The Sibylline Oracles, translated from the Greek into English Blank Verse by Milton S. Terry, Professor in Garrett Biblical Institute. New edition revised after the text for Ruch. New York: Eaton & Mains; Cincinnati: Curts & Jennings. 1899. ====== The Sibylline Oracles: Book 2 ====== ===== BOOK II. ===== CONTENTS OF BOOK II. Introduction, 1-6. A time of plagues and wickedness, 7-15. The tenth race, 16-28. A time of peace, 29-36. Great sign and contest, 37-63. A chapter of proverbs, 64-188. The contest, 189-195. Woes of the last generation, 196-222. Events of the last day, 223-263. Resurrection and judgment, 264-312. Punishment of the wicked, 313-383. Blessedness of the righteous, 384-403. Some saved from the fire, 404-415. The Sibyl's wail, 416-427. Now while I much entreated God restrained\\ My wise song, also in my breast again\\ He put the charming voice of words divine.\\ In my whole body terror-stricken these\\ 5 I follow; for I know not that I speak,\\ But God impels me to proclaim each thing.\\ But when on earth come shocks, fierce thunderbolts,\\ Thunders and lightnings, storms, and evil blight,\\ And rage of jackals and of wolves, manslaughter,\\ 10 Destruction of men and of lowing kine,\\ Four-footed cattle and laborious mules,\\ And goats and sheep, then shall the ample field\\ Be barren from neglect, and fruits shall fail,\\ And there shall be a selling of their freedom\\ 15 Among most men, and robbery of temples.\\ And then shall, after these, appear of men\\ The tenth race, when the earth-shaking Lightener\\ Shall break the zeal for idols and shall shake\\ The people of seven-hilled Rome, and riches great\\ [1. This second book appears to be a continuation of the preceding, and was probably written by the same author, In several manuscripts the two books are found united and placed after the third book. The appropriation of verses from the third and eighth books shows the later composition of these first two books, which our compiler assigned to their present position on account of their contents. 6. I know not.--Comp. Plato, Apol., 22, where Socrates observes that "not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them."] (1-18) 20 Shall perish, burned by Vulcan's fiery flame.\\ And then shall bloody signs from heaven descend--\\ . . . . . But yet the whole world of unnumbered men\\ Enraged shall kill each other, and in tumult\\ Shall God send famines, plagues, and thunderbolts\\ 25 On men who, without justice, judge of rights.\\ And lack of men shall be in all the world,\\ So that if anyone beheld a trace\\ Of man on earth, he would be wonderstruck.\\ And then shall the great God who dwells in heaven\\ 30 Saviour of pious men in all things prove.\\ And then shall there be peace and wisdom deep,\\ And the fruit-bearing land shall yield again\\ Abundant fruits, divided not in parts\\ Nor yet enslaved. And every harbor then,\\ 35 And every haven, shall be free to men\\ As formerly, and shamelessness shall perish.\\ And then will God show mortals a great sign:\\ For like a lustrous crown shall shine a star,\\ Bright, all-resplendent, from the radiant heaven\\ 40 Days not a few; and then will he display\\ From heaven a crown for contest unto men\\ Who wrestle. And then there shall be again\\ A mighty contest of triumphal march\\ [21. There seems to be a lacuna of one line after this, containing perhaps a mention of omens and drops of blood, as in book xii, 73, where a similar thought is found. 43. Contest of triumphal march.--Allusion to the iselastic ({Greek ei'selastiko's}) contests, the victors in which were conducted into their own city through a broken part of the wall. See Pliny, book x, Epis. 119 and 120, in which these games are mentioned. Alexandre conjectures that this whole passage (lines 37-63) concerning contests and crowns was first written in a time of persecution to inspire to fidelity; but after persecution had ceased it was accommodated to the more common struggles of the Christian life.] (19-39.) Into the heavenly sky, and it shall be\\ 45 For all men in the world, and have the fame\\ Of immortality. And every people\\ Shall then in the immortal contests strive\\ For splendid victory. For no one there\\ Can shamelessly with silver buy a crown.