Many submit themselves to Holofernes. He destroyeth their cities, and their gods, that Nabuchodonosor only might be called God.
Manie kinges and other princes submitte them selues to Holofernes. 8. He receiueth them, and taketh of their chief men to reinforce his armie, 11. neuertheles destroyeth their cities, and their goddes, that Nabuchodonosor only might be called God.
1Then the kings and the princes of all the cities and provinces, of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya, and Cilicia sent their ambassadors, who coming to Holofernes, said:Allora i re, e i principi di tutte le città e provincie, vale a dire della Siria della Mesopotamia, e della Siria di Sobal, e della Libia, e della Cilicia spedirono i suoi ambasciatori, i quali giunti davanti ad Oloferne dissero:THEN the kinges and princes of al cities and prouinces namely of Syria and Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya, and Cilicia sent their embassadours, which coming to Holofernes, said:Tunc miserunt legatos suos universarum urbium ac provinciarum reges ac principes, Syriæ scilicet Mesopotamiæ, et Syriæ Sobal, et Libyæ, atque Ciliciæ: qui venientes ad Holofernem, dixerunt: 2Let thy indignation towards us cease, for it is better for us to live and serve Nabuchodonosor the great king, and be subject to thee, than to die and to perish, or suffer the miseries of slavery.Si plachi il tuo sdegno in verso di noi, perocchè meglio è, che noi vivendo siamo servi del gran re Nabuchodonosor, e dipendenti da te, che provare colla morte, e colla perdizione nostra, la calamità della nostra schiavitù.Let thy indignation towarde vs cease: For it is better that liuing we feare Nabuchodonosor the great king, and be subiect to thee, then dying, we should with our destruction suffer the damages of our seruitude.Desinat indignatio tua circa nos: melius est enim ut viventes serviamus Nabuchodonosor regi magno, et subditi simus tibi, quam morientes cum interitu nostro ipsi servitutis nostræ damna patiamur. 3All our cities and our possessions, all mountains and hills, and fields, and herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and horses, and camels, and all our goods, and families are in thy sight:Tutte le nostre città, tutte le nostre possessioni, tutti i monti, e i colli, e i campi, e gli armenti de' bovi, e i branchi delle pecore, e delle capre, e i cavalli, e i cammelli, e tutte le nostre facoltà, e le nostre famiglie sono nelle tue mani:Euerie citie of ours, and al our possession, al mountaynes, and hilles, and fieldes, and heardes of oxen, and flockes of sheepe, and goates, and of horses, and camels, and al our goodes, and families are in thy sight:Omnis civitas nostra, omnisque possessio, omnes montes, et colles, et campi, et armenta boum, gregesque ovium, et caprarum, equorumque et camelorum, et universæ facultates nostræ atque familiæ, in conspectu tuo sunt: 4Let all we have be subject to thy law,Sieno tutte le cose nostre a tua disposizione.let al our thinges be vnder thy law.sint omnia nostra sub lege tua. 5Both we and our children are thy servants.Noi, e i nostri figliuoli siamo tuoi servi.We also, and our children are thy seruantes.Nos, et filii nostri, servi tui sumus.
6Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee,Vieni a noi Signore pacifico, e impiega i servigi nostri come a te piace.Come to vs a peaceable Lord, and vse our seruice, as it shal please thee.Veni nobis pacificus dominus, et utere servitio nostro, sicut placuerit tibi. 7Then he came down from the mountains with horsemen, in great power, and made himself master of every city, and all the inhabitants of the land.Allora egli scese da' monti colla cavalleria, e con grande esercito, e si fece padrone di tutte le città, e di tutti gli abitanti del paese.Then went he downe from the mountaynes with horsemen in a great powre, and tooke euerie citie, and euerie inhabiter of the land.Tunc descendit de montibus cum equitibus in virtute magna, et obtinuit omnem civitatem, et omnem inhabitantem terram. 8And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war,E di tutte quelle città assoldò gli uomini robusti, e buoni per la guerra,And of al the cities he tooke to helpe him valiant men, and chosen for battel.De universis autem urbibus assumpsit sibi auxiliarios viros fortes, et electos ad bellum. 9And so great a fear lay upon all those provinces, that the inhabitants of all the cities, both princes and nobles, as well as the people, went out to meet him at his coming.E tanto fu lo spavento, che invase quelle provincie, che gli abitanti di tutte le città, e i principi, e le persone più distinte al suo arrivo gli andavano incontro insieme coi popoli;And so great feare lay vpon al those prouinces, that the inhabitantes of al cities, princes and honorable persons, together with the people went out to meete him coming,Tantusque metus provinciis illis incubuit, ut universarum urbium habitatores principes et honorati simul cum populis exirent obviam venienti, 10And received him with garlands, and lights, and dances, and timbrels, and flutes.Lo riceveano coronati con lampane accese, ballando al suono di timpani, e di trombe.receyuing him with garlandes, and torches, dauncing with timbrels, & shaulmes.excipientes eum cum coronis et lampadibus, ducentes choros in tympanis et tibiis. 11And though they did these things, they could not for all that mitigate the fierceness of his heart:Ma per quanto facessero non poterono ammansire la fierezza di quel core.Neither doing these thinges, could they for al that mitigate the fi•cenesse of his stomacke:Nec ista tamen facientes, ferocitatem ejus pectoris mitigare potuerunt: 12For he both destroyed their cities, and cut down their groves.Perocchè egli e distrusse le loro città, e recise i loro boschetti;for he did both destroy their cities, and cut downe their groues.nam et civitates eorum destruxit, et lucos eorum excidit.
