1. Septuagint, Tobit, 2.1, 2.9 (10th cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 2.1. When I arrived home and my wife Anna and my son Tobias were restored to me, at the feast of Pentecost, which is the sacred festival of the seven weeks, a good dinner was prepared for me and I sat down to eat. 2.9. On the same night I returned from burying him, and because I was defiled I slept by the wall of the courtyard, and my face was uncovered. |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Exodus, 25.2 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 25.2. וְהָיוּ הַכְּרֻבִים פֹּרְשֵׂי כְנָפַיִם לְמַעְלָה סֹכְכִים בְּכַנְפֵיהֶם עַל־הַכַּפֹּרֶת וּפְנֵיהֶם אִישׁ אֶל־אָחִיו אֶל־הַכַּפֹּרֶת יִהְיוּ פְּנֵי הַכְּרֻבִים׃ 25.2. דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ־לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כָּל־אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ תִּקְחוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִי׃ | 25.2. ’Speak unto the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering; of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take My offering." |
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3. Septuagint, Tobit, 2.1, 2.9 (4th cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 2.1. When I arrived home and my wife Anna and my son Tobias were restored to me, at the feast of Pentecost, which is the sacred festival of the seven weeks, a good dinner was prepared for me and I sat down to eat. 2.9. On the same night I returned from burying him, and because I was defiled I slept by the wall of the courtyard, and my face was uncovered. |
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4. Anon., Jubilees, 2.17-2.33, 50.12-50.13 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 2.17. And God appointed the sun to be a great sign on the earth for days and for sabbaths and for months and for feasts and for years and for sabbaths of years and for jubilees and for all seasons of the years. 2.18. And it divideth the light from the darkness [and] for prosperity, that all things may prosper which shoot and grow on the earth. 2.19. These three kinds He made on the fourth day. 2.20. And on the fifth day He created great sea monsters in the depths of the waters, for these were the first things of flesh that were created by His hands, the fish and everything that moves in the waters, and everything that flies, the birds and all their kind. 2.21. And the sun rose above them to prosper (them), and above everything that was on the earth, everything that shoots out of the earth, and all fruit-bearing trees, and all flesh. 2.22. These three kinds He created on the fifth day. 2.23. And on the sixth day He created all the animals of the earth, and all cattle, and everything that moves on the earth. 2.24. And after all this He created man, a man and a woman created He them 2.25. and gave him dominion over all that is upon the earth, and in the seas, and over everything that flies, and over beasts and over cattle, and over everything that moves on the earth, and over the whole earth, and over all this He gave him dominion. 2.26. And these four kinds He created on the sixth day. br And there were altogether two and twenty kinds. 2.27. And He finished all His work on the sixth day--all that is in the heavens and on the earth, and in the seas and in the abysses, and in the light and in the darkness, and in everything. 2.28. And He gave us a great sign, the Sabbath day, that we should work six days, but keep Sabbath on the seventh day from all work. brAnd all the angels of the presence, and all the angels of sanctification 2.29. these two great classes--He hath hidden us to keep the Sabbath with Him in heaven and on earth. 2.30. And He said unto us: "Behold, I will separate unto Myself a people from among all the peoples, and these will keep the Sabbath day 2.31. and I will sanctify them unto Myself as My people, and will bless them; as I have sanctified the Sabbath day and do sanctify (it) unto Myself, even so shall I bless them, and they will be My people and I shall be their God. 2.32. And I have chosen the seed of Jacob from amongst all that I have seen, and have written him down as My firstborn son, and have sanctified him unto Myself for ever and ever; 2.33. and I will teach them the Sabbath day, that they may keep Sabbath thereon from all work."... 50.12. and a holy day: and a day of the holy kingdom for all Israel is this day among their days for ever. 50.13. For great is the honour which the Lord hath given to Israel that they should eat and drink and be satisfied on this festival day, and rest thereon from all labour which belongeth to the labour of the children of men, save burning frankincense and bringing oblations and sacrifices before the Lord for days and for Sabbaths. |
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5. Dead Sea Scrolls, Damascus Covenant, 10.14-11.18 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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6. Dead Sea Scrolls, (Cairo Damascus Covenant) Cd-A, 10.14-11.18 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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7. Dead Sea Scrolls, Community Rule, 5.1 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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8. Hebrew Bible, Daniel, 12.2 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 12.2. וְרַבִּים מִיְּשֵׁנֵי אַדְמַת־עָפָר יָקִיצוּ אֵלֶּה לְחַיֵּי עוֹלָם וְאֵלֶּה לַחֲרָפוֹת לְדִרְאוֹן עוֹלָם׃ | 12.2. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence." |
