History of the Maccabees

THE FIRST BOOK OF MACCABEES 7.17–8.13

And it is written: ¹⁷ “They have cast out the bodies of your saints to the birds of the heaven, and they have shed their blood all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.” This is a quotation from Psalm 79:2-3, reflecting the communal lament over the desecration of the faithful. ¹⁸ And fear and dread fell upon all the people, for they said, “There is no justice or truth in them, for they have bypassed the covenant and the oath that they swore.” ¹⁹ Bacchides departed from Jerusalem and came to camp at Beth-seth. He sent and seized many of the men who had deserted to him, along with many of the people, and he commanded them to be slaughtered and thrown into a deep pit. ²⁰ And he placed the land under the authority of Alcimus, leaving a large force with him to assist him. Then Bacchides went back to the king. ²¹ And Alcimus struggled to maintain his position in the high priesthood. ²² All the troublers of the people gathered around him, and they seized the land of Judah, dealing great blows against Israel. ²³ When Judas saw the evils that Alcimus and those with him were doing to the children of Israel, ²⁴ he went out into all the borders of Judea round about and took vengeance on the men who had voluntarily deserted to the Gentiles; and they were prevented from traveling freely through the country of Judea. ²⁵ When Alcimus saw that Judas and his followers had grown strong, and realizing he could not withstand him, he returned to the king to speak evil against them. ²⁶ Then the king sent Nicanor, one of his most distinguished princes, a man who harbored a bitter and deadly hatred toward Israel, and gave him orders to destroy the people. ²⁷ Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a large force and sent a deceptive message of peace to Judas and his brothers. ²⁸ “Let there be no fight between me and you,” he said. “I will come with a few men to see your faces in peace.” ²⁹ He came to Judas, and they greeted one another peaceably; however, the soldiers were prepared to jump forward and seize Judas. ³⁰ When the matter became known to Judas—that Nicanor had come to him with treachery—he was troubled, shrank back, and refused to see his face again. ³¹ When Nicanor saw that his plan was discovered, he went out to join battle against him near Capharsalama. ³² About five hundred of Nicanor’s men fell, and the rest fled to the City of David. ³³ After these events, Nicanor went up to Mount Zion. Some of the holy priests came out to greet him in peace and to show him the burnt offerings being sacrificed daily for the life of the king. ³⁴ But he mocked them, laughed at them, and defiled them, speaking with pride and arrogance. ³⁵ He struck them and said in his rage: “Unless Judas and his army are delivered into my hands right now, it will be as I say: if I return in peace, I will burn this temple with fire, and I will take my revenge on you!” And he went away in great anger and wrath. ³⁶ The priests entered and stood before the altar and the temple, and they began to weep, saying: ³⁷ “You chose this temple to have your holy name called upon it, to be a house of prayer and petition for your people. ³⁸ Take vengeance on this man and his army, and let them fall by the sword. Remember their blasphemies, and give them no rest.” ³⁹ Nicanor departed from Jerusalem and camped at Beth-horon, where the Syrian army met him. ⁴⁰ Meanwhile, Judas camped at Adasa with three thousand men. He began to pray, saying: ⁴¹ “At the time when those

sent from the king spoke blasphemies, your angel went out and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of them. original: "՚ի թագաւորէ անտի... եհար զնոսա" — Judas is referencing the miraculous defeat of the Assyrian King Sennacherib’s army as told in 2 Kings 19. In the same way, crush this army before us today, so that the survivors may know that he has spoken disgracefully against your sanctuary; and judge him according to his wickedness.” ⁴² The two armies met and clashed on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. Nicanor’s army was crushed, and he was the first to fall by the sword in the midst of the battle. ⁴³ When his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw down their weapons and fled. ⁴⁵ The Jews pursued them for a whole day’s journey from Adasa until they reached Azara, sounding the signal trumpets behind them. ⁴⁶ And people came out from all the surrounding villages of Judea and cut them off. The fugitives turned back toward one another, and all fell by the sword; not a single one of them was left. ⁴⁷ Then the Jews took the spoils and the plunder—the weapons, treasures, and camp equipment. They cut off Nicanor’s head and his right hand, which he had stretched out so arrogantly, and they brought them and hung them up in full view of Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ The people rejoiced greatly. They celebrated that day as a great annual festival. ⁴⁹ They ordained that this day, the thirteenth of the month of Adar, should be kept as an annual feast. This became known as "Nicanor's Day," though it was later eclipsed by the festival of Purim, which falls on the 14th of Adar. ⁵⁰ Thus the land of Judah was quiet for a few days.

8 Now Judas heard of the fame of the Romans, that they were mighty in power. He heard that they look favorably upon all who join them and make alliances with them, and that they have grown very strong on the earth. ² He was told of their wars and the brave deeds they did among the Galatians, how they conquered them and forced them to pay tribute. ³ And what they had done in the land of Spain, to get possession of the mines of silver and gold there; and how they had captured the whole region by their planning and patience, even though the place was very far from them. ⁴ He heard how they had crushed kings who came against them from the ends of the earth, inflicting great blows upon them and making the rest pay annual tribute. ^{5$ They also crushed in battle Philip and Perseus, the king of the Kittim The "Kittim" here refers to the Macedonians., who had risen against them, and they conquered them. $^{6$ They even defeated Antiochus the Great, king of Asia, who went against them with one hundred and twenty elephants, cavalry, chariots, and a massive army. $^{7} They took him alive and forced him and those who reigned after him to pay a heavy tribute and to give hostages and land. ^{8$ They took from him the Indian, Median, and Lydian countries—the best of his provinces—and gave them to King Eumenes. $^{9} Judas also heard how the Greeks had planned to come and destroy them, but the matter became known to the Romans, ¹⁰ and they sent a single general who fought against the Greeks and defeated them. Many of them were wounded and fell; the Romans led away their wives and children as captives, plundered their goods, conquered the land, tore down their strongholds, and made them slaves to this very day. ¹¹ And the other kingdoms and islands that had resisted them, they destroyed and made their slaves. ¹² But with their friends and those who rely on them, they maintained a firm friendship. They became powerful over all the kingdoms, both near and far, and all who heard their name were afraid of them. ¹³ Whomever...