5/7/11

Phrase-Fame!: "All who live by the sword will die by the sword"

Phrase-Fame! is my new blog-section about history. Here, I'm going to discuss famous phrases that probably everyone has heard of before, but talk about their unlikely origins and such.

So, here it is...

I had a strange compelling to do this phrase first, I guess because so many people have probably quoted it but probably thought it came from some hippy or something.
"Ἀπόστρεψον τὴν μάχαιράν σου εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς, πάντες γὰρ οἱ λαβόντες μάχαιραν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀπολοῦνται."
"Return your sword to its place. For all who take by the sword will die by the sword."
- Yeshua of Nazareth, 33AD
Anyone think that all seems familiar?
Meaning: Those who lead violent lives will have violent deaths.
Picture this: "Wake up!" Simon jolted awake. "So, you couldn't keep watch even one hour?" Looking up, Simon caught Yeshua's eyes. He coughed, "Oh, I'm sorry! Master, please, I meant to stay awa--" His eyes caught on Yeshua's face. He looked weary, and mourning. A single tear had emerged from one eye. His face was beaded with blood. Yeshua sighed, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death, Peter. Keep watch, and pray that you don't fall into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak." He didn't know why, but Simon thought Yeshua was talking about both of them in the last sentence.
Yeshua looked disappointed, yet another emotion added to the mixture of others splashed across his face. He took Simon by the hand and pulled him up, saying, "Wake! You can sleep later on! Enough." Simon's friend and fellow-fisherman Iohn snored spasmatically and jolted awake from where he'd been sleeping over a few feet away. Iohn's brother Yames rose from the hedge he had slowly been sinking into for over an hour while asleep, moaning, "Five more minutes..." Both seemed to realize Yeshua's seriousness, and jumped to their feet, yelling, "Oh! Master, sorry." Yeshua sighed, "Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed to sinners! Let's go, my betrayer comes." Simon's head reeled. Yeshua had said almost the same thing at dinner, right before he sent Yehuda off and took them three to the Olive Garden.
At the same time Yeshua finished his sentence, lights started flashing a ways off. Yohn stuttered, "W-what is that, master?" Yehuda emerged from the bushes, with a temple-guard and a boy with a torch behind him. Yames smiled, "Just Yehuda. Is this a trick, brother?" Yehuda ignored him, and walked up to Yeshua, grinning. He kissed him on the cheek, and yelled, "Hail, my teacher!" Yeshua glared down at Yehuda, and said, "You would betray me with a kiss?"
The temple-guard raised a horn to his lips, and blew. A horde of officers and temple-guards bearing swords, spears, and clubs appeared from the forest all around. Yeshua and his disciples were surrounded. Yeshua stepped toward Yehuda, the first guard, and the servant-boy, "Whom do you seek?" The guard replied, "Yeshua of Nazareth!" Yeshua sighed, "I am he." The guard drew his sword and pointed it at Yeshua. Several guards fell over. Yeshua wiped the blood and sweat from his face, and said, "Whom do you seek?" The guard said, "Y-Yeshua of Nazareth, sir." Yeshua replied, "Then you are seeking me. Leave my discipled unharmed though." Several guards, including the first one, rushed up to grab Yeshua. Simon panicked, "Lord, shall I strike them?!" The first guard grabbed Yeshua and struck him with chains, wrapping him up. Simon pulled his sword from his belt where it was hidden, and rushed forward. He swung like a madman at the guard, who jumped out of the way, just in time for the sword to slice clean through the servant-boy's ear. The boy dropped his torch and fell to the ground shouting. Some guards cried out in concern, "Malchus!" and rushed forward. In the crowd, Simon was pushed away, losing sight of the others. The first guard yelled, "Where'd he go?! Wher did that donkey with a sword run to?!"
