Chapter Five
The king’s triple, unfulfilled order to trample the Jews with elephants. (3 Macc 5:1-36).
3 Maccabees 5:1. Then the king, filled with fierce anger and unrelenting in his hatred, summoned Hermon, who was in charge of the elephants, and ordered that the next day all the elephants — five hundred in number — be given frankincense to eat in the largest possible doses and be given their fill of undiluted wine to drink, and that when they had been maddened by the abundance of drink given to them, they should be led out against the Jews who were condemned to meet their death. The strongly stimulating effect of frankincense in large doses is known from other sources as well (Dioscorid. I, 70). According to verse 30, the elephants were brought “into a state of frenzy by the fragrant drink of wine laced with frankincense.” — The number of elephants (500) seems greatly exaggerated. Ptolemy II Philadelphus had only 300 of them toward the end of his reign. — At the battle of Raphia, Ptolemy Philopator had only 73 elephants in all. — “Led out against the Jews who were condemned to meet their death...” Greek: εισαγαγείν προς συνάντησιν τού μόρου τών Ιουδαίων ..., Slavonic: “to lead out to meet the death of the Jews...” The author personifies the death of the Jews and depicts the elephants as if they were its instruments, going forth to meet it in order to become the executors of its dreadful work.
3 Maccabees 5:2–3. Having given this order, he went to a banquet, inviting especially those among his friends and soldiers who were hostile toward the Jews; and Hermon, the commander of the elephants, carried out his order to the letter. The servants appointed for this purpose went in the evening to bind the hands of the wretched people, and others took precautions against them, thinking that by dawn the entire nation would meet utter destruction. “Went... to bind the hands of the wretched people...” By the king’s order, this was supposed to have been done earlier (III: 18), and indeed it is already mentioned as having been done (IV: 8). Its mention here once more only creates puzzlement.
3 Maccabees 5:4. The Jews, who seemed to the pagans to be stripped of all protection, for they were hemmed in on all sides by heavy chains, called upon the almighty Lord, who rules over every authority, their merciful God and Father — all of them calling out unceasingly with tears, imploring him to turn away the wicked plot against them and to save them from the death prepared for them by his glorious appearing. God is called Father of Israel here as its Creator, loving Nurturer, Guide, and Caretaker; cf. Deut 32:18; Isa 64:8; Tob 13:4 and in many other places — especially in the later books.
3 Maccabees 5:5–6. Their earnest prayer ascended to heaven. Hermon, having made the unruly elephants drunk with an abundant supply of wine and frankincense, appeared at the palace in the morning to report this to the king. But God sent upon the king a deep sleep — that good gift which he has sent down from of old, both by night and by day, to all whom he wills. “A deep sleep...” Greek: ύπνου μέρος ..., Slavonic: “a portion of sleep...” Perhaps the author wished to express the thought this way: God sent upon the king a fit of sleep, that is, a sleep of abnormally great heaviness and pleasantness.
3 Maccabees 5:7–8. Plunged into a pleasant and deep sleep by God’s arrangement, he forgot his lawless undertaking and was utterly deceived in his firm resolve. The Jews, having been delivered from the appointed hour, praised their holy God and again implored the Reconciler to display to the arrogant pagans the power of his almighty right hand. “Having been delivered from the appointed hour...” — that is, from the misfortune that awaited them at the appointed hour. — “Implored the Reconciler...” — him who could allow this misfortune in his wrath toward the people, but who, heeding this people’s prayers, could just as quickly be reconciled with them and save them (cf. 2 Macc 7:33).
3 Maccabees 5:9. When half of the tenth hour had already passed, the servant who was entrusted with the invitations, seeing that the invited guests had already assembled, went in to the king to wake him. Having roused him with difficulty, he announced that the time of the banquet was passing and gave an account of his commission. The king, trusting him and setting out to drink, ordered those who had come to the feast to recline directly opposite him. “Half of the tenth hour...” — that is, our four o’clock in the afternoon. The royal table therefore began at three o’clock in the afternoon — the customary time for banquets. The planned execution of the Jews was supposed to serve as a kind of “dessert” or conclusion to the royal feast. But the king’s tardiness and the unrestrained prolongation of the banquet would have considerably curtailed the pleasure of the concluding spectacle — and it was therefore postponed.
3 Maccabees 5:10–12. When this had been done, he encouraged those gathered for the banquet to spend the remaining part of the feast in full merriment. During the extended conversation, the king summoned Hermon and sternly and menacingly asked for what reason the Jews had been allowed to survive that day. Hermon announced that he had carried out his commission during the night, and the king’s friends confirmed this. Then the king, cruel in his ferocity even beyond Phalaris, said that they should be grateful for that day’s sleep: An undesirable shade of meaning is given here by the expression “during the night...” This “during,” in the opinion of some commentators, should not appear here at all, because it is nothing other than ότι (read as έτι). Hermon simply reports that (ότι) he “had in the night brought the commanded thing to completion” (Slavonic text), that is, everything he had to do during the night (prepare the elephants, bind the Jews as a precaution, etc.) had been done, and the rest, so to speak, was no longer his concern. — Phalaris was the notorious cruel tyrant of Acragas (Agrigentum), who lived in the sixth century (565–549 BC). From his very name, cruelty itself was called by ancient writers φαλαρισμός (Cic. ad Att. 7, 12).
