1. Hebrew Bible, Esther, 9.27-9.32 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 9.27. קִיְּמוּ וקבל [וְקִבְּלוּ] הַיְּהוּדִים עֲלֵיהֶם וְעַל־זַרְעָם וְעַל כָּל־הַנִּלְוִים עֲלֵיהֶם וְלֹא יַעֲבוֹר לִהְיוֹת עֹשִׂים אֵת שְׁנֵי הַיָּמִים הָאֵלֶּה כִּכְתָבָם וְכִזְמַנָּם בְּכָל־שָׁנָה וְשָׁנָה׃ 9.28. וְהַיָּמִים הָאֵלֶּה נִזְכָּרִים וְנַעֲשִׂים בְּכָל־דּוֹר וָדוֹר מִשְׁפָּחָה וּמִשְׁפָּחָה מְדִינָה וּמְדִינָה וְעִיר וָעִיר וִימֵי הַפּוּרִים הָאֵלֶּה לֹא יַעַבְרוּ מִתּוֹךְ הַיְּהוּדִים וְזִכְרָם לֹא־יָסוּף מִזַּרְעָם׃ 9.29. וַתִּכְתֹּב אֶסְתֵּר הַמַּלְכָּה בַת־אֲבִיחַיִל וּמָרְדֳּכַי הַיְּהוּדִי אֶת־כָּל־תֹּקֶף לְקַיֵּם אֵת אִגֶּרֶת הַפּוּרִים הַזֹּאת הַשֵּׁנִית׃ 9.31. לְקַיֵּם אֵת־יְמֵי הַפֻּרִים הָאֵלֶּה בִּזְמַנֵּיהֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר קִיַּם עֲלֵיהֶם מָרְדֳּכַי הַיְּהוּדִי וְאֶסְתֵּר הַמַּלְכָּה וְכַאֲשֶׁר קִיְּמוּ עַל־נַפְשָׁם וְעַל־זַרְעָם דִּבְרֵי הַצֹּמוֹת וְזַעֲקָתָם׃ 9.32. וּמַאֲמַר אֶסְתֵּר קִיַּם דִּבְרֵי הַפֻּרִים הָאֵלֶּה וְנִכְתָּב בַּסֵּפֶר׃ | 9.27. the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to the writing thereof, and according to the appointed time thereof, every year;" 9.28. and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed." 9.29. Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote down all the acts of power, to confirm this second letter of Purim." 9.30. And he sent letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth," 9.31. to confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had ordained for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry." 9.32. And the commandment of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book." |
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2. Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 1.11, 1.30, 1.43, 1.52, 2.15-2.16, 6.21, 6.43-6.46, 6.62, 7.5, 7.8, 7.10, 7.18, 7.22, 7.26-7.50, 9.23, 9.58, 9.69, 10.14, 10.61, 11.25 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.11. In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying, "Let us go and make a covet with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us. 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. 1.43. 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. 1.52. Many of the people, every one who forsook the law, joined them, and they did evil in the land; 2.15. Then the kings officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Modein to make them offer sacrifice. 2.16. Many from Israel came to them; and Mattathias and his sons were assembled. 6.21. But some of the garrison escaped from the siege and some of the ungodly Israelites joined them. 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. 6.62. 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. 7.5. Then there came to him all the lawless and ungodly men of Israel; they were led by Alcimus, who wanted to be high priest. 7.8. So the king chose Bacchides, one of the kings friends, governor of the province Beyond the River; he was a great man in the kingdom and was faithful to the king. 7.10. So they marched away and came with a large force into the land of Judah; and he sent messengers to Judas and his brothers with peaceable but treacherous words. 7.18. Then the fear and dread of them fell upon all the people, for they said, "There is no truth or justice in them, for they have violated the agreement and the oath which they swore. 7.22. and all who were troubling their people joined him. They gained control of the land of Judah and did great damage in Israel. 7.26. Then the king sent Nicanor, one of his honored princes, who hated and detested Israel, and he commanded him to destroy the people. 7.27. So Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a large force, and treacherously sent to Judas and his brothers this peaceable message 7.28. Let there be no fighting between me and you; I shall come with a few men to see you face to face in peace. 7.29. So he came to Judas, and they greeted one another peaceably. But the enemy were ready to seize Judas. 7.30. It became known to Judas that Nicanor had come to him with treacherous intent, and he was afraid of him and would not meet him again. 7.31. When Nicanor learned that his plan had been disclosed, he went out to meet Judas in battle near Caphar-salama. 7.32. About five hundred men of the army of Nicanor fell, and the rest fled into the city of David. 7.33. After these events Nicanor went up to Mount Zion. Some of the priests came out of the sanctuary, and some of the elders of the people, to greet him peaceably and to show him the burnt offering that was being offered for the king. 7.34. But he mocked them and derided them and defiled them and spoke arrogantly 7.35. and in anger he swore this oath, "Unless Judas and his army are delivered into my hands this time, then if I return safely I will burn up this house." And he went out in great anger. 