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9. Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 1.30, 1.39, 1.43, 1.45, 1.61, 2.29-2.41, 4.15, 5.25, 5.65-5.68, 6.49, 10.34 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.30. Deceitfully he spoke peaceable words to them, and they believed him; but he suddenly fell upon the city, dealt it a severe blow, and destroyed many people of Israel. 1.39. Her sanctuary became desolate as a desert;her feasts were turned into mourning,her sabbaths into a reproach,her honor into contempt. 1.43. All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel gladly adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath. 1.45. to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane sabbaths and feasts 1.61. and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers necks. 2.29. Then many who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the wilderness to dwell there 2.30. they, their sons, their wives, and their cattle, because evils pressed heavily upon them. 2.31. And it was reported to the kings officers, and to the troops in Jerusalem the city of David, that men who had rejected the kings command had gone down to the hiding places in the wilderness. 2.32. Many pursued them, and overtook them; they encamped opposite them and prepared for battle against them on the sabbath day. 2.33. And they said to them, "Enough of this! Come out and do what the king commands, and you will live. 2.34. But they said, "We will not come out, nor will we do what the king commands and so profane the sabbath day. 2.35. Then the enemy hastened to attack them. 2.36. But they did not answer them or hurl a stone at them or block up their hiding places 2.37. for they said, "Let us all die in our innocence; heaven and earth testify for us that you are killing us unjustly. 2.38. So they attacked them on the sabbath, and they died, with their wives and children and cattle, to the number of a thousand persons. 2.39. When Mattathias and his friends learned of it, they mourned for them deeply. 2.40. And each said to his neighbor: "If we all do as our brethren have done and refuse to fight with the Gentiles for our lives and for our ordices, they will quickly destroy us from the earth. 2.41. So they made this decision that day: "Let us fight against every man who comes to attack us on the sabbath day; let us not all die as our brethren died in their hiding places. 4.15. and all those in the rear fell by the sword. They pursued them to Gazara, and to the plains of Idumea, and to Azotus and Jamnia; and three thousand of them fell. 5.25. They encountered the Nabateans, who met them peaceably and told them all that had happened to their brethren in Gilead: 5.65. Then Judas and his brothers went forth and fought the sons of Esau in the land to the south. He struck Hebron and its villages and tore down its strongholds and burned its towers round about. 5.66. Then he marched off to go into the land of the Philistines, and passed through Marisa. 5.67. On that day some priests, who wished to do a brave deed, fell in battle, for they went out to battle unwisely. 5.68. But Judas turned aside to Azotus in the land of the Philistines; he tore down their altars, and the graven images of their gods he burned with fire; he plundered the cities and returned to the land of Judah. 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. 10.34. And all the feasts and sabbaths and new moons and appointed days, and the three days before a feast and the three after a feast -- let them all be days of immunity and release for all the Jews who are in my kingdom. |
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10. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 4.14, 4.28, 5.2, 5.21-5.22, 5.24-5.25, 5.27, 6.1-6.31, 7.2, 7.6, 7.8-7.24, 7.27, 7.30, 7.37, 8.2-8.4, 8.25-8.28, 9.12, 12.6, 12.8, 12.10-12.37, 12.39-12.45, 14.46, 15.1-15.3 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 4.14. that the priests were no longer intent upon their service at the altar. Despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hastened to take part in the unlawful proceedings in the wrestling arena after the call to the discus,' 4.28. When Sostratus the captain of the citadel kept requesting payment, for the collection of the revenue was his responsibility, the two of them were summoned by the king on account of this issue.' 5.2. And it happened that over all the city, for almost forty days, there appeared golden-clad horsemen charging through the air, in companies fully armed with lances and drawn swords --' 5.21. So Antiochus carried off eighteen hundred talents from the temple, and hurried away to Antioch, thinking in his arrogance that he could sail on the land and walk on the sea, because his mind was elated.' 5.22. And he left governors to afflict the people: at Jerusalem, Philip, by birth a Phrygian and in character more barbarous than the man who appointed him;' 5.24. Antiochus sent Apollonius, the captain of the Mysians, with an army of twenty-two thousand, and commanded him to slay all the grown men and to sell the women and boys as slaves.' 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.' 5.27. But Judas Maccabeus, with about nine others, got away to the wilderness, and kept himself and his companions alive in the mountains as wild animals do; they continued to live on what grew wild, so that they might not share in the defilement.' 6.1. Not long after this, the king sent an Athenian senator to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their fathers and cease to live by the laws of God,' 6.2. and also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and call it the temple of Olympian Zeus, and to call the one in Gerizim the temple of Zeus the Friend of Strangers, as did the people who dwelt in that place.' 6.3. Harsh and utterly grievous was the onslaught of evil. 6.4. For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts, and besides brought in things for sacrifice that were unfit.' 6.5. The altar was covered with abominable offerings which were forbidden by the laws. 6.6. A man could neither keep the sabbath, nor observe the feasts of his fathers, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew.' 6.7. On the monthly celebration of the king's birthday, the Jews were taken, under bitter constraint, to partake of the sacrifices; and when the feast of Dionysus came, they were compelled to walk in the procession in honor of Dionysus, wearing wreaths of ivy.' 6.8. At the suggestion of Ptolemy a decree was issued to the neighboring Greek cities, that they should adopt the same policy toward the Jews and make them partake of the sacrifices,' 6.9. and should slay those who did not choose to change over to Greek customs. One could see, therefore, the misery that had come upon them.' 6.10. For example, two women were brought in for having circumcised their children. These women they publicly paraded about the city, with their babies hung at their breasts, then hurled them down headlong from the wall.' 6.11. Others who had assembled in the caves near by, to observe the seventh day secretly, were betrayed to Philip and were all burned together, because their piety kept them from defending themselves, in view of their regard for that most holy day.' 6.12. Now I urge those who read this book not to be depressed by such calamities, but to recognize that these punishments were designed not to destroy but to discipline our people.' 