3 Maccabees 5:13–15. “But you must tomorrow likewise prepare the elephants to destroy the lawless Jews.” When the king had said this, all those present expressed their approval to him with pleasure and joy, and departed each to his own house. The hours of the night were spent not so much in sleep as in devising all manner of mockeries for the supposed criminals. Early in the morning, as soon as the rooster crowed, Hermon led out the beasts and began to enrage them in the spacious courtyard. In the city, crowds of people had gathered for the sorry spectacle, eagerly waiting for dawn. 3 Maccabees 5:16–18. The Jews unceasingly, agonized in spirit, offered up prayer with many tears and mournful songs, and stretching out their hands to heaven, they implored the mightiest God to send them swift help again. The rays of the sun had not yet spread forth, and the king was still receiving his friends, when Hermon appeared before him and invited him to come out, reporting that everything the king desired was ready. Hearing this and astonished by the unusual invitation to come out, he completely forgot everything and asked what this matter was that had been carried out with such haste. This was the work of the God who rules over all, who had brought upon the king’s mind forgetfulness of everything he himself had previously devised. 3 Maccabees 5:19–21. Hermon and all his friends explained, saying: O king! the beasts and the troops have been prepared according to your urgent command. He was filled with fierce anger at these words — for by God’s providence his entire scheme had been destroyed — and, flashing his eyes, he spoke with a threat: if you had parents or children, they would have served as abundant food for the wild beasts in place of the innocent Jews, who have kept unbreakable and perfect loyalty to me and to my ancestors. Were it not for my attachment to you from our upbringing and your services, you would have been deprived of life in their place. 3 Maccabees 5:22–24. Thus Hermon met an unexpected and terrible threat and changed in gaze and countenance, and each of the friends withdrew in displeasure, and all those who had assembled were dismissed each to his own business. When the Jews heard of such favor on the part of the king, they praised God and the King of kings for the help received from him. After these decisions the king once again arranged a banquet and invited them to give themselves over to merriment. Summoning Hermon, he said menacingly: how many times must I command you, you worthless man, about one and the same thing? Arm the elephants again in the morning to destroy the Jews. “After these decisions...” Greek: κατά δέ τούτους τούς νόμους ..., Slavonic: “by these customs...” — that is, in the same way as before — the king once again arranges a feast.
3 Maccabees 5:25. Then his relatives who were reclining with him, astonished at his inconstancy of mind, said: O king! how long will you put us to the test as if we were fools, ordering for the third time that they be destroyed, and then when it comes to the point, you revoke and annul your own orders? “Relatives...” συγγενείς — a designation for those of the highest rank closest to the king (even if they were not actually related to him by blood), according to the customs of the Egyptian court.
3 Maccabees 5:26–28. Because of this the city is in turmoil from the expectation, is filled with crowds of people, and often faces the danger of plunder. After this the king, completely filled with madness like Phalaris and counting for nothing the changes of heart toward the Jews that had occurred within him, confirmed with a most wicked oath and resolved immediately to send them to ruin, maimed by the feet and hooves of the beasts, then to march against Judea, soon to devastate it with fire and sword, and to burn with fire their temple — which, he said, is inaccessible to us — and to make it forever desolate for all who wish to offer sacrifices there. “To send them to ruin...” — that is, to put them to death. — “Their temple, which, he said, is inaccessible to us...” Here the words “he said” should have been placed in parentheses, since they do not exist in the original and have been inserted, so to speak, to legitimize the unexpectedly appearing “us.”
3 Maccabees 5:29. Then the friends and relatives, greatly delighted, departed confidently and positioned troops in the most convenient places in the city as a guard. “In the most convenient places...” — probably on squares and streets near the hippodrome. — “As a guard...” — that is, to prevent any attempt to rescue the Jews on the part of their friends among the pagans (III: 5 ff.).
3 Maccabees 5:30. And the commander of the elephants, having brought the beasts into a state of, one might say, frenzy with the fragrant drink of wine laced with frankincense, armed them with terrible implements, and early in the morning, when countless crowds were already streaming from the city to the horse-racing track, he came to the palace and reminded the king of what was to be done, “Armed them with terrible implements” — that is, probably with some kind of sharp cutting attachments which, when fastened to the elephants, would cut and stab everything in their path as they moved.
3 Maccabees 5:31. The king, full of fierce anger and with a wicked intent, marched out with all his forces along with the beasts, wishing in the cruelty of his heart to witness with his own eyes the pitiful and wretched destruction of the aforementioned people. “With all his forces...” Greek: παντί τώ βάρει ..., Slavonic: “with all his might...” — more precisely, “with all his weight,” the impression that elephants moving through the city’s streets produced.
3 Maccabees 5:32–34. When the Jews saw the dust raised by the elephants coming out through the gates and the armed troops accompanying them, and also from the multitude of people, and heard the loud shouts that rang out, they thought the last moment of their lives had arrived and the end of their most wretched waiting was at hand. Raising lamentation and cries, they kissed one another and embraced their relatives, throwing themselves on their necks — fathers onto their sons, and mothers onto their daughters, while others held newborn infants at their breasts, still nursing at the last milk. 3 Maccabees 5:35–36. Knowing, however, the interventions from heaven that had been made for them before, they fell down together with one accord, taking the infants from their breasts, and cried out loudly to the One who rules over every authority, imploring him to have mercy on them and to show help to them who now stood at the very gates of the underworld. The underworld, as the dwelling place of the souls of the dead, is known not only to the Jews and to early Christian times, but also among the Greeks and Romans. This underworld is depicted as having gates through which, however, it does not give passage to those it contains, but only uses them for the entry of new souls.