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Letter of
Aristeas 151–152
151 because
the strength of the whole body with its action rests upon the shoulders and
the legs.j2 The symbolismk2 conveyed by these things compels
us to make a distinction in the performance of all our acts, with
righteousness as our aim. This moreover explains why we are distinct from all
other men. 152 The majority of other men defile themselves in their
relationships, thereby committing a serious offense, and lands and whole
cities take pride in it: they not only procurel2 the males, they
also defile mothers and daughters. We are quite separated from these
practices.
j2 The underlying thought here is that the cloven,
separate hoof is symbolic of the Jews and of their being separate and
distinct from other people.
k2 The text is corrupt. Thackeray’s suggestion ho
semeioutai, “he signifies by symbols,” is adopted here.
l2 Thackeray adopts Schmidt’s emendation proagousi,
“they procure.”
James H.
Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament:
Expansions of the “Old Testament” and Legends, Wisdom, and Philosophical
Literature, Prayers, Psalms and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic
Works, vol. 2 (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1985), 22–23.
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Letter of
Aristeas 151–152
151 ἡ γὰρ ἰσχὺς
τῶν ὅλων σωμάτων μετʼ ἐνεργείας ἀπέρεισιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὤμους ἔχει καὶ τὰ σκέλη.
μετὰ διαστολῆς οὖν ἅπαντα ἐπιτελεῖν πρὸς δικαιοσύνην ἀναγκάζει †τὸ σημειοῦσθαι†
διὰ τούτων· ἔτι δὲ καὶ διότι παρὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους διεστάλμεθα.
152 οἱ γὰρ
πλείονες τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων ἑαυτοὺς μολύνουσιν ἐπιμισγόμενοι, συντελοῦντες
μεγάλην ἀδικίαν, καὶ χῶραι καὶ πόλεις ὅλαι σεμνύνονται ἐπὶ τούτοις. οὐ μόνον
γὰρ <προάγουσι> τοὺς ἄρσενας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τεκούσας ἔτι δὲ θυγατέρας
μολύνουσιν. ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀπὸ τούτων διεστάλμεθα.
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
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Philo, De
Abrahamo 26.133–140
XXVI. (133) And
what is signified by this is indicated in a most evident and careful manner
by the events which ensued. The country of the Sodomites was a district of
the land of Canaan, which the Syrians afterwards called Palestine, a country
full of innumerable iniquities, and especially of gluttony and debauchery,
and all the great and numerous pleasures of other kinds which have been built
up by men as a fortress, on which account it had been already condemned by
the Judge of the whole world. (134) And the cause of its excessive and
immoderate intemperance was the unlimited abundance of supplies of all kinds
which its inhabitants enjoyed. For the land was one with a deep soil, and
well watered, and as such produced abundant crops of every kind of fruit
every year. And he was a wise man and spoke truly who said—
“The greatest
cause of all iniquity
Is found in
overmuch prosperity.”
(135) As men,
being unable to bear discreetly a satiety of these things, get restive like
cattle, and become stiff-necked, and discard the laws of nature, pursuing a
great and intemperate indulgence of gluttony, and drinking, and unlawful
connections; for not only did they go mad after women, and defile the
marriage bed of others, but also those who were men lusted after one another,
doing unseemly things, and not regarding or respecting their common nature,
and though eager for children, they were convicted by having only an abortive
offspring; but the conviction produced no advantage, since they were overcome
by violent desire; (136) and so, by degrees, the men became accustomed to be
treated like women, and in this way engendered among themselves the disease
of females, and intolerable evil; for they not only, as to effeminacy and
delicacy, became like women in their persons, but they made also their souls
most ignoble, corrupting in this way the whole race of man, as far as
depended on them. At all events, if the Greeks and barbarians were to have
agreed together, and to have adopted the commerce of the citizens of this
city, their cities one after another would have become desolate, as if they
had been emptied by a pestilence.
XXVII. (137)
But God, having taken pity on mankind, as being a Saviour and full of love
for mankind, increased, as far as possible, the natural desire of men and women
for a connexion together, for the sake of producing children, and detesting
the unnatural and unlawful commerce of the people of Sodom, he extinguished
it, and destroyed those who were inclined to these things, and that not by
any ordinary chastisement, but he inflicted on them an astonishing novelty,
and unheard of rarity of vengeance; (138) for, on a sudden, he commanded the
sky to become overclouded and to pour forth a mighty shower, not of rain but
of fire; and as the flame poured down, with a resistless and unceasing
violence, the fields were burnt up, and the meadows, and all the dense
groves, and the thick marshes, and the impenetrable thickets; the plain too
was consumed, and all the crop of wheat, and of everything else that was
sown; and all the trees of the mountain district were burnt up, the trunks
and the very roots being consumed.
(139) And the
folds for the cattle, and the houses of the men, and the walls, and all that
was in any building, whether of private or public property, were all burnt.