6.13. In fact, not to let the impious alone for long, but to punish them immediately, is a sign of great kindness.' 6.14. For in the case of the other nations the Lord waits patiently to punish them until they have reached the full measure of their sins; but he does not deal in this way with us,' 6.15. in order that he may not take vengeance on us afterward when our sins have reached their height. 6.16. Therefore he never withdraws his mercy from us. Though he disciplines us with calamities, he does not forsake his own people.' 6.17. Let what we have said serve as a reminder; we must go on briefly with the story. 6.18. Eleazar, one of the scribes in high position, a man now advanced in age and of noble presence, was being forced to open his mouth to eat swine's flesh.' 6.19. But he, welcoming death with honor rather than life with pollution, went up to the the rack of his own accord, spitting out the flesh,' 6.20. as men ought to go who have the courage to refuse things that it is not right to taste, even for the natural love of life.' 6.21. Those who were in charge of that unlawful sacrifice took the man aside, because of their long acquaintance with him, and privately urged him to bring meat of his own providing, proper for him to use, and pretend that he was eating the flesh of the sacrificial meal which had been commanded by the king,' 6.22. o that by doing this he might be saved from death, and be treated kindly on account of his old friendship with them.' 6.23. But making a high resolve, worthy of his years and the dignity of his old age and the gray hairs which he had reached with distinction and his excellent life even from childhood, and moreover according to the holy God-given law, he declared himself quickly, telling them to send him to Hades.' 6.24. Such pretense is not worthy of our time of life, he said, 'lest many of the young should suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year has gone over to an alien religion,' 6.25. and through my pretense, for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they should be led astray because of me, while I defile and disgrace my old age.' 6.26. For even if for the present I should avoid the punishment of men, yet whether I live or die I shall not escape the hands of the Almighty.' 6.27. Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age' 6.28. and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and nobly for the revered and holy laws.'When he had said this, he went at once to the rack.' 6.29. And those who a little before had acted toward him with good will now changed to ill will, because the words he had uttered were in their opinion sheer madness.' 6.30. When he was about to die under the blows, he groaned aloud and said: 'It is clear to the Lord in his holy knowledge that, though I might have been saved from death, I am enduring terrible sufferings in my body under this beating, but in my soul I am glad to suffer these things because I fear him.' 6.31. So in this way he died, leaving in his death an example of nobility and a memorial of courage, not only to the young but to the great body of his nation.' 7.2. One of them, acting as their spokesman, said, 'What do you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our fathers.' 7.6. The Lord God is watching over us and in truth has compassion on us, as Moses declared in his song which bore witness against the people to their faces, when he said, `And he will have compassion on his servants.'' 7.8. He replied in the language of his fathers, and said to them, 'No.'Therefore he in turn underwent tortures as the first brother had done.' 7.9. And when he was at his last breath, he said, 'You accursed wretch, you dismiss us from this present life, but the King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws.' 7.10. After him, the third was the victim of their sport. When it was demanded, he quickly put out his tongue and courageously stretched forth his hands,' 7.11. and said nobly, 'I got these from Heaven, and because of his laws I disdain them, and from him I hope to get them back again.' 7.12. As a result the king himself and those with him were astonished at the young man's spirit, for he regarded his sufferings as nothing.' 7.13. When he too had died, they maltreated and tortured the fourth in the same way.' 7.14. And when he was near death, he said, 'One cannot but choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that God gives of being raised again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection to life!' 7.15. Next they brought forward the fifth and maltreated him. 7.16. But he looked at the king, and said, 'Because you have authority among men, mortal though you are, you do what you please. But do not think that God has forsaken our people.' 7.17. Keep on, and see how his mighty power will torture you and your descendants!' 7.18. After him they brought forward the sixth. And when he was about to die, he said, 'Do not deceive yourself in vain. For we are suffering these things on our own account, because of our sins against our own God. Therefore astounding things have happened.' 7.19. But do not think that you will go unpunished for having tried to fight against God!' 7.20. The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord.' 7.21. She encouraged each of them in the language of their fathers. Filled with a noble spirit, she fired her woman's reasoning with a man's courage, and said to them,' 7.22. I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you.' 7.23. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws.' 7.24. Antiochus felt that he was being treated with contempt, and he was suspicious of her reproachful tone. The youngest brother being still alive, Antiochus not only appealed to him in words, but promised with oaths that he would make him rich and enviable if he would turn from the ways of his fathers, and that he would take him for his friend and entrust him with public affairs.' 7.27. But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their native tongue as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: 'My son, have pity on me. I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you.' 7.30. While she was still speaking, the young man said, 'What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king's command, but I obey the command of the law that was given to our fathers through Moses.' 