§1.14Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ μικροῦ δεῖν ἔλαθέ με, ἀναγκαῖον παρατεθῆναι περὶ τοῦ πρῖνον-πρίσειν καὶ σχῖνονσχίσειν· ὅτι καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμετέραις Γραφαῖς κεῖνταί τινες οἱονεὶ ἐτυμολογίαι (79) αἵτινες παρὰ μὲν
And this also almost escaped me, which is necessary to be set down alongside concerning the holm-oak and the sawing, and the mastich-tree and the splitting: namely, that in our Scriptures also there lie certain, as it were, etymologies, which on the one hand...
§1.15Πρὸς τούτοις παπορεῖς αὐταῖς λέξεσι· « Πῶς αἰχμάλωτοι ὄντες ἐν τῇ Βαβυλῶνι, ἠστραγαλωμένοι (87), καὶ ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις ἄταφοι ῥιπτούμενοι, ὡς ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἱστόρηται, τῶν παίδων αὐτοῖς ἀποσπωμένων εἰς εὐνουχισμὸν, καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων εἰς παλλακὰς, ὡς (88) προπεφήτευτο, οἵδε περὶ θανάτου ἔκρινον, καὶ ταῦτα τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῶν γενομένῃ γυναικὶ Ἰωακεὶμ, ὅν σύνθρονον πεποίητο ὁ Βαβυλώνιος βασιλεύς;
In addition to these things, you raise a difficulty in your exact words: "How is it that, being captives in Babylon, bound in fetters, and cast out unburied in the streets, as is recorded in the former captivity of Israel, with their children being dragged away for castration, and their daughters for concubines, as had been prophesied, these people judged in matters of death—and that too, regarding Susanna, who had become the wife of their king Joakim, whom the Babylonian king had made his throne-sharer?
Εἰ δὲ οὐχ οὗτος (89), ἄλλος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ Ἰωακείμ· πόθεν τοιαύτη κατάλυσις αἰχμαλώτῳ περιῆν, καὶ παράδεισος ἀμφιλαφὴς ἦν; πόθεν δὲ λαβὼν ἔλεγες τό· Ἠστρογαλωμένοι(90) καὶ ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις ἄταφοι ῥιπτούμενοι·
But if it was not this Joakim, but another Joakim of the people, whence did such a lodging belong to a captive, and whence was there a spacious garden?" But from where did you take and say this: "Bound in fetters and cast out unburied in the streets"—or, as far as my knowledge goes, was it from Tobit?
ἢ, ὅσον ἐπʼ ἐμῇ γνώσει, ἀπὸ τοῦ Τωβία; περὶ οὗ ἡμᾶς ἐχρῆν ἐγνωκέναι, ὅτι Ἑβραῖοι τῷ Τωβίᾳ οὐ χρῶνται, οὐδὲ τῇ Ἰουδήθ· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχουσιν αὐτὰ καὶ ἐν ἀποκρύφοις ἑβραϊστί (9I)· ὡς ἀπʼ αὐτῶν μαθόντες ἐγνώκαμεν.
Concerning which we ought to have known that the Hebrews do not use Tobit, nor Judith; for they do not have them even among the apocrypha in Hebrew, as we have learned and known from them.
Ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ χρῶνται τῷ Τωβᾳ αἱ Ἐκκλησίαι, ἰστέον, ὅτι καὶ ἐν τῇ αἰχμαλωσίᾳ τινὲς τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ἐπλούτουν, καὶ εὖ ἔπραττον.
But since the Churches use Tobit, it must be known that even in captivity some of the captives grew rich and did well.
Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Τωβίας φησί· « Καθότι ἐμεμνήμην τοῦ Θεου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ μου, καὶ ἔδωκεν ὁ Ὕψιστος χάριν καὶ μορφὴν ἐνώπιον Νεμεσσάρου (92), καὶ ἤμην αὐτοῦ ἀγοραστής· καὶ ἐπορευόμην εἰς τὴν Μηδίαν, καὶ παρεθέμην Γαβαήλῳ τῷ ἀδελφῷ Γαβρία ἐν Ῥἄγοις (93) τῆς Μηδίας ἀργυρίου τάλαντα δέκα. » Καὶ ἐπιφέρει ὡς πλούσιος τό· « Ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Νεμεσσάρου ἐλεημοσύνας πολλὰς ἐποίησα (94) τοῖς ἀδελ·
Tobit himself says: "Because I remembered God with all my soul, the Most High gave me grace and favor in the presence of Nemessaros, and I was his buyer; and I went into Media, and left in trust with Gabael, the brother of Gabrias, at Rages of Media, ten talents of silver." And he adds as a rich man: "In the days of Nemessaros I did many almsdeeds to my brethren.
φοῖς μου. Τοὺς ἄρτους μου ἐδίδουν πεινῶσι καὶ ἱμάτια τοῖς γυμνοῖς·
I gave my bread to the hungry, and my clothes to the naked; and if I saw any of my nation dead and cast behind the wall of Nineveh, I buried him.
καὶ εἵ τινα ἐκ τοῦ γένους ἑώρων (95) τεθνηκότα καὶ ἐῤῥιμμένον ὀπίσω τοῦ τείχους Νινευῒ, ἔθαπτον αὐτόν· καὶ εἴ τινα ἀπέκτεινε Σεναχηρεὶμ βασιλεὺς, ὅτε ἦλθε φεύγων ἐκ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, ἕθαψα αὐτοὺς κλέπτων· πολλοὺς γὰρ ἐπέκτεινεν (96) ἐν τῷ θυμῷ αὐτοῦ. » Καὶ κατανόει εἴ γε μὴ (97) πολὺν πλοῦτον ἐμφαίνει καὶ πολλὴν περιουσίαν ὁ κατάλογος ὁ τοσοῦτος τῶν εὐποιῶν τοῦ Τωβία· καὶ μάλιστα, ὅτι ἐπιφέρει λέγων τό· « Ἐπιγνοὺς, ὅτι ζη τοῦμαι ἀποθανεῖν, φοβηθεὶς ἀνεχώρησα, καὶ διηρπάγη πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου. » Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἕτερος αἰχμάλωτος Δαχιάχαρος (98) ὁ τοῦ Ἀνανιὴλ υἱὸς ἀδελφοῦ Τωβία ἐπὶ πᾶσαν κατεστάθη τὴν λογιστείαν τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ βασιλέως Ἀχερδόνος, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν διοίκησιν· καὶ λέγεται, « ὅτι ἦν ὁ Δαχιάχαρος οἰνοχόος, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ δακτυλίου, καὶ διοικητὴς, καὶ ἐκλογιστής. » Καὶ ὁ Μαρδοχαῖος δὲ περὶ τὴν αὐλὴν διέτριβε τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ τοσαύτην εἶχε παῤρησίαν πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὥστε καὶ ἐν εὐεργέταις ἀναγεγράφθαι τοῦ Ἀρταξέρξου.
And if King Senachereim slew any, when he came fleeing from Judea, I buried them privily; for in his wrath he slew many." And consider whether this long list of Tobit's good deeds does not show great wealth and abundant property; and especially since he adds, saying: "When it was known that I was sought for to be put to death, I withdrew myself for fear, and all my goods were snatched away." But also another captive, Achiacharos, the son of Ananiel, the brother of Tobit, was appointed over all the accounts of the kingdom of King Ascherdon, and over all the administration; and it is said, "that Achiacharos was cupbearer, and keeper of the signet, and administrator, and accountant." And Mordecai too spent his time about the court of the king, and had such freedom of speech with him that he was even recorded among the benefactors of Artaxerxes.
Ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἔσδρᾳ· Νεεμίας οἰνοχόος τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ εὐνοῦχος αὐτοῦ (99), Ἐβραῖος τῷ γένει, ἠτήσατο τὰ περὶ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς τοῦ ναοῦ, καὶ ἔτυχεν· ὥστε μετὰ πλειόνων ἐπιτραπῆναι ἀπελθεῖν ἀνορθῶσαι τὸν ναόν.