7.36. Then the priests went in and stood before the altar and the temple, and they wept and said 7.37. Thou didst choose this house to be called by thy name,and to be for thy people a house of prayer and supplication. 7.38. Take vengeance on this man and on his army,and let them fall by the sword;remember their blasphemies,and let them live no longer. 7.39. Now Nicanor went out from Jerusalem and encamped in Beth-horon, and the Syrian army joined him. 7.40. And Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand men. Then Judas prayed and said 7.41. When the messengers from the king spoke blasphemy, thy angel went forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians. 7.42. So also crush this army before us today; let the rest learn that Nicanor has spoken wickedly against the sanctuary, and judge him according to this wickedness. 7.43. So the armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. The army of Nicanor was crushed, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. 7.44. When his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw down their arms and fled. 7.45. The Jews pursued them a days journey, from Adasa as far as Gazara, and as they followed kept sounding the battle call on the trumpets. 7.46. And men came out of all the villages of Judea round about, and they out-flanked the enemy and drove them back to their pursuers, so that they all fell by the sword; not even one of them was left. 7.47. Then the Jews seized the spoils and the plunder, and they cut off Nicanors head and the right hand which he so arrogantly stretched out, and brought them and displayed them just outside Jerusalem. 7.48. The people rejoiced greatly and celebrated that day as a day of great gladness. 7.49. And they decreed that this day should be celebrated each year on the thirteenth day of Adar. 7.50. So the land of Judah had rest for a few days. 9.23. After the death of Judas, the lawless emerged in all parts of Israel; all the doers of injustice appeared. 9.58. Then all the lawless plotted and said, "See! Jonathan and his men are living in quiet and confidence. So now let us bring Bacchides back, and he will capture them all in one night. 9.69. So he was greatly enraged at the lawless men who had counseled him to come into the country, and he killed many of them. Then he decided to depart to his own land. 10.14. Only in Beth-zur did some remain who had forsaken the law and the commandments, for it served as a place of refuge. 10.61. A group of pestilent men from Israel, lawless men, gathered together against him to accuse him; but the king paid no attention to them. 11.25. Although certain lawless men of his nation kept making complaints against him |
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3. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 1.7, 1.9, 1.18, 2.17, 3.4, 3.5, 4.7, 4.25, 4.32, 4.33, 4.34, 4.35, 4.36, 4.37, 4.38, 5.11, 5.11-6.11, 6.18, 6.18-7.42, 8, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 8.10, 8.11, 8.12, 8.13, 8.14, 8.15, 8.16, 8.17, 8.18, 8.19, 8.20, 8.21, 8.22, 8.23, 8.24, 8.25, 8.26, 8.27, 8.28, 8.29, 8.30, 8.31, 8.32, 8.33, 8.34, 8.35, 8.36, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8, 9.9, 9.10, 9.11, 9.12, 9.13, 9.14, 9.15, 9.16, 9.17, 9.18, 10.3, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 14.5, 14.6, 14.7, 14.8, 14.9, 14.10, 14.11, 14.12, 14.13, 14.14, 14.15, 14.16, 14.17, 14.18, 14.19, 14.21, 14.22, 14.23, 14.24, 14.25, 14.26, 14.27, 14.28, 14.29, 14.30, 14.31, 14.32, 14.33, 14.34, 14.35, 14.36, 15, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.6, 15.7, 15.8, 15.9, 15.10, 15.11, 15.12, 15.13, 15.14, 15.15, 15.16, 15.17, 15.18, 15.19, 15.20, 15.21, 15.22, 15.23, 15.24, 15.25, 15.26, 15.27, 15.28, 15.29, 15.30, 15.31, 15.32, 15.33, 15.34, 15.35, 15.36 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.18. Since on the twenty-fifth day of Chislev we shall celebrate the purification of the temple, we thought it necessary to notify you, in order that you also may celebrate the feast of booths and the feast of the fire given when Nehemiah, who built the temple and the altar, offered sacrifices.' |
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4. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 18.69 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 18.69. Now Mundus had a freed-woman, who had been made free by his father, whose name was Ide, one skillful in all sorts of mischief. This woman was very much grieved at the young man’s resolution to kill himself, (for he did not conceal his intentions to destroy himself from others,) and came to him, and encouraged him by her discourse, and made him to hope, by some promises she gave him, that he might obtain a night’s lodging with Paulina; |
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