7.37. I, like my brothers, give up body and life for the laws of our fathers, appealing to God to show mercy soon to our nation and by afflictions and plagues to make you confess that he alone is God,' 8.2. They besought the Lord to look upon the people who were oppressed by all, and to have pity on the temple which had been profaned by ungodly men,' 8.3. and to have mercy on the city which was being destroyed and about to be leveled to the ground, and to hearken to the blood that cried out to him,' 8.4. and to remember also the lawless destruction of the innocent babies and the blasphemies committed against his name, and to show his hatred of evil.' 8.25. They captured the money of those who had come to buy them as slaves. After pursuing them for some distance, they were obliged to return because the hour was late.' 8.26. For it was the day before the sabbath, and for that reason they did not continue their pursuit.' 8.27. And when they had collected the arms of the enemy and stripped them of their spoils, they kept the sabbath, giving great praise and thanks to the Lord, who had preserved them for that day and allotted it to them as the beginning of mercy.' 8.28. After the sabbath they gave some of the spoils to those who had been tortured and to the widows and orphans, and distributed the rest among themselves and their children.' 9.12. And when he could not endure his own stench, he uttered these words: 'It is right to be subject to God, and no mortal should think that he is equal to God.' 12.6. and, calling upon God the righteous Judge, attacked the murderers of his brethren. He set fire to the harbor by night, and burned the boats, and massacred those who had taken refuge there.' 12.8. But learning that the men in Jamnia meant in the same way to wipe out the Jews who were living among them,' 12.10. When they had gone more than a mile from there, on their march against Timothy, not less than five thousand Arabs with five hundred horsemen attacked them.' 12.11. After a hard fight Judas and his men won the victory, by the help of God. The defeated nomads besought Judas to grant them pledges of friendship, promising to give him cattle and to help his people in all other ways.' 12.12. Judas, thinking that they might really be useful in many ways, agreed to make peace with them; and after receiving his pledges they departed to their tents.' 12.13. He also attacked a certain city which was strongly fortified with earthworks and walls, and inhabited by all sorts of Gentiles. Its name was Caspin.' 12.14. And those who were within, relying on the strength of the walls and on their supply of provisions, behaved most insolently toward Judas and his men, railing at them and even blaspheming and saying unholy things.' 12.15. But Judas and his men, calling upon the great Sovereign of the world, who without battering-rams or engines of war overthrew Jericho in the days of Joshua, rushed furiously upon the walls.' 12.16. They took the city by the will of God, and slaughtered untold numbers, so that the adjoining lake, a quarter of a mile wide, appeared to be running over with blood.' 12.17. When they had gone ninety-five miles from there, they came to Charax, to the Jews who are called Toubiani.' 12.18. They did not find Timothy in that region, for he had by then departed from the region without accomplishing anything, though in one place he had left a very strong garrison.' 12.19. Dositheus and Sosipater, who were captains under Maccabeus, marched out and destroyed those whom Timothy had left in the stronghold, more than ten thousand men.' 12.20. But Maccabeus arranged his army in divisions, set men in command of the divisions, and hastened after Timothy, who had with him a hundred and twenty thousand infantry and two thousand five hundred cavalry.' 12.21. When Timothy learned of the approach of Judas, he sent off the women and the children and also the baggage to a place called Carnaim; for that place was hard to besiege and difficult of access because of the narrowness of all the approaches.' 12.22. But when Judas' first division appeared, terror and fear came over the enemy at the manifestation to them of him who sees all things; and they rushed off in flight and were swept on, this way and that, so that often they were injured by their own men and pierced by the points of their swords.' 12.23. And Judas pressed the pursuit with the utmost vigor, putting the sinners to the sword, and destroyed as many as thirty thousand men.' 12.24. Timothy himself fell into the hands of Dositheus and Sosipater and their men. With great guile he besought them to let him go in safety, because he held the parents of most of them and the brothers of some and no consideration would be shown them.' 12.25. And when with many words he had confirmed his solemn promise to restore them unharmed, they let him go, for the sake of saving their brethren.' 12.26. Then Judas marched against Carnaim and the temple of Atargatis, and slaughtered twenty-five thousand people.' 12.27. After the rout and destruction of these, he marched also against Ephron, a fortified city where Lysias dwelt with multitudes of people of all nationalities. Stalwart young men took their stand before the walls and made a vigorous defense; and great stores of war engines and missiles were there.' 12.28. But the Jews called upon the Sovereign who with power shatters the might of his enemies, and they got the city into their hands, and killed as many as twenty-five thousand of those who were within it.' 12.29. Setting out from there, they hastened to Scythopolis, which is seventy-five miles from Jerusalem.' 12.30. But when the Jews who dwelt there bore witness to the good will which the people of Scythopolis had shown them and their kind treatment of them in times of misfortune,' 12.31. they thanked them and exhorted them to be well disposed to their race in the future also. Then they went up to Jerusalem, as the feast of weeks was close at hand.' 12.32. After the feast called Pentecost, they hastened against Gorgias, the governor of Idumea.' 12.33. And he came out with three thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry. 12.34. When they joined battle, it happened that a few of the Jews fell.' 12.35. But a certain Dositheus, one of Bacenor's men, who was on horseback and was a strong man, caught hold of Gorgias, and grasping his cloak was dragging him off by main strength, wishing to take the accursed man alive, when one of the Thracian horsemen bore down upon him and cut off his arm; so Gorgias escaped and reached Marisa.' 