Глава II

Prayer of Simon the High Priest (3Mac 2:1-15). Defeat of the king, return to Egypt and persecution of the Jews there (3Mac.2:16-24). 3Mac 2:1 And the high priest Simon, kneeling before the sanctuary and reverently stretching out his hands, prayed: The Simon mentioned here must be Simon II, son of Onias II, identical with the one mentioned in Sirach (L: 1). - Righteous, who enjoyed the greatest respect of the people for his high life (219-199 BC). 3 Mac.2:2 “Lord, Lord, King of heaven and Ruler of every creation, Holy among saints, Sovereign, Almighty! Look upon us, oppressed by the atheist and the wicked, arrogant in boldness and strength. “Holy among holies” is a descriptive expression of the highest holiness, surpassing all holiness - angelic and possible human. 3Mac.2:3-4 For You, who created all things and rule them all, are a righteous Ruler: You judge those who do anything with insolence and arrogance. You once destroyed the workers of iniquity, among whom were giants who trusted in strength and boldness, and brought endless water upon them. “Giants...” (Gen.6:4) are often cited as examples of brute force and arrogance. 3Mac.2:5 You burned with fire and brimstone the Sodomites, who walked arrogantly, who obviously did evil, and set them as an example to posterity. “He set them as an example (παραδειγμα) to the descendants...”, that is, not only in historical legends, but also in monuments or traces of their punishment, in this case - a hint at the well-known properties and features of the Dead Sea. 3Mac.2:6-8 You visited the daring Pharaoh, who enslaved Your holy people Israel, with various and many plagues, demonstrated Your authority and showed Your great power. And when he pursued him, You drowned him with his chariots and a multitude of people in the depths of the sea, and those who trusted in You, the Lord of every creature, You led unharmed, and they, seeing the works of Your hand, praised You, the Almighty. You, the King, who created the boundless and immeasurable earth, chose this city, and sanctified this place for the glory of You, who lacks nothing, and glorified it with Your majestic appearance, turning it to the glory of Your great and venerable name. “The boundless and immeasurable earth...”, a hyperbolic designation of the enormity of the earth in comparison with the small space occupied by Jerusalem, the place of Jehovah’s election. 3Mac 2:9 Out of love for the house of Israel, You promised that if misfortune befalls us and oppression overwhelms us, and we come to this place and pray, You will hear our prayer. The idea of ​​this verse is borrowed from 1 Kings VIII: 33 et c., where it is stated not as a Divine promise, but as Solomon's prayer to God. The name of this thought as the promise of God is fair because of God’s promise to do everything according to the king’s prayer (1 Kings IX: 3). 3Mac 2:10–13 And You are faithful and true, and many times, when our fathers were in distress, You helped them in their affliction and delivered them from great dangers. Here we are, Holy King, for our many and great sins we are in misery, betrayed to our enemies and exhausted from sorrows. In such our decline, this impudent wicked man attempts to insult this holy place, dedicated on earth to Your glorious name. For, although Your dwelling place, the heaven of heavens, is unattainable for people, You, having deigned to show Your glory to Your people Israel, have sanctified this place. “Heaven of heavens...”, ουρανός του ουρανού..., slav.: “sky heavens...”, Hebraism ??? - to designate, firstly, the highest limits of the above-ground space, and secondly, to designate the super-earthly dwelling of God (cf. Deut. X: 14; 1 Kings VIII: 27; 2 Chronicles II: 6; VI: 18; Ps. CXLVIII: 4; Sir XVI: 18). 3Mac 2:14 Do not avenge us for their uncleanness, and do not punish us for their defilement, lest the wicked be vainglorious in their thoughts and exult in the utterance of their tongue, saying, We have trampled down the house of holiness, as the houses of filthiness are trampled under foot. “Do not take revenge on us for their uncleanness...”, Greek: μή καταδικάσης ήμας έν τή τούτων ακαθαρσία..., more precisely Slav.: “Do not take revenge on us with this uncleanness,” i.e. “Do not punish us (for our sins) by allowing pagan uncleanness to desecrate Your holy place!” Likewise, the following: “do not punish us for desecration...”, μηδέ ευθύνη ήμας έν βεβηλώσει ..., more correctly in Slavic: “below, punish us with this defilement...”, i.e., “do not punish us by allowing pagan defilement!...” Thus Thus, the Jews here are afraid not of punishment for uncleanness and pagan defilement, as if already accomplished, but of this very uncleanness and defilement, as the punishment of God, ready to befall them for their sins. The Russian translation conveys the idea completely wrong. - “House of the shrine...”, οίκος άγιασμού - instead of οίκος αγιος. 