13For Nabuchodonosor the king had commanded him to destroy all the gods of the earth, that he only might be called God by those nations which could be brought under him by the power of Holofernes.Perocchè il re Nabucodonosor gli avea comandato di sterminare tutti gli dei della terra, come quegli che voleva egli solo essere chiamato dio da quelle nazioni, le quali fossero soggiogate dal valor di Oloferne.For Nabuchodonosor the king had commanded him, that he should destroy al the goddes of the earth, that he only might be called God of those nations, which could be subdewed with the might of Holofernes.Præceperat enim illi Nabuchodonosor rex, ut omnes deos terræ exterminaret, videlicet ut ipse solus diceretur deus ab his nationibus quæ potuissent Holofernis potentia subjugari. 14And when he had passed through all Syria Sobal, and all Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans into the land of Gabaa,E questi, scorsa la Siria di Sobal, e tutta l'Apamea, e tutta la Mesopotamia, giunse nell'Idumea nella terra di Gabaa.And passing through al Syria Sobal, and al Apamea, & al Mesopotamia he came to the Idumeians into the land of Gabaa,Pertransiens autem Syriam Sobal, et omnem Apameam, omnemque Mesopotamiam, venit ad Idumæos in terram Gabaa, 15And he took possession of their cities, and stayed there for thirty days, in which days he commanded all the troops of his army to be united.E prese quelle città, e ivi si fermò trenta giorni, nel qual tempo ordinò, che riunissero tutte le sue forze.and tooke their cities, and sate there for thirtie dayes, in which daies he commanded al the armie of his powre to be vnited.accepitque civitates eorum, et sedit ibi per triginta dies, in quibus diebus adunari præcepit universum exercitum virtutis suæ.
3:1
Haydock
Kings. Greek, "they sent to him ambassadors, with proposals for peace, saying: Behold we, the servants of Nabuchodonosor, the great king, lay before thee; use us as thou thinkest best," etc. These proposals were made by those on the sea-coast, from Sidon and Tyre to Ascalon, from whom Holofernes took "the choicest men," being received with honour, ver. 10. (Haydock)
Syria, etc. These are not specified in the Greek.
3:2
Calmet
Great. This was his usual title, Daniel 2:30., and 4 Kings 18:19. (Calmet)
Haydock
Slavery. Yet they make an unconditional submission. (Haydock)
Menochius
It is better for us to submit to servitude than to be slaughtered like our brethren. (Menochius)
3:3
3:10
Lights. Torches were used to testify joy, 2 Machabees 4:22.
3:11
Though. Greek, "He demolished all their borders, and cut down their groves."
3:13
Haydock
Called. Greek, "Worshipped by all nations, and that all their tongues and tribes might call him god." (Haydock)
Calmet
Behold to what lengths ambition may be carried. If he had only claimed a place among the other pagan deities, his title was as good as theirs. (Calmet)
Worthington
He is a figure of Antichrist; for whom all heretics pave the way, 2 Thessalonians 2:(Worthington)
3:14
Apamea, on the river Orontes, between which and the river Eleutherus, lay the Mesopotamia here mentioned.