12.36. As Esdris and his men had been fighting for a long time and were weary, Judas called upon the Lord to show himself their ally and leader in the battle.' 12.37. In the language of their fathers he raised the battle cry, with hymns; then he charged against Gorgias' men when they were not expecting it, and put them to flight.' 12.39. On the next day, as by that time it had become necessary, Judas and his men went to take up the bodies of the fallen and to bring them back to lie with their kinsmen in the sepulchres of their fathers.' 12.40. Then under the tunic of every one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was why these men had fallen.' 12.41. So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous Judge, who reveals the things that are hidden;' 12.42. and they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out. And the noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen.' 12.43. He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection.' 12.44. For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.' 12.45. But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.' 14.46. with his blood now completely drained from him, he tore out his entrails, took them with both hands and hurled them at the crowd, calling upon the Lord of life and spirit to give them back to him again. This was the manner of his death.' 15.1. When Nicanor heard that Judas and his men were in the region of Samaria, he made plans to attack them with complete safety on the day of rest.' 15.2. And when the Jews who were compelled to follow him said, 'Do not destroy so savagely and barbarously, but show respect for the day which he who sees all things has honored and hallowed above other days,' 15.3. the thrice-accursed wretch asked if there were a sovereign in heaven who had commanded the keeping of the sabbath day. |
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11. Septuagint, Ecclesiasticus (Siracides), 6.18-6.37, 17.12, 33.7-33.15 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 17.12. He established with them an eternal covet,and showed them his judgments. 33.7. Why is any day better than another,when all the daylight in the year is from the sun? 33.8. By the Lords decision they were distinguished,and he appointed the different seasons and feasts; 33.9. some of them he exalted and hallowed,and some of them he made ordinary days. 33.11. In the fulness of his knowledge the Lord distinguished them and appointed their different ways; 33.12. some of them he blessed and exalted,and some of them he made holy and brought near to himself;but some of them he cursed and brought low,and he turned them out of their place. 33.13. As clay in the hand of the potter -- for all his ways are as he pleases -- so men are in the hand of him who made them,to give them as he decides. 33.14. Good is the opposite of evil,and life the opposite of death;so the sinner is the opposite of the godly. 33.15. Look upon all the works of the Most High;they likewise are in pairs, one the opposite of the other. |
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12. Septuagint, Judith, 8.6, 12.7 (2nd cent. BCE - 0th cent. CE)
| 8.6. She fasted all the days of her widowhood, except the day before the sabbath and the sabbath itself, the day before the new moon and the day of the new moon, and the feasts and days of rejoicing of the house of Israel. 12.7. So Holofernes commanded his guards not to hinder her. And she remained in the camp for three days, and went out each night to the valley of Bethulia, and bathed at the spring in the camp. |
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13. Anon., Sibylline Oracles, 3.591-3.593 (1st cent. BCE - 5th cent. CE)
| 3.591. But when from Italy shall come a man 3.592. A spoiler, then, Laodicea, thou 3.593. Beautiful city of the Carian |
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14. Philo of Alexandria, On Dreams, 2.123 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.123. Moreover, it is only a very short time ago that I knew a man of very high rank, one who was prefect and governor of Egypt, who, after he had taken it into his head to change our national institutions and customs, and in an extraordinary manner to abrogate that most holy law guarded by such fearful penalties, which relates to the seventh day, and was compelling us to obey him, and to do other things contrary to our established custom, thinking that that would be the beginning of our departure from the other laws, and of our violation of all our national customs, if he were once able to destroy our hereditary and customary observance of the seventh day. |
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15. Strabo, Geography, 16.2.37 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 16.2.37. His successors continued for some time to observe the same conduct, doing justly, and worshipping God with sincerity. Afterwards superstitious persons were appointed to the priesthood, and then tyrants. From superstition arose abstinence from flesh, from the eating of which it is now the custom to refrain, circumcision, excision, and other practices which the people observe. The tyrannical government produced robbery; for the rebels plundered both their own and the neighbouring countries. Those also who shared in the government seized upon the property of others, and ravaged a large part of Syria and of Phoenicia.Respect, however, was paid to the acropolis; it was not abhorred as the seat of tyranny, but honoured and venerated as a temple. |
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16. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 13.252, 14.226, 14.242, 14.245, 14.258, 14.263 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 13.252. And truly he did not speak falsely in saying so; for that festival, which we call Pentecost, did then fall out to be the next day to the Sabbath. Nor is it lawful for us to journey, either on the Sabbath day, or on a festival day. 14.226. Alexander, the son of Theodorus, the ambassador of Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, appeared before me, to show that his countrymen could not go into their armies, because they are not allowed to bear arms or to travel on the Sabbath days, nor there to procure themselves those sorts of food which they have been used to eat from the times of their forefathers;— 14.242. wherein they desire that the Jews may be allowed to observe their Sabbaths, and other sacred rites, according to the laws of their forefathers, and that they may be under no command, because they