And in one day these populous cities became the tomb of their inhabitants,
and the vast edifices of stone and timber became thin dust and ashes. (140)
And when the flames had consumed everything that was visible and that existed
on the face of the earth, they proceeded to burn even the earth itself,
penetrating into its lowest recesses, and destroying all the vivifying powers
which existed within it so as to produce a complete and everlasting
barrenness, so that it should never again be able to bear fruit, or to put
forth any verdure; and to this very day it is scorched up. For the fire of
the lightning is what is most difficult to extinguish, and creeps on
pervading everything, and smouldering.
Charles Duke
Yonge with Philo of Alexandria, The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged
(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995), 422–423.
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Philo, De
Abrahamo 26.133–140
§
133 φανερώτατα μέντοι καὶ διαπονητότατα μηνύει διὰ τῶν
ἑξῆς τὸ δηλούμενον ἡ Σοδομιτῶν χώρα, μοῖρα τῆς Χανανίτιδος γῆς, ἣν ὕστερον ὠνόμασαν
Συρίαν Παλαιστίνην, ἀδικημάτων μυρίων ὅσων γεμισθεῖσα καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἐκ
γαστριμαργίας καὶ λαγνείας ὅσα τε μεγέθη καὶ πλήθη τῶν ἄλλων ἡδονῶν ἐπιτειχίσασα
ἤδη παρὰ τῷ δικαστῇ τῶν ὅλων κατέγνωστο.
§
134 αἴτιον δὲ τῆς περὶ τὸ ἀκολασταίνειν ἀμετρίας ἐγένετο
τοῖς οἰκήτορσιν ἡ τῶν χορηγιῶν ἐπάλληλος ἀφθονία· βαθύγειος γὰρ καὶ εὔυδρος οὖσα
χώρα παντοίων ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος εὐφορίᾳ καρπῶν ἐχρῆτο· “μεγίστη δʼ ἀρχὴ κακῶν” ὡς
εἶπέ τις οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ “τὰ λίαν ἀγαθά.”
§
135 ὧν ἀδυνατοῦντες φέρειν τὸν κόρον ὥσπερ τὰ θρέμματα
σκιρτῶντες ἀπαυχενίζουσι τὸν τῆς φύσεως νόμον, ἄκρατον πολὺν καὶ ὀψοφαγίας καὶ
ὀχείας ἐκθέσμους μεταδιώκοντες· οὐ γὰρ μόνον θηλυμανοῦντες ἀλλοτρίους γάμους
διέφθειρον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνδρες ὄντες ἄρρεσιν ἐπιβαίνοντες, τὴν κοινὴν πρὸς τοὺς
πάσχοντας οἱ δρῶντες φύσιν οὐκ αἰδούμενοι, παιδοσποροῦντες ἠλέγχοντο μὲν ἀτελῆ
γονὴν σπείροντες, ὁ δʼ ἔλεγχος πρὸς οὐδὲν ἦν ὄφελος, ὑπὸ βιαιοτέρας νικωμένων
ἐπιθυμίας
§
136 εἶτʼ ἐκ τοῦ κατʼ ὀλίγον ἐθίζοντες τὰ γυναικῶν ὑπομένειν
τοὺς ἄνδρας γεννηθέντας θήλειαν κατεσκεύασαν αὐτοῖς νόσον, κακὸν δύσμαχον, οὐ
μόνον τὰ σώματα μαλακότητι καὶ θρύψει γυναικοῦντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ἀγεννεστέρας
ἀπεργαζόμενοι καὶ τό γε ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἧκον μέρος τὸ σύμπαν ἀνθρώπων γένος
διέφθειρον· εἰ γοῦν Ἕλληνες ὁμοῦ καὶ βάρβαροι συμφωνήσαντες ἐζήλωσαν τὰς
τοιαύτας ὁμιλίας, ἠρήμωντο ἂν ἑξῆς αἱ πόλεις ὥσπερ λοιμώδει νόσῳ κενωθεῖσαι
§
137 λαβὼν δὲ ὁ θεὸς οἶκτον ἅτε σωτὴρ καὶ φιλάνθρωπος
τὰς μὲν κατὰ φύσιν ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν συνόδους γινομένας ἕνεκα παίδων σπορᾶς
ηὔξησεν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα, τὰς δʼ ἐκφύλους καὶ ἐκθέσμους διαμισήσας ἔσβεσε καὶ
τοὺς ὀργῶντας ἐπὶ ταύτας προβαλόμενος οὐχὶ τὰς ἐν ἔθει καινουργήσας δʼ ἐκτόπους
καὶ παρηλλαγμένας τιμωρίας ἐτιμωρήσατο
§
138 κελεύει γὰρ ἐξαίφνης τὸν ἀέρα νεφωθέντα πολὺν ὄμβρον
οὐχ ὕδατος ἀλλὰ πυρὸς ὕειν· ἀθρόας δὲ νιφούσης ἀδιαστάτῳ καὶ ἀπαύστῳ ῥύμῃ
φλογός, ἐκαίοντο μὲν ἀγροὶ καὶ λειμῶνες καὶ λάσια ἄλση καὶ ἕλη δασύτατα καὶ
δρυμοὶ βαθεῖς, ἐκαίετο δʼ ἡ πεδιὰς καὶ ὁ τοῦ σίτου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σπαρτῶν ἅπας
καρπός, ἐκαίετο δὲ καὶ τῆς ὀρεινῆς ἡ δενδροφόρος, στελεχῶν ῥίζαις αὐταῖς ἐμπιπραμένων·
§
139 ἐπαύλεις δὲ καὶ οἰκίαι καὶ τείχη καὶ ὅσα ἐν οἰκοδομαῖς
ἰδιωτικὰ καὶ δημόσια πάντα συγκατεπίμπραντο καὶ ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ αἱ μὲν εὐανδροῦσαι
πόλεις τάφος τῶν οἰκητόρων ἐγεγένητο, αἱ δʼ ἐκ λίθων καὶ ξύλων κατασκευαὶ
τέφρα καὶ λεπτὴ κόνις.