Furthermore, also in Esdras: Nehemiah, the cupbearer of the king and his eunuch, a Hebrew by race, petitioned concerning the building of the temple, and succeeded; so that he was permitted to depart with many others to rebuild the temple.
Τί οὖν θαυμαστὸν τὸ, παράδεισον, καὶ οἰκίαν, καὶ κτῆμα γεγονέναι τινὸς Ἰωακεὶμ, εἴτε πολυτελὴς(99*) εἴτε καὶ μετρία ἦν;
What wonder is it then, that there was a garden, and a house, and property belonging to a certain Joakim, whether it was luxurious or moderate?
Οὐ γὰρ σαφῶς δηλοῦται ἀπὸ τῆς Γραφῆς τὸ τοιοῦτον.
For such a thing is not clearly shown by the Scripture.
§1.16Ἀλλὰ φῄς· « Πῶς περὶ θανάτου ἔκρινον ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ τυγχάνοντες; » οὐκ οἶδα πόθεν ἀμφιβάλλων τὸ βσιλέως εἶναι γυναῖκα, διὰ τὴν ὁμωτυμίαν τοῦ Ἰωακεὶμ, τὴν Σωσάνναν.
But you say: "How did they judge in matters of death while being in captivity?"—I do not know on what ground you doubt that Susanna was the wife of the king, because of the homonymity of Joakim.
Λεκτέον δ᾿, ὅτι οὐδὲν παράδοξον, μεγάλων ἐθνῶν ὑποχειρίων γενομένων, πρὸς βασιλέως συγκεχωρῆσθαι τοῖς οἰκείοις νόμοις χρῆσθαι (1) τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους καὶ τοῖς δικαστηρίοις.
But it must be said that it is nothing paradoxical, when great nations have become subject, for it to be conceded by the king for the captives to use their own laws and courts.
Καὶ νῦν γοῦν Ῥωμαίων βασιλευόντων, καὶ Ἰουδαίωντὸδίδραχμον αὐτοῖς τελούντων, ὅσα συγχωροῦντος Καίσαρος ὁ ἐθνάρχης (2) παρʼ αὐτοῖς δύναται, ὡς μηδὲν διαφέρειν βασιλεύοντος τοῦ ἔθνους, ἵσμεν οἱ πεπειραμένοι.
And now indeed, under the rule of the Romans, when the Jews pay the didrachm to them, we who have experienced it know how much the ethnarch can do among them, with Caesar's concession, so that he differs in nothing from a king of the nation.
Γίνεται δὲ καὶ κριτήρια λεληθότως κατὰ τὸν νόμον, καὶ καταδικάζονταί τινες τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ θανάτῳ (3)· οὕτε μετὰ τῆς πάντη εἰς τοῦτο παῤῥησίας, οὕτε μετὰ τοῦ λανθάνειν τὸν βασιλεύοντα·
And trials also take place secretly according to the law, and some are condemned to death; this happens neither with complete freedom of speech in this matter, nor with the ruler being entirely unaware of it.
καὶ τοῦτο ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τοῦ ἔθνους πολὺν διατρίψαντες χρόνον μεμαθήκαμεν καὶ πεπληροφορήμεθα.
And this we have learned and are fully assured of, having spent much time in the country of that nation.
Καί τοι γε ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις (4) δύο φυλαὶ μόναι εἶναι ἱστόρηνται, ἥ τε Ἰούδα καὶ Βενιαμίν· ἔστω δὲ καὶ Λευῖτική.
And yet, under the Romans, only two tribes are recorded to exist, Judea and Benjamin—and let there be the Levitical also.
Ὁ δὲ (5), παρὰ τὸν λαὸν Ἰούδα, Ἰσραὴλ, δέκα ἦσαν φυλαί· καὶ εἰκὸς, ἀρκεσθέντας τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους τῷ ὑποχειρίους αὐτοὺς ἕχειν. ἐπιτετραφέναι αὐτοῖς τὰ οἰκεῖα δικαστήρια.
But on the other hand, besides the people of Judah, Israel consisted of ten tribes; and it is likely that the Assyrians, being satisfied with having them subject, permitted them their own courts.