are our friends and confederates, and that nobody may injure them in our provinces. Now although the Trallians there present contradicted them, and were not pleased with these decrees, yet didst thou give order that they should be observed, and informedst us that thou hadst been desired to write this to us about them. 14.245. Prytanes, the son of Hermes, a citizen of yours, came to me when I was at Tralles, and held a court there, and informed me that you used the Jews in a way different from my opinion, and forbade them to celebrate their Sabbaths, and to perform the sacred rites received from their forefathers, and to manage the fruits of the land, according to their ancient custom; and that he had himself been the promulger of your decree, according as your laws require: 14.258. we have decreed, that as many men and women of the Jews as are willing so to do, may celebrate their Sabbaths, and perform their holy offices, according to the Jewish laws; and may make their proseuchae at the sea-side, according to the customs of their forefathers; and if any one, whether he be a magistrate or private person, hindereth them from so doing, he shall be liable to a fine, to be applied to the uses of the city.” 14.263. Since the Jews that dwell in this city have petitioned Marcus Julius Pompeius, the son of Brutus, the proconsul, that they might be allowed to observe their Sabbaths, and to act in all things according to the customs of their forefathers, without impediment from any body, the praetor hath granted their petition. |
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17. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 1.253, 2.119-2.161 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.253. 3. Now, when that festival which we call Pentecost was at hand, all the places about the temple, and the whole city, was full of a multitude of people that were come out of the country, and which were the greatest part of them armed also, at which time Phasaelus guarded the wall, and Herod, with a few, guarded the royal palace; and when he made an assault upon his enemies, as they were out of their ranks, on the north quarter of the city, he slew a very great number of them, and put them all to flight; and some of them he shut up within the city, and others within the outward rampart. 2.119. 2. For there are three philosophical sects among the Jews. The followers of the first of which are the Pharisees; of the second, the Sadducees; and the third sect, which pretends to a severer discipline, are called Essenes. These last are Jews by birth, and seem to have a greater affection for one another than the other sects have. 2.121. They do not absolutely deny the fitness of marriage, and the succession of mankind thereby continued; but they guard against the lascivious behavior of women, and are persuaded that none of them preserve their fidelity to one man. 2.122. 3. These men are despisers of riches, and so very communicative as raises our admiration. Nor is there anyone to be found among them who hath more than another; for it is a law among them, that those who come to them must let what they have be common to the whole order,—insomuch that among them all there is no appearance of poverty, or excess of riches, but every one’s possessions are intermingled with every other’s possessions; and so there is, as it were, one patrimony among all the brethren. 2.123. They think that oil is a defilement; and if anyone of them be anointed without his own approbation, it is wiped off his body; for they think to be sweaty is a good thing, as they do also to be clothed in white garments. They also have stewards appointed to take care of their common affairs, who every one of them have no separate business for any, but what is for the use of them all. 2.124. 4. They have no one certain city, but many of them dwell in every city; and if any of their sect come from other places, what they have lies open for them, just as if it were their own; and they go in to such as they never knew before, as if they had been ever so long acquainted with them. 2.125. For which reason they carry nothing at all with them when they travel into remote parts, though still they take their weapons with them, for fear of thieves. Accordingly, there is, in every city where they live, one appointed particularly to take care of strangers, and to provide garments and other necessaries for them. 2.126. But the habit and management of their bodies is such as children use who are in fear of their masters. Nor do they allow of the change of garments, or of shoes, till they be first entirely torn to pieces or worn out by time. 2.127. Nor do they either buy or sell anything to one another; but every one of them gives what he hath to him that wanteth it, and receives from him again in lieu of it what may be convenient for himself; and although there be no requital made, they are fully allowed to take what they want of whomsoever they please. 2.128. 5. And as for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary; for before sunrising they speak not a word about profane matters, but put up certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers, as if they made a supplication for its rising. 2.129. After this every one of them are sent away by their curators, to exercise some of those arts wherein they are skilled, in which they labor with great diligence till the fifth hour. After which they assemble themselves together again into one place; and when they have clothed themselves in white veils, they then bathe their bodies in cold water. And after this purification is over, they every one meet together in an apartment of their own, into which it is not permitted to any of another sect to enter; while they go, after a pure manner, into the dining-room, as into a certain holy temple 2.131. but a priest says grace before meat; and it is unlawful for anyone to taste of the food before grace be said. The same priest, when he hath dined, says grace again after meat; and when they begin, and when they end, they praise God, as he that bestows their food upon them; after which they lay aside their [white] garments, and betake themselves to their labors again till the evening; 2.132. then they return home to supper, after the same manner; and if there be any strangers there, they sit down with them. Nor is there ever any clamor or disturbance to pollute their house, but they give every one leave to speak in their turn; 2.133. which silence thus kept in their house appears to foreigners like some tremendous mystery; the cause of which is that perpetual sobriety they exercise, and the same settled measure of meat and drink that is allotted to them, and that such as is abundantly sufficient for them. 2.134. 