§
140 ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ ἐν φανερῷ καὶ ὑπὲρ γῆς ἅπαντα
κατανάλωσεν ἡ φλόξ, ἤδη καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτὴν ἔκαιε κατωτάτω διαδῦσα καὶ τὴν ἐνυπάρχουσαν
ζωτικὴν δύναμιν ἔφθειρεν εἰς ἀγονίαν παντελῆ, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδʼ αὖθίς ποτε καρπὸν
ἐνεγκεῖν ἢ χλοηφορῆσαι τὸ παράπαν δυνηθῆναι· καὶ μέχρι νῦν καίεται, τὸ γὰρ
κεραύνιον πῦρ ἥκιστα σβεννύμενον ἢ νέμεται ἢ ἐντύφεται
Peder Borgen,
Kåre Fuglseth, and Roald Skarsten, “The Works of Philo: Greek Text with
Morphology” (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005).
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Philo De
specialibus legibus 2.14.49–50
XIV. (49)
Wherefore, if truth were to be the judge, no wicked or worthless man can pass
a time of festival, no not even for the briefest period, inasmuch as he must
be continually pained by the consciousness of his own iniquities, even
though, with his soul, and his voice, and his countenance, he may pretend to
smile; for how can a man who is full of the most evil counsels, and who lives
with folly, have any period of genuine joy? A man who is in every respect
unfortunate and miserable, in his tongue, and his belly, and all his other
members, (50) since he uses the first for the utterance of things which ought
to be secret and buried in silence, and the second he fills full of abundance
of strong wine and immoderate quantities of food out of gluttony, and the
rest of his members he uses for the indulgence of unlawful desires and
illicit connections, not only seeking to violate the marriage bed of others,
but lusting unnaturally, and seeking to deface the manly character of the
nature of man, and to change it into a womanlike appearance, for the sake of
the gratification of his own polluted and accursed passions.
Charles Duke
Yonge with Philo of Alexandria, The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged
(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995), 573.
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Philo De
specialibus legibus 2.14.49–50
§
49 διὸ παρʼ ἀληθείᾳ δικαζούσῃ τῶν φαύλων οὐδεὶς ἀλλʼ
οὐδὲ τὸν βραχύτατον χρόνον ἑορτάζει, συνειδήσει τῶν ἀδικημάτων ἀγχόμενος καὶ
τῇ ψυχῇ κατηφῶν, εἰ καὶ τῷ προσώπῳ μειδιᾶν καθυποκρίνεται ποῦ γὰρ ἔχει καιρὸν
ἀψευδοῦς εὐφροσύνης κακοβουλότατος ὢν καὶ συζῶν ἀφροσύνῃ καὶ περὶ πάντα ἀκαιρευόμενος
γλῶτταν, γαστέρα, τὰ γεννητικά;
§
50 διʼ ἧς μὲν γὰρ ἐκλαλεῖ τὰ ἀπόρρητα καὶ ἡσυχαστέα,
τὴν δὲ ἀκράτου πολλοῦ καὶ ἐδεσμάτων ἀμέτρων ἀναπίμπλησιν ὑπὸ λαιμαργίας, τοῖς
δὲ καταχρῆται πρὸς ἐκνομωτάτους οἴστρους καὶ μίξεις ἀθέσμους, οὐ μόνον ἀλλοτρίοις
γάμοις ἐπιμεμηνώς, ἀλλὰ καὶ παιδεραστῶν καὶ βιαζόμενος τὸν ἄρρενα τῆς φύσεως
χαρακτῆρα παρακόπτειν καὶ μεταβάλλειν εἰς γυναικόμορφον ἰδέαν ἕνεκα τοῦ
μεμιασμένῳ καὶ ἐπαράτῳ πάθει χαρίσασθαι
Peder Borgen,
Kåre Fuglseth, and Roald Skarsten, “The Works of Philo: Greek Text with
Morphology” (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005).