\\ 50 For unto them will the pure Christ adjudge\\ That which is due, and crown the ones approved,\\ And give his martyrs an immortal prize\\ Who carry on the contest unto death.\\ And unto chaste men who run their race well\\ 55 Will he the incorruptible reward\\ Of the prize give, and to all men allot\\ That which is due, and also to strange nations\\ That live a holy life and know one God.\\ And those who have regard for marriages\\ 60 And keep themselves far from adulteries,\\ To them rich gifts, eternal hope, he'll give.\\ For every human soul is God's free gift,\\ And 'tis not right men stain it with vile deeds.\\ [Do not be rich unrighteously, but lead\\ [64. The passage beginning here and ending with line 188, and consisting mainly of proverbs, has every appearance of an interpolation. It breaks the connection of thought and the figure of the iselastic contest, which is continued in lines 189-195. The passage is for the most part taken from a poem of 217 lines in hexameter verse, entitled {Greek poi'hma nouðetiko'n} (admonitory poem), and attributed to Phocylides, a gnomic poet of Miletus (born about B. C. 560). Very few, however, will seriously accept these lines as a genuine production of a contemporary of Theognis. They are without much doubt the composition of a Christian writer, and possibly, but not probably, by the author of the second book of the Sibylline Oracles. The variations between the two texts are considerable, the Sibyllines adding many lines not found in Phocylides, and Phocylides having a few not found in the Sibyllines.] (40-56) 65 A life of probity. Be satisfied\\ With what thou hast and keep thyself from that\\ Which is another's. Speak not what is false,\\ But have a care for all things that are true.\\ Revere not idols vainly; but the God\\ 40 Imperishable honor always first,\\ And next thy parents. Render all things due,\\ And into unjust judgment come thou not.\\ Do not cast out the poor unrighteously,\\ Nor judge by outward show; if wickedly\\ 75 Thou judgest, God hereafter will judge thee.\\ Avoid false testimony; tell the truth.\\ Maintain thy virgin purity, and guard\\ Love among all. Deal measures that are just;\\ For beautiful is measure full to all.\\ 80 Strike not the scales oneside, but draw them equal.\\ Forswear not ignorantly nor willingly;\\ God hates the perjured man in that he swore.\\ A gift proceeding out of unjust deeds\\ Never receive in hand. Do not steal seed;\\ 85 Accursed through many generations he\\ Who took it unto scattering of life.\\ Indulge not vile lusts, slander not, nor kill.\\ Give the toilworn his hire; do not afflict\\ The poor man. Unto orphans help afford\\ 90 And to widows and the needy. Talk with sense;\\ Hold fast in heart a secret. Be unwilling\\ To act unjustly nor yet tolerate\\ Unrighteous men. Give to the poor at once\\ And say not, "Come to-morrow." Of thy grain\\ 95 Give to the needy with perspiring hand.\\ [95. With perspiring hand.--So Mendelssohn, Philologus, xlix, 2, p. 246. Comp. Rzach, p. xix.] (56-79.) He who gives alms knows how to lend to God.\\ Mercy redeems from death when judgment comes.\\ Not sacrifice, but mercy God desires\\ Rather than sacrifice. The naked clothe,\\ 100 Share thy bread with the hungry, in thy house\\ Receive the shelterless and lead the blind.\\ Pity the shipwrecked; for the voyage is\\ Uncertain. To the fallen give a hand;\\ And save the man that stands without defense.\\ 105 Common to all is suffering, life's a wheel,\\ Riches unstable. Having wealth, reach out\\ To the poor thy hand. Of what God gave to thee\\ Bestow thou also on the needy one.\\ Common is the whole life of mortal men;\\ 110 But it comes out unequal. When thou seest\\ A poor man never banter him with words,\\ Nor harshly accost a man who may be blamed.\\ One's life in death is proven; if one did\\ The unlawful or just, it shall be decided\\ 115 When he to judgment comes. Disable not\\ Thy mind with wine nor drink excessively.