' 13.18. The king, having had a taste of the daring of the Jews, tried strategy in attacking their positions.' 13.19. He advanced against Beth-zur, a strong fortress of the Jews, was turned back, attacked again, and was defeated.' 13.20. Judas sent in to the garrison whatever was necessary. 13.21. But Rhodocus, a man from the ranks of the Jews, gave secret information to the enemy; he was sought for, caught, and put in prison.' 13.22. The king negotiated a second time with the people in Beth-zur, gave pledges, received theirs, withdrew, attacked Judas and his men, was defeated;' 13.23. he got word that Philip, who had been left in charge of the government, had revolted in Antioch; he was dismayed, called in the Jews, yielded and swore to observe all their rights, settled with them and offered sacrifice, honored the sanctuary and showed generosity to the holy place.' 13.24. He received Maccabeus, left Hegemonides as governor from Ptolemais to Gerar,' 13.25. and went to Ptolemais. The people of Ptolemais were indigt over the treaty; in fact they were so angry that they wanted to annul its terms. 13.26. Lysias took the public platform, made the best possible defense, convinced them, appeased them, gained their good will, and set out for Antioch. This is how the king's attack and withdrawal turned out.'
5. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 1.41, 6.312-6.313 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)

1.41. 5. So this Antiochus got together fifty thousand footmen, and five thousand horsemen, and fourscore elephants, and marched through Judea into the mountainous parts. He then took Bethsura, which was a small city; but at a place called Bethzacharias, where the passage was narrow, Judas met him with his army. 1.41. But the king, by the expenses he was at, and the liberal disposal of them, overcame nature, and built a haven larger than was the Pyrecum [at Athens]; and in the inner retirements of the water he built other deep stations [for the ships also]. 6.312. But now, what did most elevate them in undertaking this war, was an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, how, “about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth.” 6.313. The Jews took this prediction to belong to themselves in particular, and many of the wise men were thereby deceived in their determination. Now, this oracle certainly denoted the government of Vespasian, who was appointed emperor in Judea.
6. Anon., Letter of Aristeas, 245

245. The king gave a kindly reception to the man and asked the next to answer the question How he could avoid a life of ease and pleasure? And he replied, 'If he continually remembered that he was the ruler of a great empire and the lord of vast multitudes, and that his mind ought not to be occupied with other things, but he ought always to be considering how he could best promote their welfare. He must pray, too, to God that no duty might be neglected.'


Subjects of this text:

subject book bibliographic info
1 maccabees, contrasting order of events Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394, 395
akra Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394
alkimos, paired with demetrios i Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87
antioch Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394
antiochos iv epiphanes, his anabasis Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
antiochos iv epiphanes, his death Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
antiochos v eupator Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87
antiochos vs time unit Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
antiochus iv epiphanes, death of Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394, 395
antiochus v eupator Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 395
artaxerxes Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
beth-zur, accounts Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394, 395
beth-zur, battle of Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394, 395
beth zechariah Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394
chronology of events, in ii maccabees Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87
chronology of events Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
correspondence, royal, in 2 macc. Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394, 395
cyrus Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
darius Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
decree, decrees, royal hellenistic decrees Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86
elephants Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 395
ezra, his reforms Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
ezra Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
high priests, appointment of (in jerusalem) Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86
high priests, of jerusalem, paired with kings Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
i and ii maccabees, their value for historical reconstruction, compositional montages in ii maccabees Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87
i and ii maccabees Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87
ii maccabees, compositional structure Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
josephus Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86; Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 395
king, kings, and local communities Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86
king, kings, in seleukid kingdom Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87
lysias Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87; Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394
motifs (thematic), greek, see also under greek Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 253
nicanor Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394
order, social Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86
popilius laenas Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 253
sheshbazzar Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 87
sources of 2 maccabees Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 395
state culture of hellenistic kingdoms, modern views of Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86
temple (as a literary motif, selected), semantic sphere of Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86
temple (second), purification and rededication of, see also hanukkah narrative Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394
time, construction of, as cyclical Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87
time, construction of Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87
xanthicus' Schwartz, 2 Maccabees (2008) 394
zerubbabel and joshua Honigman, Tales of High Priests and Taxes: The Books of the Maccabees and the Judean Rebellion Against Antiochos IV (2014) 86, 87