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Josephus,
Contra Apion 2.25, 199
25. (199) But then,
what are our laws about marriage? That law owns no other mixture of sexes but
that which nature hath appointed, of a man with his wife, and that this be
used only for the procreation of children. But it abhors the mixture of a
male with a male; and if anyone do that, death is his punishment.
Flavius
Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged
(Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 806.
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Josephus,
Contra Apion 2.25, 199
14†
§199 Τίνες δ ̓ οἱ περὶ γάμων νόμοι; μῖξιν μόνην οἶδεν ὁ
νόμος
1†
τὴν κατὰ φύσιν τὴν πρὸς γυναῖκα καὶ ταύτην, εἰ μέλλοι τέκνων ἕνεκα
2†
γίνεσθαι. τὴν δὲ πρὸς ἄρρενας ἀρρένων ἐστύγηκεν καὶ θάνατος
3†
τοὐπιτίμιον, εἴ τις ἐπιχειρήσειεν.
Flavius
Josephus and Benedikt Niese, “Flavii Iosephi Opera Recognovit Benedictvs
Niese ...” (Berolini: apvd Weidmannos, 1888–).
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Sibylline
Oracles 2:71–73;
Do not steal
seeds. Whoever takes for himself is accursed
(to
generations of generations, to the scattering of life.
Do not practice
homosexuality, do not betray information, do not murder.)
( and )
Parentheses circumscribe words added by the translator. Ancient languages are
cryptic; verbs, nouns, and pronouns are often omitted. These are, of course,
necessary for idiomatic English and are presented within parentheses.
James H.
Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London:
Yale University Press, 1983), 347.
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Sibylline
Oracles 2:71–73;
71 σπέρματα μὴ
κλέπτειν· ἐπαράσιμος ὅστις ἕληται
72 (εἰς γενεὰς
γενεῶν <εἰς> σκορπισμὸν βιότοιο.
73 μὴ ἀρσενοκοιτεῖν,
μὴ συκοφαντεῖν, μήτε φονεύειν.)
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
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Sibylline
Oracles 3:175–195
175 But then
will be the beginningv of another kingdom,
white and
many-headed from the western sea.w
It will rule
over much land, and will shake many,
and will
thereafter cause fear to all kings.
It will
destroy much gold and silver
180* from many
cities. But there will again be gold
on the
wondrous earth, and then silver also and ornament.
They will also
oppress mortals. But those men
will have a
great fall when they launch on a course of unjust haughtiness.
Immediately
compulsion to impiety will come upon these men.
185* Male will
have intercourse with male and they will set up boys
in houses of
ill-fame and in those days
there will be
a great affliction among men and it will throw everything into confusion.
It will cut up
everything and fill everything with evils
with
disgraceful love of gain, ill-gotten wealth,
190* in many
places, but especially in Macedonia.x
It will stir
up hatred. Every kind of deceit will be found among them
until the
seventh reign, when
a king of
Egypt, who will be of the Greeks by race, will rule.y
And then the
people of the great God will again be strong
195* who will
be guides in life for all mortals.
v Or: “dominion.”
w Rome. The reference is to the Senate. As Lanchester
notes, Rome still appears here as a remote and unfamiliar power. The passage
fits the impression of Rome in the East after the battle of Magnesia (190
B.C.).
* 2.73; 3.596,
764; 4.34; 5.166, 387, 430; LetAris 152 Philo, Abr 135 SpecLeg 2.50; 3.37
Rom 1:26–27; 1
Cor 6:9f.
* 3.613
* 3.318; 608
x Macedonia was divided after the battle of Pydna in
168 B.C. and was made a Roman province in 147 B.C.
y Most probably either Ptolemy VI Philometor (if
Alexander is counted as the first king) or his anticipated successor. See the
Introduction to SibOr 3.
* 1.384-385
James H.
Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London:
Yale University Press, 1983), 366.
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Sibylline
Oracles 3:175–195
175 αὐτὰρ ἔπειτʼ
ἄλλης βασιληίδος ἔσσεται ἀρχή
176 λευκὴ καὶ
πολύκρανος ἀφʼ ἑσπερίοιο θαλάσσης,
177 ἣ πολλῆς
γαίης ἄρξει, πολλοὺς δὲ σαλεύσει,
178 καὶ πᾶσιν
βασιλεῦσι φόβον μετόπισθε ποιήσει,
179 πολλὸν δʼ
αὖ χρυσόν τε καὶ ἄργυρον ἐξαλαπάξει
180 ἐκ πόλεων
πολλῶν· πάλι δʼ ἔσσεται ἐν χθονὶ δίῃ
181 χρυσίον, αὐτὰρ
ἔπειτα καὶ ἄργυρος ἠδέ τε κόσμος.