\\ Eat not blood, and abstain from things\\ Offered to idols. Gird not on the sword\\ For slaughter, but defense; and would thou might\\ 120 It neither lawlessly nor justly use:\\ For if thou kill an enemy thy hand\\ Thou dost defile. Keep from thy neighbor's field,\\ Nor trespass on it; just is every landmark,\\ And trespass painful. Useful is possession\\ 125 Of lawful wealth, but of unrighteous gains\\ 'Tis worthless. Harm not any growing fruit\\ Of the field. And let strangers be esteemed\\ In equal honor with the citizens;\\ (80-104.) For much-enduring hospitality\\ 130 Shall all experience as each other's guests;\\ But let there not be anyone a stranger\\ Among you, since, ye mortals, all of you\\ Are of one 'blood, and no land has for men\\ Any sure place. Wish not nor pray for wealth;\\ 135 But pray to live from few things and possess\\ Nothing at all unjust. The love of gain\\ Is mother of all evil. Do not long\\ For gold or silver; in them there will be\\ A double-edged and soul-destroying iron.\\ 140 A snare to men continually are gold\\ And silver. Gold, of evils source, of life\\ Destructive, troubling all things, would that thou\\ Wert, not to mortals such a longed-for bane!\\ For wars, because of thee, and pillaging\\ 145 And murders come, and children hate their sires,\\ And brothers and sisters those of their own blood.\\ Plot no deceit, and do not arm thy heart\\ Against a friend. Keep not concealed within\\ A different thought from what thou speakest forth;\\ 150 Nor, like rock-clinging polyp, change with place.\\ But with all be frank, and things from the soul\\ Speak thou forth. Whosoever willfully\\ Commits a wrong, an evil man is he;\\ But he that does it under force, the end\\ 155 I tell not; but let each man's will be right.\\ Pride not thyself in wisdom, power, or wealth;\\ God only is the wise and mighty one\\ And full of riches. Do not vex thy heart\\ With evils that are past; for what is done\\ 160 Can never be undone. Let not thy hand\\ Be hasty, but ferocious passion curb;\\ (105-129) For many times has one in striking done\\ Murder without design. Let suffering\\ Be common, neither great nor overmuch.\\ 165 Excessive good has not brought forth to men\\ That which is helpful. And much luxury\\ Leads to immoderate lusts. Much wealth is prowl,\\ And makes one grow to wanton violence.\\ Passionate feeling, creeping in, effects\\ 170 Destructive madness. Anger is a lust,\\ And when it is excessive it is wrath.\\ The zeal of good men is a noble thing,\\ But of the base is base. Of wicked men\\ The boldness is destructive, but renown\\ 175 Follows that of the good. To be revered\\ Is virtuous love, but that of Cypris works\\ Increase of shame. A silly man is called\\ Very agreeable among his fellows.\\ With moderation eat, drink, and converse;\\ 180 Of all things moderation is the best;\\ But trespass of its limit brings to grief.\\ Be not thou envious, faithless, or abusive,\\ Or evil-minded, or a false deceiver.\\ Be prudent and abstain from shameless deeds.\\ 185 Imitate not what's evil, but leave thou\\ Vengeance to justice; for persuasion is\\ A useful thing, but strife engenders strife.\\ Trust not too quickly ere thou see the end.]\\ This is the contest, these are the rewards;\\ 190 These are the prizes; this the gate of life\\ [176. Cypris.--Another name for Aphrodite (or Venus), love. She is fabled to have sprung from the foam of the sea and to have first stepped ashore on the island of Cyprus, The love of Cypris here means impure sexual love. 189. This is the contest.--Obvious allusion to the iselastic contest {footnote p. 43} described in lines 42-63 above, and showing the passage 64-188 to be an interpolation. The compiler who inserted the passage here probably considered these proverbs so many precepts to guide one in the great contest for immortality.] (130-150.) And entrance into immortality,\\ Which God in heaven unto most righteous men\\ Appointed a reward for victory;\\ And through this gate shall gloriously pass\\ 195 Those who shall then receive the victor's crown.\\ But when this sign shall everywhere appear--\\ Children with gray hair on their temples born--\\ And human sufferings, famines, plagues, and wars,\\ And change of times, and many a tearful wail,\\ 200 Ah! of how many parents in the lands\\ Will children mourn and piteously weep,\\ And with shrouds bury flesh and limbs in earth,\\ Mother of peoples, with the blood and dust\\ Themselves defiling. O ye wretched men\\ 205 Of the last generation, evil doers,\\ Terrible, childish, not perceiving this,\\ That when the tribes of women do not bear\\ The harvest time of mortal men is come.