The noble army of martyrs
2 1 Μακάρια μὲν οὖν καὶ γενναῖα τὰ μαρτύρια πάντα [τὰ] κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ γεγονότα. δεῖ γὰρ εὐλαβεστέρους ἡμᾶς ὑπάρχοντας τῷ θεῷ τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἐξουσίαν ἀνατιθέναι. 2 τὸ γὰρ γενναῖον αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπομονητικὸν καὶ φιλοδέσποτον τίς οὐκ ἂν θαυμάσειεν; οἱ ¹ μάστιξι μὲν καταξανθέντες, ὥστε μέχρι τῶν ἔσω φλεβῶν καὶ ἀρτηριῶν τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς οἰκονομίαν θεωρεῖσθαι, ὑπέμειναν, ὡς καὶ τοὺς περιεστῶτας ἐλεεῖν καὶ ὀδύρεσθαι· τoὺς δὲ καὶ εἰς τοσοῦτον γενναιότητος ἐλθεῖν, ὥστε μήτε γρύξαι μήτε στενάξαι τινὰ αὐτῶν, ἐπιδεικνυμένους ἅπασιν ἡμῖν, ὅτι [ἐν] ² ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ βασανιζόμενοι, τῆς σαρκὸς ἀπεδήμουν οἱ γενναιότατοι ³ μάρτυρες τοῦ Χριστοῦ, μᾶλλον δέ, ὅτι παρεστὼς ὁ κύριος ὡμίλει αὐτοῖς. 3 καὶ προσέχοντες τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ χάριτι τῶν κοσμικῶν κατεφρόνουν βασάνων, διὰ μιᾶς ὥρας τὴν αἰώνιον κόλασιν ἐξαγοραζόμενοι. καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἦ ¹ αὐτοῖς ψυχρὸν τὸ τῶν ἀπηνῶν βασανιστῶν. πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν γὰρ εἶχον φυγεῖν τὸ αἰώνιον καὶ μηδέποτε σβεννύμενον, καὶ τοῖς τῆς καρδίας ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀνέβλεπον τὰ τηρούμενα τoῖς ὑπoμείνασιν ἀγαθα, ἃ oὔτε oὗς ἢκoυσεν, οὔτε ὀφθαλμὸς εἶδεν οὔτε ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου ἀνέβη, ἐκείνοις δὲ ὑπεδείκνυτο ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου, οἵπερ μηκέτι ἄνθρωποι, ἀλλ’ ἤδη ἄγγελοι ἦσαν. 4 ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ [οἱ] ¹ εἰς τὰ θηρία κατακριθέντες ² ὑπέμειναν δεινὰς κολάσεις, κήρυκας μεν ὑποστρωννύμενοι καὶ ἄλλαις ποικίλων βασάνων ἰδέαις ³ κολαφιζόμενοι, ἵνα, εἰ δυνηθείη, ὁ τύραννος διὰ τῆς ἐπιμόνου κολάσεως εἰς ἄρνησιν αὐτοὺς τρέψῃ. πολλὰ γὰρ ἐμηχανᾶτο κατ’ αὐτῶν ὁ διάβολος.4
2:2 ¹ oἱ [ Migne oἵ.
2:2 ² Migne adds ἐν.
2:2 ³ Migne omits
2:3 ¹ ἦ [ Mign. ἦν.
2:4 ¹ oἱ [ Migne omits
2:4 ² κατακριθέντες [ Migne κριθέντες
2:4 ³ ποικίλων βασάνων ἰδέαις [ Migne ποικίλαις βασάνoις (om. ἰδέαις)
2:4 4 Migne assigns the last sentence to chapter 3.
The noble army of martyrs
2 1 Blessed and noble then are all the martyrdoms that have taken place by the will of God, for we must be reverent enough to credit God with power over all things. 2 For who could fail to admire their nobility, patient endurance and love to the Master? They patiently endured being shredded with whips until the structure of their flesh was made visible down to the inner veins and arteries so that even the bystanders pitied them and wept; but they themselves displayed such bravery that none of them cried out or groaned, showing us all that at that hour the most noble martyrs of Christ were absent from the flesh, or rather, that the Lord was standing by and conversing with them. 3 And with their minds fixed on the grace of Christ they despised the tortures of this world, purchasing eternal life at the cost of a single hour. For them the fire of their inhuman torturers was cold,¹ for they had before their eyes the escape from the eternal unquenchable fire and with the eyes of their heart they gazed upon the good things that are reserved for those who have endured “which no ear has heard, no eye has seen, no mind has conceived”² but which were shown by the Lord to them, for they were no longer men. They were already angels. 4 Likewise, those condemned to the wild beasts endured dreadful tortures, being made to lie on sharp shells and many other kinds of torture, so that the devil might lead them to a denial, if possible, through prolonged torture.
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¹ 2:3 "the fire... was cold" 4 Macc 11:26
² 2:3 1 Corinthians 2:9; cf. Isa. 64:4; 65:17.
2:2 "visible down to the inner veins and arteries." This was the Roman form of scourging. The Jews never permitted more than 39 lashes (in accordance with Deut. 25:3). Part of the goal of Roman whipping was to degrade and shame the individual and even his nation or in this case, his religion.
2:2 "the most nobles martyrs of Christ" cp. Rev 6:9-11.
2:2 "the Lord was standing by and conversing with them." cf. Daniel 3:25; Song of the Three Young Men (Prayer of Azariah) 1:26, 66.
2:3 "For them the first of their inhuman tortures was cold." The possible quotation (see footnote) runs parallel in context to the context of the 4 Maccabees passage. “Since you have not been able to persuade us to change your mind or to force us to eat unclean food, isn’t this your downfall? To us, your fire is cold, your catapults painless, and your violence powerless. For it is not the guards of the tyrant, but of the Divine Law that are over us.” (4 Macc. 11:25-27a)
2:3 "the eternal unquenchable fire" cf. Isaiah 66:24; Matthew 3:12.
2:3 "the eyes of their heart: Ephesians 1:18 (τοὺς ὀϕϑαλμοὺς τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν).
2:4 "sharp shells" Greek “trumpet shells,” large sharp seashells commonly used in torture (also mentioned by Aristotle). This was another method of shaming the condemned by the Romans.
Greek notes:
2:1 εὐλαβεστέρους “more devout, pious; reverent enough” comp of εὐλαβης.
2:2 μάστιξι “lashes, whippings.” masc pl μάστιξ, “whip.” Some editions write the word with ν-moveable.
2:2 φλεβῶν “veins.” Gen pl., φλεψ, a ‘vein’ both in the sense of a channel for blood and also a ‘vein’ of metal in a mine (Iliad). In Scripture, Hosea 13:15 καὶ ἀναξηρανεῖ τὰς φλέβας αὐτοῦ. Cp. our modern procedure, a phelbotomy.
2:2 γρύξαι “complained, muttered.” Aor inf γρύξω; Ex. 11:7; Josh 10:21; Judith 11:19 καὶ oὐ γρύξαι κύνων τῇ γλώσσῃ αὐτoῦ ἁπέναντι σoυ, “not a dog will so much as open its mouth to growl at you.”
2:4 κήρυκας “trumpet-shell” fem gen κήρυξ, a large sharp shell used in torture.
2:4 ὑποστρωννύμενοι “laid out” pass ptc ὑποστρωννύω.
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