Calmet
Idumeans, or to "Rama," near Gabaa, which was on the north of Jerusalem; whereas Idumea lay far to the south. (Calmet)
Haydock
Yet (Haydock) Gabaa may designate a mountainous country, as 1 Kings 7:1., (Menochius) and there is no reason why Idumea might not have felt the power of Holofernes, as well as Madian, etc. (Haydock)
Calmet
The order of conquests is not observed, (Menochius) for while the commander-in-chief was in one place, his generals were dispersed into different parts. He had now advanced as far as Gabaa of Saul, (Haydock) when meditating a serious attack upon Egypt, he thought proper to concentrate his forces; little expecting to meet with such a check at Bethulia. (Calmet)
Calmet
Greek, "He came to Esdrelon, near Dotaia, (or Dothaim, north of Sichem) which is opposite the great saw of Judea," or the range of mountains of Ephraim. (Calmet)
3:15
Took. Greek, "encamped between Gaba and Scythopolis, (Bethsan, Josue 17:11.) and he was there a month of days, to collect all the burden of his army."
3:13
An expresse figure of Antichrist 2. Thes. 2. for whom al heretikes make way as precursers, for the singular man of sinne wil confesse no God but himself.
3:1
1. Then they sent ambassadors. — Thus Alexander the Great wished to return to Babylon, as Curtius says, because it was announced to him that ambassadors from diverse parts of the world had flocked to Babylon from all sides and were awaiting his arrival. So greatly had the terror of his name invaded the whole world that all nations fawned upon him as upon a king destined for them. OF SYRIA, — strictly taken, whose capital is Damascus, which is therefore called Damasina, whose king was Benadad, Rasin, Hazael, III Kings cap. XX and following, comprises Antioch, Phoenicia, Judaea, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Assyria, according to the testimony of Pliny, lib. V cap. XII. OF SOBAL, — is the part of Syria which by Ptolemy, Strabo and Pliny is called Sophene, concerning which in the books of Kings. OF LYBIA. — Some suspect that "Lycia" should be read, because Libya is in Africa and is far removed from Syria. Yet the terror of Nabuchodonosor was so great that it could have extended to Libya, just as the fame and terror of Alexander the Great penetrated to the Garamantes and the Indians.
3:2
2. THAT WE LIVING MAY SERVE NABUCHODONOSOR THE GREAT KING. — Truly Alexander the Great said in Plutarch, lib. II On the Fortune of Alexander: "Many are great in name only."
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7. THEN HE DESCENDED (Holofernes) FROM THE MOUNTAINS. — Of Syria, namely from Cassius, Lebanon, and Anti-Lebanon, between which Damascus is situated, whose fertile fields Holofernes occupied at harvest time, as was said in cap. II, vers. 17.
3:10
10. RECEIVING HIM WITH CROWNS AND TORCHES, LEADING DANCES WITH DRUMS AND PIPES. — For a crown is the insignia of a king, to whom formerly lighted torches or fires were carried before, as Tertullian teaches in the Apology and Xiphilinus in Nero. Hear Curtius, lib. V: "Bagistanes, the keeper of the Babylonian citadel and royal treasury, going out to meet the victor Alexander, had strewn the entire way with flowers and crowns, with silver altars arranged on either side, which he had filled not only with incense but with all manner of perfumes." See the sayings at Jerem. I, 13, to those words: "I see a pot boiling." 12. And he cut down their groves, — together with the gods and idols, which in the manner of the gentiles, concealing their obscenities in groves, were worshipped, as I said in the book of Kings.
3:13
13. THAT HE MIGHT DESTROY ALL GODS, NAMELY THAT HE ALONE MIGHT BE CALLED GOD. — See to what heights the arrogance of man ascends, who, forgetting that he is earth and dust, wages war against God and divinity, and wishes himself to be held and worshipped as God, indeed as the sole God. And this also because he had conquered Arphaxad. Truly Curtius in Curtius lib. IV: "Human frailty, he says, is excessive forgetfulness in prosperous affairs." Similar was the arrogance of Lucifer, Isaiah XIV, 15, and of Pharaoh, Ezech. XXIX, 3, and of the King of Tyre, Ezech. XXVIII, and therefore all deserved to be laid low and cast down from kingdom and life. Pride therefore is mere madness, which makes man like a Titan, not merely a fighter against giants, but a fighter against God, so that he dares to provoke God as it were to a duel, just as if a dog were to provoke an elephant, or a mouse a lion to combat.
3:14
14. INTO THE LAND OF GABAA, — that is into the land that is hilly and mountainous. For this is what Gabaa signifies in Hebrew. The Greek texts have: He came according to the face, or into the plain of Esdrelon near Dothaeum which is in the region of the great mountain range of Judaea, and he pitched camp between Gabaa and Scythopolis. Whence Serarius suspects that "Idumaeos" should be read as "Dothaeos." "A mountain range, says Arias, is a tract perpetually closed and divided, or narrow like the teeth of a saw, as are the gorges and straits of mountains."
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.