3Mac 2:15-16 Forgive our sins, forgive our iniquities, and show Thy mercy at this hour; May Your mercies soon precede us; give praise to the lips of the discouraged and brokenhearted; grant us peace." Then the all-seeing God and the Holy One above all, having heard the prayer of humility, struck the arrogant one with violence and insolence, shaking him back and forth like a reed with the wind, so that he, lying motionless on the platform and being weakened by his limbs, could not even give a voice, having been overcome by righteous judgment. “Above all, the Holy One in Holies...”, πρό πάντων άγιος έν αγίοις .., glor.: “above all, the Holy One in Holies...”, a strengthened expression to denote the all-surpassing holiness of God. 3Mac 2:17-19 Then his friends and bodyguards, seeing the sudden and severe execution that had befallen him, and fearing that he should lose his life, hastily carried him out, being themselves struck with extreme fear. After some time, having come to his senses after the punishment he had experienced, he did not repent at all and left with cruel threats. Having returned to Egypt and multiplying the deeds of his malice, he, with the mentioned participants in the feasts and friends, who had forgotten all justice, not only became fed up with countless foolish acts, but reached such insolence that he pronounced a curse on the Jews there, and many of his friends, looking at the example of the king, themselves followed his desires. “He pronounced a curse on the Jews there...”, δυσφημίας έν τοις τόποις συνίστασθεν, glav.: “he composed blasphemies on the spot...”, i.e. he pronounced blasphemies in their places - namely, on Jerusalem and Jews 3Mac.2:20 Finally, he decided to publicly put the people of Judah to shame, and placed a pillar on the tower of his palace, making an inscription on it: “He who does not offer sacrifices shall not enter his sacred places; All the Jews should be included in the census of the common people and included in a state of slavery, and whoever resists will be taken by force and deprived of life; “He who does not sacrifice shall not enter his sacred places...”, dark translation of the Greek: μηδένα τών μή θυόντων εις ta ιερά αυτών εισιέναι ..., glorified: “not one from those who do not eat shall enter into their holy place...” Given the very general nature of the inscription, it is clear, however, that some of the interpreters say that this inscription specifically concerned the Jews, since they alone in Egypt did not make sacrifices in their synagogues; therefore, the king’s order was tantamount to an order to close all Jewish synagogues in the country and prohibit them from open worship. According to another interpretation, the king erected his statue, and the inscription under it had the meaning that “whoever does not make sacrifices to him must not enter the church of God,” that is, either into his houses of prayer, or into the king’s palace, which means deprivation of all help, protection and royal justice. Polyvius (in Strabo XVII, 797) distinguishes 3 classes in the population of Alexandria: 1) Macedonians, as the founders of the city, who enjoyed preferential rights. Close to them, with almost equal rights, were the Jews, both captives and those who voluntarily settled, from the time of Alexander the Great and Ptolemy I; 2) “numerous and independent” mercenary army; 3) natural Egyptians. Apparently, the Jews occupied a middle position between the first (Alexandrian citizens) and the last (the Egyptian people in general). Now, by decree of the king, they were decisively ranked among the latter. 3Mac.2:21 Those included in the census should be marked by burning the sign of Dionysus on their body - an ivy leaf, and then released to their assigned state with limited rights.” Dionysus was considered the family god of the Ptolemies, and Philopator was especially devoted to his cult. 3Mac.2:22-24 But in order not to become hated by everyone, he added in the inscription that if any of them wished to live according to pagan rites, they would be given equal rights with the citizens of Alexandria. Therefore, some, for the sake of civil rights, despising domestic piety, hastily transferred, as if they could partake of great glory from future communication with the king. But most of them were strengthened by courage of spirit and did not fall away from piety; they gave money for their lives, and fearlessly tried to get rid of the record, having a good hope of receiving help, and they turned away from those who had fallen away, considering them enemies of their people and avoiding all communication with them and friendly treatment.