182 καὶ
θλίψουσι βροτούς. μέγα δʼ ἔσσεται ἀνδράσι κείνοις
183 πτῶμʼ, ὁπόταν
ἄρξωνθʼ ὑπερηφανίης ἀδίκοιο.
184 αὐτίκα δʼ ἐν
τούτοις ἀσεβείας ἔσσετʼ ἀνάγκη,
185 ἄρσην δʼ ἄρσενι
πλησιάσει στήσουσί τε παῖδας
186 αἰσχροῖς ἐν
τεγέεσσι καὶ ἔσσεται ἤμασι κείνοις
187 θλῖψις ἐν ἀνθρώποις
μεγάλη καὶ πάντα ταράξει,
188 πάντα δὲ
συγκόψει καὶ πάντα κακῶν ἀναπλήσει
189 αἰσχροβίῳ
φιλοχρημοσύνῃ, κακοκερδέι πλούτῳ,
190 ἐν πολλαῖς
χώρῃσι, Μακηδονίῃ δὲ μάλιστα.
191 μῖσος δʼ ἐξεγερεῖ
καὶ πᾶς δόλος ἔσσεται αὐτοῖς.
192 [ἄχρι πρὸς
ἑβδομάτην βασιληίδα, ἧς βασιλεύσει
193 Αἰγύπτου
βασιλεύς, ὃς ἀφʼ Ἑλλήνων γένος ἔσται].
194 καὶ τότʼ ἔθνος
μεγάλοιο θεοῦ πάλι καρτερὸν ἔσται,
195 οἳ
πάντεσσι βροτοῖσι βίου καθοδηγοὶ ἔσονται.
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
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Sibylline
Oracles 3:591–600
For on the
contrary, at dawn they lift up holy arms
toward heaven,
from their beds, always sanctifying their flesht3
with water, and
they honor only the Immortal who always rules,
and then their
parents. Greatly, surpassing all men,
595* they are
mindful of holy wedlock,
and they do
not engage in impious intercourse with male children,
as do
Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Romans,
spacious
Greece and many nations of others,
Persians and
Galatians and all Asia, transgressing
600 the holy
law of immortal God, which they transgressed.
t3 So Clement, Protrepticus 6.70; MSS read “hands.”
* 3.185, etc.
James H. Charlesworth,
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London: Yale University
Press, 1983), 375.
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Sibylline
Oracles 3:591–600
591 ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἀείρουσι
πρὸς οὐρανὸν ὠλένας ἁγνάς
592 ὄρθριοι ἐξ
εὐνῆς αἰεὶ χρόα ἁγνίζοντες
593 ὕδατι καὶ
τιμῶσι μόνον τὸν ἀεὶ μεδέοντα
594 ἀθάνατον
καὶ ἔπειτα γονεῖς· μέγα δʼ ἔξοχα πάντων
595 ἀνθρώπων ὁσίης
εὐνῆς μεμνημένοι εἰσίν·
596 κοὐδὲ πρὸς
ἀρσενικοὺς παῖδας μίγνυνται ἀνάγνως,
597 ὅσσα τε
Φοίνικες Αἰγύπτιοι ἠδὲ Λατῖνοι
598 Ἑλλάς τʼ εὐρύχορος
καὶ ἄλλων ἔθνεα πολλά
599 Περσῶν καὶ
Γαλατῶν πάσης τʼ Ἀσίης παραβάντες
600 ἀθανάτοιο
θεοῦ ἁγνὸν νόμον *ὃν παρέβησαν*
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
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Sibylline
Oracles 3:762–764
But urge on
your minds in your breasts
and shun
unlawful worship. Worship the Living One.
* Avoid
adultery and indiscriminate intercourse with males.
* 3.184–86,
etc.
2.280f.
James H.
Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London:
Yale University Press, 1983), 379.
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Sibylline
Oracles 3:762–764
762 ἀλλὰ
κατασπεύσαντες ἑὰς φρένας ἐν στήθεσσιν,
763 φεύγετε
λατρείας ἀνόμους, τῷ ζῶντι λάτρευε·
764 μοιχείας
πεφύλαξο καὶ ἄρσενος ἄκριτον εὐνήν·
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
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Sibylline
Oracles 5:386–433
Admonition
to the Romans
* Matricides,
desist from boldness and evil daring,
you who
formerly impiously catered for pederasty
and set up in
houses prostitutes who were pure before,
with insults
and punishment and toilsome disgrace.
390* For in
you mother had intercourse with child unlawfully,
and daughter
was joined with her begetter as bride.
In you also
kings defiled their ill-fated mouths.
In you also
evil men practiced bestiality.