\\ Near is the ruin when impostors come\\ 210 Instead of prophets speaking on the earth.\\ And Beliar shall come and many signs\\ Perform for men. And then of holy men,\\ Elect and faithful, there shall be confusion,\\ And pillaging of them and of the Hebrews.\\ [197. Children with gray hair.--Comp. a similar passage in Hesiod, Works and Days, 181. Children will become prematurely old by reason of the woes destined to visit the race in the last generation. 211. Beliar.--Same as Belial, named here for antichrist, whose coming in the last time is depicted in harmony with Paul's doctrine in 2 Thess. ii. 8-10.] (160-170.) 215 And there shall be upon them fearful wrath\\ When from the east a people of twelve tribes\\ Shall come in search of kindred Hebrew people\\ Whom Assyrian shoot destroyed; and over these\\ Shall nations perish. But they afterwards\\ 220 Shall over men exceeding mighty rule,\\ Elect and faithful Hebrews, and enslave\\ Them as before, since their power ne'er shall fail.\\ He that is highest of all, the all-surveying,\\ Dwelling in heaven, will scatter sleep on men,\\ 225 Covering the eyelids o'er. O blessed servants\\ Whom when the Master comes he finds awake!\\ And they all watch at all times and expect\\ With sleepless eyes. For it will be at dawn\\ Or eve or midday; but he sure shall come,\\ 230 And it shall be as I say, it shall be,\\ To them that sleep, that from the starry heaven\\ The stars at midday will to all appear\\ With the two lights as the time hastens on.\\ And then the Tishbite, urging from the heaven\\ 235 His chariot celestial, and on earth\\ Arriving, shall to all the world display\\ Three evil signs of life to be destroyed.\\ Alas for all the women in that day\\ Who shall be found with burden in the womb!\\ [215-222. A passage inexplicably obscure in its historical allusions, but apparently connected with the notion of the ten tribes of the Assyrian exile, who, according to 2 Esdras xiii, 40-50, are concealed in the far East, and to be restored in the last time. 225. Comp. Matt. xxiv, 46. 228. Comp. Mark xiii, 35; Homer, Il., xxi, 111. 233. Comp. Matt. xxiv, 29. 234. Tishbite . . . chariot.--Comp. 2 Kings ii, 11; Mal. iv, 5. 238. Comp. Matt. xxiv, 19.] (170-191.) 240 Alas for all who suckle tender babes!\\ Alas for all who shall dwell on the waves!\\ Alas for women who shall see that day!\\ For a dark mist shall hide the boundless world,\\ East, west, and south, and north. And then shall flow\\ 245 A mighty stream of burning fire from heaven\\ And every place consume, earth, ocean vast,\\ And gleaming sea, and lakes and rivers, springs,\\ And cruel Hades and the heavenly sky.\\ And heavenly lights shall break up into one\\ 250 And into outward form all-desolate.\\ For stars from heaven shall fall into all seas.\\ And all the souls of men shall gnash their teeth\\ Burned both by sulphur stream and force of fire\\ In ravenous soil, and ashes hide all things.\\ 255 And then of the world all the elements\\ Shall be bereft, air, earth, sea, light, sky, days,\\ Nights; and no longer in the air shall fly\\ Birds without number, nor shall living things\\ That swim the sea swim any more at all,\\ 260 Nor freighted vessel o'er the billows pass,\\ Nor kine straight-guiding plow the field, nor sound\\ Of furious winds; but he shall fuse all things\\ Together, and shall pick out what is pure.\\ But when the immortal God's eternal angels\\ 265 Arakiel, Ramiel, Uriel, Samiel,\\ And Azael, they that know how many evils\\ [263. Comp. book iii, 106; viii, 646. 264-266. These names of the angels differ somewhat from those found in the Book of Enoch, where, in chap. ix, we find Michael, Gabriel, Surjan, and Urjan (the Greek fragment has Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel); in chap. xx we have Uriel, Rufael, Raguel, Michael, Saraquel, and Gabriel; and in xl we meet the name Fanuel.] (191-216.) Anyone did before, shall from dark gloom\\ Then lead to judgment all the souls of men\\ Before the judgment-seat of the great God\\ 270 Immortal; for imperishable is\\ One only, himself the almighty, One,\\ Who shall be judge of mortals; and to them\\ That dwell beneath will then the heavenly One\\ Give souls and spirit and voice, and also bones\\ 275 Fitted with joints unto all kinds of flesh,\\ And both the flesh and sinews, veins and skin\\ About the body, and hair as before;\\ Divinely fashioned and with breathing moved\\ Shall bodies of those on earth one day be raised.