Simon felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around, and saw Yeshua behind him, unchained. Yeshua shook his head, "Put your sword back in its place. All who live by the sword will die by the sword." Simon stuttered, "But Master"-- Yeshua broke in, "Do you not think that if I asked, my Father would send down even more than a dozen legions of angels to help me." Yeshua glanced over at the guards, who were looking around. "But," Yeshua continued, "how then would Scriptures be fulfilled." Yeshua walked through the crowd of guards, bent down, and rubbed his hand against Malchus the servant-boy's bleeding stump where his ear had been. Some guards yelled, "There he is!" and grabbed Yeshua, pulling him away. Simon heard Yeshua call out to the guards, "Why are you coming at me with your swords and clubs?! Am I a murderer or a robber? Day after day I sat in the Temple and the synogague, preaching and socializing, and not one of you so much as spoke harshly toward me, let alone lifted arms against me! You're fulfilling the Scriptures in doing this, though." Within minutes, most of the guards were cleared out, except for 2 or 3. Malchus was still sitting on the ground in disbelief, rubbing his ear. Simon caught sight of Yanes and Iohn running off toward the house where earlier they had been eating dinner with Yeshua. Yehuda had disappeared. The remaining guards caught sight of Mark, a young man who had been following Yeshua around since he healed him a year ago, who had been watching from behind a tree. They grabbed him by the robe, but he ran off without it, and they chased him.
Malchus looked over and caught sight of Simon-Peter. He stammered, "Wh-who was he? The guy they arrested?" Simon muttered, "He was the Messiah," and walked off, leaving Malchus to clutch at the new ear that had appeared as soon as Yeshua touched him.
Long Story Short: Yeshua of Nazareth (known as Jesus in modern times) was born in c.04AD to a newly married couple: Yoseph, a carpenter, and Mary, a young woman from Nazareth. Despite the fact that Yoseph and Mary were living in Nazareth at the time, a census was proclaimed by the Roman emporer Augustus, and Yoseph and Mary had to go to Yoseph's hometown, Bethlehem, where Yeshua was born in a stable since there were no inns available. Growing up as a carpenter's apprentice, Yeshua showed large interest in the synogague and the law. When he grew up, Yeshua gathered 12 disciples, known as the Apostles, who included Simon (who Yeshua called Peter), Yames, Iohn, and Yehuda (now known as Judas). He taught them about peace and the Kingdom of Heaven, which was promised to whoever accepted him into their hearts and followed God's laws. Yeshua was also known for the incredible healings and miracles he performed, such as curing the blind and lame, feeding over 5,000 people with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish, and calming storms.
At Passover in 33AD, Yeshua and his disciples went to Jerusalem. There, Yehuda went to the Pharisees, the "you're-not-worthy-to-even-kiss-the-ground-I-walk-on"-acting members of theSanhedrin (Jewish-council, similar to our House of Representatives), who had been plotting Yeshua's death for years now. Yehuda promised to hand Yeshua over to them for 30 silver coins, and that night, when Yeshua and his 3 favorite Apostles went to the Olive Garden just outside Jerusalem, Yehuda came with armed guards from the Temple and arrested Yeshua (This is when the famous phrase was uttered). Yeshua was brought before Annas and Caiaphas, the leaders of the Sanhedrin, who turned him over to King Herod the Younger to be tried for blasphemy and leading a revolt. Herod gave Yeshua to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governer of Judea, who had him beaten, flogged and mocked in order to pacify the Pharisees. The plan fell through, however, when the Pharisees stirred up the Jews and led a protest demanding Yeshua's execution. Yeshua was crucified the next day (tied down and nailed to a wooden cross in order to cause slow suffocation) and died at 3 P.M.. He was buried by a friend named Joseph of Arimathea, but the third day after he died, the tomb was found open by his mother and several of his friends. His body was missing, and all throughout the day, he was sighted by friends and family, alive, thus fulfilling a prophecy he made earlier that he would rise from the dead.
Yeshua's disciples travelled the world, declaring him as the Son of God and proclaiming his message, which is in the New Testament of the Bible, thus creating the religion of Christianity (which I'm a firm believer in).
Notes: Despite Yeshua growing up and living in modern-day Israel, due to Hellenization (the spread of Greek and Roman culture because of Alexandros Megas ("the Great")), he and everyone he knew would've spoken both Aramaic ad Greek. During research, do you know how many Greek to English translation sites I found that apparently find it just too hard to translate Greek to English?

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