Nisibene Hymn 39: Death Remembers the Men of Old

Ransomers have come to me from among the saints, but no one has plundered me like the Son of Mary. For see, Elijah brought a dead man back to life, and even though he himself escaped my hands, I still had some consolation after him, for the dead man he brought to life I carried off from him. Elisha son of Shaphat beat me as if with rods, for he brought two dead men to life. Yet with one staff I in turn carried off both the prophet and the dead man he had raised. [a]

I was afraid of Gehazi when I saw him lay the staff on the boy. The thief took the staff away and came back. Elisha came and bowed himself down; he laid himself low as the child, raised himself up, and walked back and forth. I marveled at the new mysteries I saw there, which brought only one boy back to life. Things went well for me then, when those were only mysteries, and not now, when the dead have rebelled and conquered me. [c]

When I saw the mighty splendor on the face of Moses, I was afraid of him. Yet what I feared did not happen to me. He made the month of Nisan bloom for me in Sheol: a pasture, a pasture of the corpses of the six hundred thousand who fell. But this lowly and despised man whom I scorned has healed the sick and the diseased. For others he has multiplied bread, but our own bread he snatches from our mouths. [d]

There was a great feast in Sheol when I swallowed up Korah and his company. Satan made a great delight for me when he stirred up strife among the Levites. He made a spring of milk and honey flow for me in a dry place when the congregation of transgressors went down to Sheol. But see, the righteous have come to life and come out. Moses sent the living down there, but Jesus has revived the dead and brought them up. [e]

Things went well for me then, in the days of the zealous, whose swords were my delight. Phinehas the zealous pierced Zimri and Cozbi both together and gave them to me on the point of his spear for my delight; on the point of his lance he presented them to me. To whom were two fatted oxen ever offered on the point of a spear? But instead of Cozbi, the daughter of princes, Jesus has rescued the daughter of Jairus from my hands. [f]

The censer of Aaron made me afraid, for he stood between the dead and the living and defeated me. The cross makes me far more afraid, for it has torn open the graves of Sheol. I killed the Crucified on it, and now I am killed by him. There is no great shame for one who is overcome by an armed warrior. My shame is worse to me than my torment, because my strength has been overcome by a crucified man. [g]

The lance of Phinehas also made me afraid, for by the slaughter he did with it he stopped the plague. The lance guarded the tree of life; it made me glad and made me sad: it kept Adam from life, and it kept death from the people. But by the lance that pierced Jesus I have suffered: he is pierced, and I groan. Water and blood came out of him; Adam washed, and lived, and returned to Paradise. [h]

The Sadducees were a mouth for me, and they argued with him as I wished: that there is no rising of the dead at all. Jesus answered them with a saying that I alone understood. He spoke the hateful word aloud and saddened me: “I am the God of Abraham, and God is not the God of the dead.” Things went well for me then, when these were only words, and he had not yet shown me the dead truly living. [i]

Jesus son of Nun killed thirty kings and filled the graves and pits for me; he laid Jericho waste and filled Sheol. But this Jesus who has come has laid waste the graves of their dead and filled the cities of the world above. Why is it, then, that when they are alike in their names, they are so unlike in what they do? That one gave me the body of Achor, but this one snatched the body of Lazarus from me. [j]

Moses struck down that Egyptian; with his meekness he mixed justice. From where has this new law sprung up for me: “If anyone strikes you on the cheek, turn your other cheek to him, and see that you do not hate him”? Instead of the strong man of zeal, who struck down and killed, a new man of mercy has risen for us. Samuel hewed Agag in pieces, but Jesus healed the paralyzed man. [k]

Tender mercy, which had seemed to grow less, see, has grown great in this time. Besides, it was hated then, for fear that through it someone might break the commandment. For Saul and Ahab were killed without mercy because they wanted to have mercy on the wicked, and those who deserved punishment were not killed. In my time Jesus has changed this, by giving life to all and having compassion on those who killed him. [l]

I remember Samson, that lion’s cub, who broke the pillars of Philistia and gave them to me. That mighty man of valor, Abner son of Ner, also took for me that swift wild roe, Asahel son of Zeruiah; he struck him and threw him to the ground. Benaiah killed Joab in the holy temple, justly, as it is written. But because justice has held back her sword, from now on those who repent will rejoice in grace. [m]

David measured the Edomites with line after line and destroyed them. How merciful, then, you are, Son of David! David’s justice was twofold, when he put two lines to death and kept one full line alive. But see, the Son of David teaches us, “Forgive your brother up to seventy times seven.” There, justice was measured out; but here, clemency is without measure. [n]

David was full of zeal and strength; he killed the lion and the bear together. He left that mighty lion and hurried to meet the strong giant. With a stone he put out his light, and his soul left him and he perished. But Jesus called to the young man who was dead, “Young man!” Even the dead are only sleepers to him. That young man he brought to life and rescued from me. The despised pigs he drowned in the sea for me. [o]

The Levites killed their fathers and their brothers because of the calf. Jephthah was ready to kill his daughter with his own hands. The king of Moab, on the wall, was sacrificing his firstborn son: in the presence of his sword I rejoice. But by Jesus the sword was blunted. Yes, the fever, the sister of Sheol, was rebuked: the mother-in-law of Simon was healed, but the fame of her healing struck Sheol with pain. [p]

This Jesus, though he is the Son of the Just One, preaches nothing but grace. But to me this grace of his is torment. Envy is the cause of pleasure to us, for at the beginning Envy mixed the first shedding of blood for me. Why is it held guilty before the Son of Mary, who has come with the command, “You shall not be angry with your brother”? He has taken the sword away from between brothers, while from the beginning I took pleasure in the sword of Cain. [q]

Samson found a honeycomb in the middle of the skeleton: was that, then, a mystery? This Jesus has multiplied mysteries for us. I have fallen among billows of mysteries, which show me in parable the life of the dead, in all mysteries and in all types. “Out of the eater came forth food” was Samson’s parable. But with me it has turned out the other way around, for the eater has come out to me from the food: for out of Adam, see, has come the Son of Adam, who has destroyed me. [r]

Just men too have robbed me many times, when the rising of the dead was preached through them; but they mixed great consolation into my sorrows. Through the prayer of Asa and Hezekiah I was fed on the dead; I feasted on corpses. Elijah killed the prophets of Baal, who had grown fat on the bread of Jezebel, and gave them to me. The righteous forced me to devour, but Jesus has forced me to vomit up all I had eaten. [s]

I was afraid of the sprinkled blood that Moses sprinkled on every door, for though it was the blood of the slain, it was what saved the living. From of old I feared no blood except that blood on the doors, and this blood too that was on the tree. The blood of the slain is a delight, and like a sweet perfume. But the blood of Jesus is a terror to me, for whenever I come and smell his blood, the scent of life hidden in it terrifies me. [t]

Priests and high priests, anointed men and kings, who foreshowed in types the rising of the dead, never triumphed through their crosses. Crowns and diadems were set on them, and when I fought with them, sometimes I was struck and sometimes I struck. But this carpenter’s son, with his crown of thorns, has humbled my pride and thrown it down, by his shame and his dying. Sheol has seen him, yes, and fled from before him. [u]

When the sea saw Moses and fled, it was afraid of his rod, and likewise of his glory. The rock that was split open also saw his splendor, his rod, and his power. But Sheol, when her graves were torn open, what did she see in him, in Jesus? Instead of splendor he put on the paleness of the dead and made her tremble. And if his paleness when he was slain killed her, how will she be able to bear it when he comes in his glory to raise the dead! [v]