6. And truly, as for other things, they do nothing but according to the injunctions of their curators; only these two things are done among them at everyone’s own free will, which are to assist those that want it, and to show mercy; for they are permitted of their own accord to afford succor to such as deserve it, when they stand in need of it, and to bestow food on those that are in distress; but they cannot give any thing to their kindred without the curators. 2.135. They dispense their anger after a just manner, and restrain their passion. They are eminent for fidelity, and are the ministers of peace; whatsoever they say also is firmer than an oath; but swearing is avoided by them, and they esteem it worse than perjury for they say that he who cannot be believed without [swearing by] God is already condemned. 2.136. They also take great pains in studying the writings of the ancients, and choose out of them what is most for the advantage of their soul and body; and they inquire after such roots and medicinal stones as may cure their distempers. 2.137. 7. But now, if anyone hath a mind to come over to their sect, he is not immediately admitted, but he is prescribed the same method of living which they use, for a year, while he continues excluded; and they give him also a small hatchet, and the fore-mentioned girdle, and the white garment. 2.138. And when he hath given evidence, during that time, that he can observe their continence, he approaches nearer to their way of living, and is made a partaker of the waters of purification; yet is he not even now admitted to live with them; for after this demonstration of his fortitude, his temper is tried two more years; and if he appear to be worthy, they then admit him into their society. 2.139. And before he is allowed to touch their common food, he is obliged to take tremendous oaths, that, in the first place, he will exercise piety towards God, and then that he will observe justice towards men, and that he will do no harm to any one, either of his own accord, or by the command of others; that he will always hate the wicked, and be assistant to the righteous; 2.141. that he will be perpetually a lover of truth, and propose to himself to reprove those that tell lies; that he will keep his hands clear from theft, and his soul from unlawful gains; and that he will neither conceal anything from those of his own sect, nor discover any of their doctrines to others, no, not though anyone should compel him so to do at the hazard of his life. 2.142. Moreover, he swears to communicate their doctrines to no one any otherwise than as he received them himself; that he will abstain from robbery, and will equally preserve the books belonging to their sect, and the names of the angels [or messengers]. These are the oaths by which they secure their proselytes to themselves. 2.143. 8. But for those that are caught in any heinous sins, they cast them out of their society; and he who is thus separated from them does often die after a miserable manner; for as he is bound by the oath he hath taken, and by the customs he hath been engaged in, he is not at liberty to partake of that food that he meets with elsewhere, but is forced to eat grass, and to famish his body with hunger, till he perish; 2.144. for which reason they receive many of them again when they are at their last gasp, out of compassion to them, as thinking the miseries they have endured till they came to the very brink of death to be a sufficient punishment for the sins they had been guilty of. 2.145. 9. But in the judgments they exercise they are most accurate and just, nor do they pass sentence by the votes of a court that is fewer than a hundred. And as to what is once determined by that number, it is unalterable. What they most of all honor, after God himself, is the name of their legislator [Moses], whom, if anyone blaspheme, he is punished capitally. 2.146. They also think it a good thing to obey their elders, and the major part. Accordingly, if ten of them be sitting together, no one of them will speak while the other nine are against it. 2.147. They also avoid spitting in the midst of them, or on the right side. Moreover, they are stricter than any other of the Jews in resting from their labors on the seventh day; for they not only get their food ready the day before, that they may not be obliged to kindle a fire on that day, but they will not remove any vessel out of its place, nor go to stool thereon. 2.148. Nay, on theother days they dig a small pit, a foot deep, with a paddle (which kind of hatchet is given them when they are first admitted among them); and covering themselves round with their garment, that they may not affront the Divine rays of light, they ease themselves into that pit 2.149. after which they put the earth that was dug out again into the pit; and even this they do only in the more lonely places, which they choose out for this purpose; and although this easement of the body be natural, yet it is a rule with them to wash themselves after it, as if it were a defilement to them. 2.151. They are long-lived also, insomuch that many of them live above a hundred years, by means of the simplicity of their diet; nay, as I think, by means of the regular course of life they observe also. They condemn the miseries of life, and are above pain, by the generosity of their mind. And as for death, if it will be for their glory, they esteem it better than living always; 2.152. and indeed our war with the Romans gave abundant evidence what great souls they had in their trials, wherein, although they were tortured and distorted, burnt and torn to pieces, and went through all kinds of instruments of torment, that they might be forced either to blaspheme their legislator, or to eat what was forbidden them, yet could they not be made to do either of them, no, nor once to flatter their tormentors, or to shed a tear; 2.153. but they smiled in their very pains, and laughed those to scorn who inflicted the torments upon them, and resigned up their souls with great alacrity, as expecting to receive them again. 2.154. 