The Fourth Book of Maccabees, Chapter 14ΜΑΚΚΑΒΑΙΩΝ Δ′ ΙΔ′

προσέτι καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν αἰκισμὸν ἐποτρύνοντες ὡς μὴ μόνον τῶν ἀλγηδόνων περιφρονῆσαι αὐτούς ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν τῆς φιλαδελφίας παθῶν κρατῆσαι

Moreover, while urging them on to torture, they showed that they not only despised pains but also mastered the passions of brotherly affection.

ὦ βασιλέων λογισμοὶ βασιλικώτεροι καὶ ἐλευθέρων ἐλευθερώτεροι

O reasonings more kingly than kings and freer than free men!

ὦ ἱερᾶς καὶ εὐαρμόστου περὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀδελφῶν συμφωνίας

O sacred and beautifully harmonized accord of the seven brothers concerning piety!

οὐδεῖς ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ μειρακίων ἐδειλίασεν οὐδὲ πρὸς τὸν θάνατον ὤκνησεν

Not one of the seven youths showed cowardice or shrank back from death.

ἀλλὰ πάντες ὥσπερ ἐπ' ἀθανασίας ὁδὸν τρέχοντες ἐπὶ τὸν διὰ τῶν βασάνων θάνατον ἔσπευδον

But all, as though running upon a road to immortality, hastened to the death that came through tortures.

καθάπερ αἱ χεῖρες καὶ οἱ πόδες συμφώνως τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς ἀφηγήμασιν κινοῦνται οὕτως οἱ ἱεροὶ μείρακες ἐκεῖνοι ὡς ὑπὸ ψυχῆς ἀθανάτου τῆς εὐσεβείας πρὸς τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς συνεφώνησαν θάνατον

Just as hands and feet move in harmony with the directives of the soul, so those holy youths, as if by an immortal soul of piety, were brought into agreement for the death undertaken on its behalf.

ὦ πανάγιε συμφώνων ἀδελφῶν ἑβδομάς καθάπερ γὰρ ἑπτὰ τῆς κοσμοποιίας ἡμέραι περὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν

O all-holy band of seven harmonious brothers, just as the seven days of creation surround the making of the world,

οὕτως περὶ τὴν ἑβδομάδα χορεύοντες οἱ μείρακες ἐκύκλουν τὸν τῶν βασάνων φόβον καταλύοντες

so the youths, dancing around the week of piety, encircled the fear of tortures and dissolved it.

νῦν ἡμεῖς ἀκούοντες τὴν θλῖψιν τῶν νεανιῶν ἐκείνων φρίττομεν οἱ δὲ οὐ μόνον ὁρῶντες ἀλλ' οὐδὲ μόνον ἀκούοντες τὸν παραχρῆμα ἀπειλῆς λόγον ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσχοντες ἐνεκαρτέρουν καὶ τοῦτο ταῖς διὰ πυρὸς ὀδύναις

Now we shudder as we hear the affliction of those youths, but they not only saw it and not only heard the immediate word of threat, but even while suffering they endured, and that amid the pains that came through fire.

ὧν τί γένοιτο ἐπαλγέστερον ὀξεῖα γὰρ καὶ σύντομος οὖσα ἡ τοῦ πυρὸς δύναμις ταχέως διέλυεν τὰ σώματα

What could be more painful than these things? For the power of fire, being sharp and swift, quickly dissolved the bodies.

καὶ μὴ θαυμαστὸν ἡγεῖσθε εἰ ὁ λογισμὸς περιεκράτησε τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκείνων ἐν ταῖς βασάνοις ὅπου γε καὶ γυναικὸς νοῦς πολυτροπωτέρων ὑπερεφρόνησεν ἀλγηδόνων

And do not think it strange if reason gained the mastery over those men in their tortures, where even a woman's mind despised pains of a more intricate kind.

ἡ μήτηρ γὰρ τῶν ἑπτὰ νεανίσκων ὑπήνεγκεν τὰς ἐφ' ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν τέκνων στρέβλας

For the mother of the seven youths endured the rackings inflicted upon each one of her children.

θεωρεῖτε δὲ πῶς πολύπλοκός ἐστιν ἡ τῆς φιλοτεκνίας στοργὴ ἕλκουσα πάντα πρὸς τὴν τῶν σπλάγχνων συμπάθειαν

Consider how complex is the affection of love for children, drawing everything toward sympathy with one's own flesh.

ὅπου γε καὶ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα ὁμοίαν τὴν εἰς τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν γεννώμενα συμπάθειαν καὶ στοργὴν ἔχει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις

For even the irrational animals have toward what is born from them a sympathy and affection like that found among human beings.

καὶ γὰρ τῶν πετεινῶν τὰ μὲν ἥμερα κατὰ τὰς οἰκίας ὀροφοιτοῦντα προασπίζει τῶν νεοττῶν

For among the birds, the tame ones, dwelling about houses on roofs, defend their nestlings,

τὰ δὲ κατὰ κορυφὰς ὀρέων καὶ φαράγγων ἀπορρῶγας καὶ δένδρων ὀπὰς καὶ τὰς τούτων ἄκρας ἐννοσσοποιησάμενα ἀποτίκτει καὶ τὸν προσιόντα κωλύει

while those on mountain peaks and in clefts of ravines and hollows of trees and on their tops, having made nests there, give birth and ward off the one approaching.

εἰ δὲ καὶ μὴ δύναιντο κωλύειν περιιπτάμενα κυκλόθεν αὐτῶν ἀλγοῦντα τῇ στοργῇ ἀνακαλούμενα τῇ ἰδίᾳ φωνῇ καθ' ὃ δύναται βοηθεῖ τοῖς τέκνοις

And if they are not able to ward him off, flying around them in a circle, in pain because of their affection, calling out with their own voice, they help their young as best they can.

καὶ τί δεῖ τὴν διὰ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων ἐπιδεικνύναι πρὸς τὰ τέκνα συμπάθειαν

And why is it necessary to demonstrate from irrational animals the sympathy they have toward their children,

ὅπου γε καὶ μέλισσαι περὶ τὸν τῆς κηρογονίας καιρὸν ἐπαμύνονται τοὺς προσιόντας καὶ καθάπερ σιδήρῳ τῷ κέντρῳ πλήσσουσι τοὺς προσιόντας τῇ νοσσιᾷ αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπαμύνουσιν ἕως θανάτου

when even bees, at the season of honey-making, come to the defense against those who approach and, as if with iron, strike with the sting those coming near their brood and ward them off even unto death?

ἀλλ' οὐχὶ τὴν Αβρααμ ὁμόψυχον τῶν νεανίσκων μητέρα μετεκίνησεν συμπάθεια τέκνων

Yet not even sympathy for children moved the mother of the youths, who was like-minded with Abraham.