Be silent,
most lamentable evil city, which indulges in revelry.
395 For no
longer in you will virgin maidens
tend the
divine fire of sacred nourishing wood.v3
Destruction
of the Temple
The desired
Temple has long ago been extinguished by you,
When I saw the
second Temple cast headlong,
soaked in fire
by an impious hand,
400 the
ever-flourishing, watchful Temple of God
* made by holy
people and hoped
by theirw3
soul and body to be always imperishable.
For among them
no one carelessly praises a god
of
insignificant clay, nor did a clever sculptor make one from rock,
405* nor
worship ornament of gold, a deception of souls.
But they
honored the great God, begetter of all
who have
God-given breath, with holy sacrifices and hecatombs.
But now a
certain insignificant and impious king
has gone up,
cast it down, and left it in ruins
410 with a
great horde and illustrious men.
He himself
perished at immortal hands when he left the land,x3
and no such
sign has yet been performed among men
that others
should think to sack a great city.
The advent
of a savior figure
* For a
blessed man came from the expanses of heaveny3
415 with a
scepter in his hands which God gave him,
and he gained
sway over all things well, and gave back the wealth
to all the
good, which previous men had taken.
He destroyed
every city from its foundations with much fire
and burned
nations of mortals who were formerly evildoers.
420* And the city
which God desired, this he made
more brilliant
than stars and sun and moon,
and he
provided ornament and made a holy temple,z3
exceedingly
beautiful in its fair shrine,a4 and he fashioned
* a great and
immense tower over many stadia
425* touching even
the clouds and visible to all,
so that all
faithful and all righteous people could see
the glory of
eternal God, a form desired.
East and West
sang out the glory of God.
For terrible
things no longer happen to wretched mortals,
430* no
adulteries or illicit love of boys,
no murder, or
din of battle, but competition is fair among all.
It is the last
time of holy people when God, who thunders on high,
founder of the
greatest temple, accomplishes these things.
* 5.363
3.185, etc.
* 7.43–45
v3 Gk. para soi gʾhierēs for para soio tēn tēs
(Rzach). The reference is to the burning of the temple of Vesta in A.D. 64.
* 3.13, etc.
w3 Gk. autōn for autou (Rzach). The reference is, of
course, to Herod’s Temple.
* 5.268
x3 Reading chersin hupʾ athanatois apobas gēs
(Geffcken). The king is Titus, but his death was not in any way miraculous.
* 5.256, etc.
y3 The past tense is used by anticipation. The
heavenly origin of the savior figure accords with the consistent expectation
of SibOr 5.
* 5.261;
Lactantius, DivInst 7.24.6
z3 Gk. hagion tʾoikon; (Rzach: oikon [“house” or
“temple”] is added).
a4 Gk. en sēkō kalō for ensarkon kalon (Lanchester).
Contrast the new Jerusalem in Rev 21:22 in which there is no temple.
* 5.251-252.
* Ps 19:1
* 3.764
James H. Charlesworth,
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London: Yale University
Press, 1983), 402–403.
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Sibylline
Oracles 5:386–433
386
μητρολέται, παύσασθε θράσους τόλμης τε κακούργου,
387 οἳ τὸ
πάλαι παίδων κοίτην ἐπορίζετʼ ἀνάγνως
388 καὶ τέγεσιν
πόρνας ἐστήσατε τὰς πάλαι ἁγνάς
389 ὕβρεσι καὶ
κολάσει κἀσχημοσύνῃ πολυμόχθῳ.
390 ἐν σοὶ γὰρ
μήτηρ τέκνῳ ἐμίγη ἀθεμίστως,
391 καὶ
θυγάτηρ γενετῆρι ἑῷ συζεύξατο νύμφη·
392 ἐν σοὶ καὶ
βασιλεῖς στόμα δύσμορον ἐξεμίηναν,
393 ἐν σοὶ καὶ
κτηνῶν εὗρον κοίτην κακοὶ ἄνδρες.
394 σίγησον,
πανόδυρτε κακὴ πόλι, κῶμον ἔχουσα·
395 οὐκέτι γὰρ
*παρὰ σοῖο τὴν τῆς* φιλοθρέμμονος ὕλης
396 παρθενικαὶ
κοῦραι πῦρ ἔνθεον ὠρήσουσιν.
397 ἔσβεσται
παρὰ σεῖο πάλαι πεποθημένος οἶκος,
398 ἡνίκα
δεύτερον εἶδον ἐγὼ ῥιπτούμενον οἶκον
399 πρηνηδὸν
πυρὶ τεγγόμενον διὰ χειρὸς ἀνάγνου,
400 οἶκον ἀεὶ
θάλλοντα, θεοῦ τηρήμονα ναόν,
401 ἐξ ἁγίων
γεγαῶτα καὶ ἄφθιτον αἰὲν ἐόντα
402 ἐκ ψυχῆς ἐλπιζόμενον
καὶ σώματος *αὐτοῦ*.