\\ 280 And then shall Uriel, mighty angel, break\\ The bolts of stern and lasting adamant\\ Which, monstrous, bold the brazen gates of Hades,\\ Straight cast them down, and unto judgment lead\\ All forms that have endured much suffering,\\ 285 Chiefly the shapes of Titans born of old,\\ And giants, and all whom the deluge whelmed,\\ And all that perished in the billowy seas,\\ And all that furnished banquet for the beasts\\ And creeping things and fowls, these in a mass\\ 290 Shall (Uriel) summon to the judgment-seat;\\ And also those whom flesh-devouring fire\\ Destroyed in flame, even these shall he collect\\ And place before the judgment-seat of God.\\ And when the high-thundering Lord of Sabaoth\\ 295 Making an end of fate shall raise the dead,\\ Sit on his heavenly throne, and firmly fix\\ The mighty pillar, then amid the clouds\\ Christ, who himself is incorruptible,\\ [297. Pillar.--Comp. lines 351 and 362, and also book vii, 36.] (216-241) Shall come unto the Incorruptible\\ 300 In glory with pure angels, and shall sit\\ At the right hand on the great judgment-seat\\ To judge the life of pious and the way\\ Of impious men. And Moses, the great friend\\ Of the Most High, shall come enrobed in flesh\\ 305 Also great Abraham himself shall come,\\ Isaac and Jacob, Joshua, Daniel,\\ Elijah, Habakkuk and Jonah, and\\ Those whom the Hebrews slew. But he'll destroy\\ The Hebrews after Jeremiah, all\\ 310 Who are to be judged at the judgment-seat,\\ That worthy recompense they may receive\\ And pay for all each did in mortal life.\\ And then shall all pass through the burning stream\\ Of flame unquenchable; but all the just\\ 315 Shall be saved; and the godless furthermore\\ Shall to all ages perish, all who did\\ Evils aforetime, and committed murders,\\ And all who are accomplices therein,\\ Liars and thieves, and ruiners of home,\\ 320 Crafty and terrible, and parasites,\\ And marriage-breakers pouring forth vile words,\\ Dread, wanton, lawless, and idolaters;\\ And all who left the great immortal God,\\ Became blasphemers did the pious harm,\\ 325 Destroying faith and killing righteous men\\ And all that with a shamelessness deceitful\\ And double-faced rush in as presbyters\\ And reverend ministers, who knowingly\\ Give unjust judgments, yielding to false words\\ 330 More hurtful than the leopards and the wolves\\ And more vile; and ill that are grossly proud\\ (241-268) And usurers, who gains on gains amass\\ And damage orphans and widows in each thing;\\ And all that give to widows and to orphans\\ 335 The fruit of unjust deeds, and all that cast\\ Reproach in giving from their own hard toils;\\ And all that left their parents in old age,\\ Not paying them at all, nor offering\\ To parents filial duty, and all who\\ 340 Were disobedient and against their sires\\ Spoke a harsh word; and all that pledges took\\ And then denied them; and the servants all\\ Who were against their masters, and again\\ Those who licentiously defiled the flesh;\\ 345 And all who loosed the girdle of the maid\\ For secret intercourse, and all who caused\\ Abortions, and all who their offspring cast\\ Unlawfully away; and sorcerers\\ And sorceresses with them, and these wrath\\ 350 Of the heavenly and immortal God shall drive\\ Against a pillar where shall all around\\ In a circle flow a restless stream of fire;\\ And deathless angels of the immortal God,\\ Who ever is, shall bind with lasting bonds\\ 355 In chains of flaming fire and from above\\ Punish them all by scourge most terribly;\\ And in Gehenna, in the gloom of night,\\ Shall they be cast 'neath many horrid beasts\\ Of Tartarus, where darkness is immense.