11. For their doctrine is this: That bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are made of is not permanent; but that the souls are immortal, and continue forever; and that they come out of the most subtile air, and are united to their bodies as to prisons, into which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement; 2.155. but that when they are set free from the bonds of the flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward. And this is like the opinions of the Greeks, that good souls have their habitations beyond the ocean, in a region that is neither oppressed with storms of rain or snow, or with intense heat, but that this place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breathing of a west wind, that is perpetually blowing from the ocean; while they allot to bad souls a dark and tempestuous den, full of never-ceasing punishments. 2.156. And indeed the Greeks seem to me to have followed the same notion, when they allot the islands of the blessed to their brave men, whom they call heroes and demigods; and to the souls of the wicked, the region of the ungodly, in Hades, where their fables relate that certain persons, such as Sisyphus, and Tantalus, and Ixion, and Tityus, are punished; which is built on this first supposition, that souls are immortal; and thence are those exhortations to virtue, and dehortations from wickedness collected; 2.157. whereby good men are bettered in the conduct of their life by the hope they have of reward after their death; and whereby the vehement inclinations of bad men to vice are restrained, by the fear and expectation they are in, that although they should lie concealed in this life, they should suffer immortal punishment after their death. 2.158. These are the Divine doctrines of the Essenes about the soul, which lay an unavoidable bait for such as have once had a taste of their philosophy. 2.159. 12. There are also those among them who undertake to foretell things to come, by reading the holy books, and using several sorts of purifications, and being perpetually conversant in the discourses of the prophets; and it is but seldom that they miss in their predictions. 2.161. However, they try their spouses for three years; and if they find that they have their natural purgations thrice, as trials that they are likely to be fruitful, they then actually marry them. But they do not use to accompany with their wives when they are with child, as a demonstration that they do not marry out of regard to pleasure, but for the sake of posterity. Now the women go into the baths with some of their garments on, as the men do with somewhat girded about them. And these are the customs of this order of Essenes. |
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18. Josephus Flavius, Against Apion, 2.218 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.218. but every good man hath his own conscience bearing witness to himself, and by virtue of our legislator’s prophetic spirit, and of the firm security God himself affords such a one, he believes that God hath made this grant to those that observe these laws, even though they be obliged readily to die for them, that they shall come into being again, and at a certain revolution of things shall receive a better life than they had enjoyed before. |
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19. Mishnah, Oholot, 5.5 (1st cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 5.5. If [lying over the hatch] there were vessels made of dung, vessels of stone, or vessels of [unbaked] earth, everything [in the upper story] remains clean. If it was a vessel known to be clean for holy things or for [the water of] purification, everything remains clean, since everyone is trusted with [regard to matters of] purification. For clean vessels and earthenware vessels that are [known to be] clean protect with the walls of ‘tents'." |
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20. New Testament, Acts, 2.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 2.1. Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. |
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21. New Testament, John, 2.6 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.6. Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews' manner of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece. |
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22. New Testament, Mark, 7.1-7.23 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 7.1. Then the Pharisees, and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem. 7.2. Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands, they found fault. 7.3. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, don't eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. 7.4. They don't eat when they come from the marketplace, unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) 7.5. The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why don't your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands? 7.6. He answered them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, But their heart is far from me. 7.7. But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' 7.8. For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things. 7.9. He said to them, "Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 7.10. For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother;' and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.' 7.11. But you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban, that is to say, given to God;"' 7.12. then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother 7.13. making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this. 7.14. He called all the multitude to himself, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand. 7.15. There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. 7.16. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear! 7.17. When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable. 7.18. He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Don't you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can't defile him 7.19. because it doesn't go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, thus making all foods clean? 7.20. He said, "That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. 7.21. For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts 7.22. covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. 7.23. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. |
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23. Tosefta, Demai, 2.2-2.12 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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