403 οὐ γὰρ ἀκηδέστως
*αἰνεῖ* θεὸν ἐξ ἀφανοῦς γῆς
404 οὐδὲ
πέτρης ποίησε σοφὸς τέκτων παρὰ τούτοις,
405 οὐ χρυσοῦ
κόσμον, ἀπάτην ψυχῶν ἐσεβάσθη.
406 ἀλλὰ μέγαν
γενετῆρα θεὸν πάντων θεοπνεύστων
407 ἐν θυσίαις
ἁγίαις ἐγέραιρον καὶ ἑκατόμβαις.
408 νῦν δέ τις
ἐξαναβὰς ἀφανὴς βασιλεὺς καὶ ἄναγνος
409 ταύτην ἔρριψεν
καὶ ἀνοικοδόμητον ἀφῆκεν
410 σὺν πλήθει
μεγάλῳ καὶ ἀνδράσι κυδαλίμοισιν.
411 αὐτὸς δʼ ὤλετο
*χέρσον ἀπʼ ἀθανάτην ἐπιβὰς γῆν*,
412 κοὐκέτι σῆμα
τοιοῦτον ἐπʼ ἀνθρώποισι τέτυκτο,
413 ὥστε δοκεῖν
ἑτέρους μεγάλην πόλιν ἐξαλαπάξαι.
414 ἦλθε γὰρ οὐρανίων
νώτων ἀνὴρ μακαρίτης
415 σκῆπτρον ἔχων
ἐν χερσίν, ὅ οἱ θεὸς ἐγγυάλιξεν,
416 καὶ πάντων
ἐκράτησε καλῶς πᾶσίν τʼ ἀπέδωκεν
417 τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς
τὸν πλοῦτον, ὃν οἱ πρότεροι λάβον ἄνδρες.
418 πᾶσαν δʼ ἐκ
βάθρων εἷλεν πόλιν ἐν πυρὶ πολλῷ
419 καὶ δήμους
ἔφλεξε βροτῶν τῶν πρόσθε κακούργων
420 καὶ πόλιν,
ἣν ἐπόθησε θεός, ταύτην ἐποίησεν
421
φαιδροτέραν ἄστρων τε καὶ ἡλίου ἠδὲ σελήνης
422 καὶ κόσμον
κατέθηχʼ ἅγιόν τʼ …… ἐποίησεν
423 ἔνσαρκον
καλὸν περικαλλέα ἠδὲ ἔπλασσεν
424 πολλοῖς ἐν
σταδίοισι μέγαν καὶ ἀπείρονα πύργον
425 αὐτῶν ἁπτόμενον
νεφέων καὶ πᾶσιν ὁρατόν,
426 ὥστε
βλέπειν πάντας πιστοὺς πάντας τε δικαίους
427 ἀιδίοιο
θεοῦ δόξαν, πεποθημένον εἶδος·
428 ἀντολίαι
δύσιές τε θεοῦ κλέος ἐξύμνησαν.
429 οὐκέτι γὰρ
πέλεται *δειλοῖσι βροτοῖσιν δεινά*
430 οὐδὲ
γαμοκλοπίαι καὶ παίδων Κύπρις ἄθεσμος,
431 οὐ φόνος οὐδὲ
κυδοιμός, ἔρις δʼ ἐν πᾶσι δικαίη.
432 ὕστατος ἔσθʼ
ἁγίων καιρός, ὅτε ταῦτα περαίνει
433 θεὸς ὑψιβρεμέτης,
κτίστης ναοῖο μεγίστου.
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
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2 Enoch 10:4
4* And I said,
“Woe, woe! How very frightful this place is!” And those men said to me, “This
place, Enoch, has been prepared for thosek who do not glorify God,
who practice on the earth the sin |which is against nature, which is child
corruption in the anus in the manner of Sodom|,l of witchcraft,
enchantments,m divinations, trafficking with demons, who boast
about their evil deeds—|stealing, lying, insulting, coveting, resentment,
fornication, murder|n—
* Mt 25:41
Rom 1:32
k The vices for which the wicked are in the place of
torture are not simply the opposite of the virtues in ch. 9, nor
corresponding sins of omission, except for starving the hungry, stripping the
destitute naked, and idolatry. Even so the schemes are compatible, at least
when the glosses are removed; but here the black arts are forbidden. The more
specific Jewish duties—circumcision, sabbath-keeping, food taboos, sex taboos
(as distinct from fornication and deviant practices)—are not listed. There is
nothing here that any god-fearer, Jew or Christian, would not affirm.
| This siglum
indicates a letter incorrectly omitted by an ancient scribe.
| This siglum
indicates a letter incorrectly omitted by an ancient scribe.
l The reference to sodomy is found only in P, which
has similar additions in ch. 34. On prokhodŭ = otverstie (“aperture”) see
MSD, vol. 2, p. 1604. Slav. zadneprokhodnoe otverstie = “anus.”
m V N agree with J P R as reading obajanije, which
means “magic” or more precisely “sorcery.” The reading of A U (obaženija,
“calumnies”) is inferior.
| This siglum
indicates a letter incorrectly omitted by an ancient scribe.
| This siglum
indicates a letter incorrectly omitted by an ancient scribe.
n The list of vices at the end of vs. 4 is found only
in P.