\\ 360 But when there shall be many punishments\\ Enforced on all who had an evil heart,\\ Yet afterward shall there a fiery wheel\\ From a great river circle them around,\\ Because they had a care for wicked deeds.\\ (269-296.) 365 And then one here, another there, shall sires,\\ Young children, mothers, nursing babes, in tears\\ Wail their most piteous fate. No fill of tears\\ Shall be for them, nor piteous voice be heard\\ Of them that moan, one here, another there,\\ 370 But long worn under dark, dank Tartarus\\ Aloud shall they cry; and they shall repay\\ In cursed places thrice as much as all\\ The evil work they did, burned with much fire;\\ And all of them, consumed by raging thirst\\ 375 And hunger, shall in anguish gnash their teeth\\ And call death beautiful, and death shall flee\\ Away from them. For neither death nor night\\ Shall ever give them rest. And many things in vain\\ Will they ask of the God that rules on high,\\ 380 And then will he his face turn openly\\ Away from them. For he to erring men\\ Gave, in seven ages for repentance, signs\\ By the hands of a virgin undefiled.\\ But the others, all to whom right and fair works\\ 385 And piety and thoughts most just were dear,\\ Shall angels, bearing through the burning stream,\\ Lead unto light and life exempt from care,\\ Where comes the immortal way of the great God\\ And fountains three--of honey, wine, and milk.\\ 390 And equal land for all, divided not\\ By walls or fences, more abundant fruits\\ Spontaneous shall then bear, and the course\\ Of life be common and wealth unapportioned.\\ For there no longer will be poor nor rich,\\ [376.--Comp. viii, 468; and xiii, 166. 381-383.--Comp. viii, 473-475. 394-395.--Comp. viii, 145.] (297-322.) 395 Tyrant nor slave, nor any great nor small,\\ Nor kings nor leaders; all alike in common.\\ No more at all will one say, "night has come,"\\ Nor "morrow comes," nor "yesterday has been;\\ Nor shall there many days of anxious care,\\ 400 Nor spring, nor winter, nor the summer-heat,\\ Nor autumn be [nor marriage, nor yet death,\\ Nor sales, nor purchases], nor set of sun\\ Nor rising; for a long day will God make.\\ And to the pious will the almighty God\\ 405 Imperishable grant another thing,\\ When they shall ask the imperishable God:\\ That he will suffer men from raging fire\\ And endless gnawing anguish to be saved;\\ And this will he do. For hereafter he\\ 410 Will pluck them from the restless flame, elsewhere\\ Remove them, and for his own people's sake\\ Send them to other and eternal life\\ With the immortals, in Elysian field,\\ [397-400.--Comp. viii, 561-565. 404-416.--This passage, which savors of a final restoration from future punishment, has been thought to be contrary to orthodox teaching; and we find appended to some manuscripts the following lines, headed, "Contradiction of the 'To the pious will the Almighty,'" and professedly a disproof of the doctrine of Origen on this subject: False manifestly; for the penal fire\\ Shall never cease from those who are condemned.\\ For also I might pray to have it thus,\\ Branded with greatest scars of trespasses,\\ Which need more kindness. But let Origen\\ Of his presumptuous babble be ashamed,\\ Saying there shall be end of punishments.\\ 413. Elysian field.--In Homer (Od., iv, 563) the Elysian fields are represented as situated on the western border of the earth by the ocean stream. Hesiod (Works and Days, 169) speaks of "the Isles of the blessed, beside {footnote p. 52} deep-eddying ocean." But later, and with the Roman poets, Elysium was in the lower world, the blessed part of Hades, and is here conceived as bordering on the Acheronian lake.] (323-337.) Where move far-stretching billows of the lake\\ 415 Of ever-flowing Acheron profound.\\ Ah, miserable woman that I am!\\ What shall I be in that day? for I sinned--\\ Being busy foolishly about all things,\\ Caring for neither marriage-bond nor reason;\\ 420 But even in my wealthy husband's house\\ I shut the needy out; and formerly\\ I knowingly performed unlawful things.\\ But, Saviour, though I shameless things performed,\\ Do thou from my tormentors rescue me,\\ 425 A shameless woman. And I pray thee now\\ Make me to rest a little from my song,\\ Holy Giver of manna, King of the great realm.\\ [416-425.--Comp. the conclusion of book vii.]