James H.
Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London:
Yale University Press, 1983), 118.
|
2 Enoch 10:4
No extant
Greek text
|
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Testament of
Levi 14:6
6* You teach
the Lord’s commands out of greed for gain; married women you profane; you
have intercourse with whores and adulteresses. You take gentile women for
your wives and your sexual relations will become like Sodom and Gomorrah.
* Micah 3:11
James H.
Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London:
Yale University Press, 1983), 793.
|
Testament of
Levi 14:6
6 ἐν πλεονεξίᾳ
τὰς ἐντολὰς κυρίου διδάξετε, τὰς ὑπάνδρους βεβηλώσετε, καὶ παρθένους Ἰερουσαλὴμ
μιανεῖτε, καὶ πόρναις καὶ μοιχαλίσι συναφθήσεσθε, θυγατέρας ἐθνῶν λήψεσθε εἰς
γυναῖκας, καθαρίζοντες αὐτὰς καθαρισμῷ παρανόμῳ, καὶ γενήσεται ἡ μεῖξις ὑμῶν
Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα ἐν ἀσεβείᾳ.
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology” (Bellingham,
WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
|
|
Testament of
Levi 17:11
11 In the
seventh week there will come priests: idolators, adulterers, money lovers,
arrogant, lawless, voluptuaries, pederasts, those who practice bestiality.
James H. Charlesworth,
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London: Yale University
Press, 1983), 794.
|
Testament of
Levi 17:11
11 ἐν δὲ τῷ ἑβδόμῳ
ἑβδοματικῷ ἥξουσιν οἱ ἱερεῖς εἰδωλολατροῦντες, μάχιμοι, φιλάργυροι, ὑπερήφανοι,
ἄνομοι, ἀσελγεῖς, παιδοφθόροι καὶ κτηνοφθόροι.
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
|
|
Testament of
Naphtali 3:2–4
2 Sun, moon, and
stars do not alter their order; thus you should not alter the Law of God by
the disorder of your actions. 3* The gentiles, because they wandered astray
and forsook the Lord, have changed the order, and have devoted themselves to
stones and sticks, patterning themselves after wandering spirits. 4* But you,
my children, shall not be like that: In the firmament, in the earth, and in
the sea, in all the products of his workmanship discern the Lord who made all
things, so that you do not become like Sodom, which departed from the order
of nature.
* Deut 4:28
Wis Sol 14:21
Jude 12–13
* Gen 19:1
Jude 7 James H.
Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London:
Yale University Press, 1983), 812.
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Testament of
Naphtali 3:2–4
2 Ἥλιος καὶ
σελήνη καὶ ἀστέρες οὐκ ἀλλοιοῦσι τάξιν αὐτῶν· οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς μὴ ἀλλοιώσετε
νόμον Θεοῦ ἐν ἀταξίᾳ πράξεων ὑμῶν.
3 Ἔθνη
πλανηθέντα καὶ ἀφέντα τὸν Κύριον ἠλλοίωσαν τάξιν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐπηκολούθησαν
λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις, ἐξακολουθήσαντες πνεύμασι πλάνης.
4 Ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ
οὕτως, τέκνα μου, γνόντες ἐν στερεώματι, ἐν γῇ, καὶ ἐν θαλάσσῃ, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς
δημιουργήμασι, Κύριον τὸν ποιήσαντα ταῦτα πάντα, ἵνα μὴ γένησθε ὡς Σόδομα, ἥτις
ἐνήλλαξε τάξιν φύσεως αὐτῆς.
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
|
|
Testament of
Naphtali 4:1
4 1 “I say
these things, my children, because I have read in the writing of holy Enoch
that you also will stray from the Lord, living in accord with every wickedness
of the gentiles and committing every lawlessness of Sodom.
James H.
Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. 1 (New York; London:
Yale University Press, 1983), 812.
|
Testament of
Naphtali 4:1
1 Ταῦτα λέγω,
τέκνα μου, ὅτι ἀνέγνων ἐν γραφῇ ἁγίᾳ Ἐνώχ, ὅτι καίγε καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀποστήσεσθε ἀπὸ
Κυρίου, πορευόμενοι κατὰ πᾶσαν πονηρίαν ἐθνῶν, καὶ ποιήσετε κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀνομίαν
Σοδόμων.
Ken Penner and
Michael S. Heiser, “Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology”
(Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2008).
|
