1 Maccabees 10 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

Chapter 10

Jonathan Is Named High Priest.^{[a] 1} In the year one hundred and sixty, Alexander Epiphanes,^[b] the son of Antiochus, arrived by sea and occupied Ptolemais. The people there welcomed him, and he began to reign. ² When King Demetrius heard of this, he assembled a very large army and marched out to engage him in battle. ³ Demetrius also sent a letter to Jonathan honoring him and expressing the desire for continued peace, ⁴ for he thought to himself, “Let us move first to make peace with him before he makes peace with Alexander against us, ⁵ recalling all the wrongs that we inflicted upon him and his brothers and his nation.”

⁶ So Demetrius gave Jonathan the authority to raise an army and to procure arms and to designate himself as an ally; and he also ordered the hostages in the citadel to be released to him. ⁷ Thereupon Jonathan went to Jerusalem and read the letter to all the people and to those in the citadel. ⁸ They were all greatly frightened when they heard that the king had given him authority to raise an army. ⁹ They released the hostages to Jonathan, and he restored them to their parents.

¹⁰ Jonathan then took up residence in Jerusalem and began to rebuild and restore the city. ¹¹ He ordered those entrusted with the work to build the walls and to encircle Mount Zion with squared stones for its fortification, and this task was accomplished.

¹² The foreigners who occupied the fortresses built by Bacchides abandoned them; ¹³ all of them deserted their posts and fled to their own lands. ¹⁴ Only in Beth-zur did some remain of those who had forsaken the law and the commandments, for it served as a place of refuge.

¹⁵ King Alexander was informed of all the proposals made by Demetrius to Jonathan, and he was also told of the battles that Jonathan and his brothers had fought, of the heroic deeds that they had accomplished, and of the hardships that they had endured. ¹⁶ His response was, “Shall we ever come across another man like him? Let us take steps to make him our friend and ally.” ¹⁷ He therefore wrote a letter to him in these words:

¹⁸ “King Alexander sends greetings to his brother Jonathan. ¹⁹ We have heard that you are a mighty warrior and worthy to be our friend. ²⁰ We have therefore appointed you today to be the high priest of your nation. You are also to have the title ‘Friend of the King,’ supporting our interests and maintaining friendly relations with us.” In addition he sent him a purple robe and a crown of gold.

²¹ Jonathan put on the sacred vestments in the seventh month of the year one hundred and sixty, at the Feast of Booths.^[c] He also raised an army and procured a large supply of arms.

²² Political Turning Point. When Demetrius learned of these developments, he was greatly distressed, and he said, ²³ “How did we allow Alexander to get ahead of us in gaining the friendship of the Jews and thus strengthening his position? ²⁴ I too will write to them in conciliatory terms and offer them honors and gifts as an inducement to support me.”

²⁵ Therefore, he sent them this message: “King Demetrius sends greetings to the Jewish nation. ²⁶ We have heard of how you have honored our agreement with us and have continued to maintain our friendship, and that you have not transferred your allegiance to our enemies. At this news we rejoice. ²⁷ If you now continue to keep faith with us, we will reward you handsomely for what you do on our behalf, ²⁸ granting you numerous exemptions and bestowing gifts on you.

²⁹ “I now free you and exempt all the Jews from payments of tribute, from the tax on salt, and from the crown levies.^{[d] 30} From this day henceforth, I also renounce the third of the grain harvest and the half of the fruit harvest to which I am entitled. From this day and for all time I will not collect them from the land of Judah or from the three districts annexed to it from Samaria. ³¹ Jerusalem and its surroundings, its tithes and its revenues, shall be sacred and free from tax. ³² I also relinquish my authority over the citadel in Jerusalem and transfer it to the high priest, so that he may station within it men of his own choosing to guard it. ³³ Every Jew carried off into captivity from the land of Judah into any part of my kingdom I set free without ransom, and all their taxes, even those on their livestock, are to be voided. ³⁴ Let all feast days, Sabbaths, new moon festivals, appointed days, and the three days that precede and the three days that follow a festival be days of exemption and release for all the Jews in my kingdom. ³⁵ No one will have the authority to exact any payment from them or to impose any burden on them in any matter whatsoever.

³⁶ “Thirty thousand Jews will be enrolled in the king’s army, and they will receive the standard benefits given to all the forces of the king. ³⁷ Some of them will be stationed in the major strongholds of the king; others will be appointed to positions of trust in the kingdom. Their officers and commanders will be appointed from their own number, and they will be allowed to observe their own laws, as the king has commanded in the land of Judah.

³⁸ “As for the three districts that have been annexed to Judea from the province of Samaria, let them be so incorporated with Judea that they will be considered to be under one ruler and will obey no authority other than the high priest. ³⁹ Ptolemais and the adjoining land I bestow as a gift to the sanctuary in Jerusalem so that the necessary expenses of the sanctuary may be met.^{[e] 40} I also promise an annual grant of fifteen thousand shekels out of the king’s revenues from appropriate places. ⁴¹ As for the additional funds that the officials have not paid as was done in previous years, they shall henceforth be handed over for the needs of the temple. ⁴² Furthermore, the five thousand silver shekels that used to be taken annually from the income of the temple will no longer be collected, since these funds belong to the priests who minister there.

⁴³ “All who take refuge in the temple in Jerusalem or in any of its precincts because of money owed to the king or any other debt will be released without any forfeiture of property they possess in my kingdom. ⁴⁴ The cost of the rebuilding and restoration of the structures of the sanctuary are to be taken from the revenues of the king. ⁴⁵ Likewise, the cost of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and fortifying it all around, and of rebuilding the walls in Judea, are to be covered by the royal revenues.”

⁴⁶ When Jonathan and the people heard these proposals, they put no faith in them and refused to accept them, for they remembered the great evils that Demetrius had perpetrated in Israel and the harsh oppression he had inflicted on them. ⁴⁷ They favored Alexander, for he had been the first to make peaceful overtures to them, and they remained his allies throughout his life.

⁴⁸ King Alexander assembled a great army and encamped opposite Demetrius. ⁴⁹ When the two kings met in battle, the army of Demetrius fled, and Alexander pursued him and defeated his soldiers. ⁵⁰ The battle raged fiercely until sunset, and Demetrius was killed on that day.

⁵¹ Alexander Allies Himself with Egypt.^[f] Alexander sent envoys to Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, with this message: ⁵² “Now that I have returned to my kingdom and taken my seat on the throne of my ancestors and established my rule by crushing Demetrius and thereby gaining control of my country— ⁵³ for I met him in battle, defeated him and his army, and now occupy the throne of his kingdom— ⁵⁴ let us therefore enter into an alliance of friendship with one another. Give me your daughter as my wife; as your son-in-law, I will give gifts to you and to her that are in keeping with your royal position.”

⁵⁵ King Ptolemy said in his reply: “Happy was the day on which you returned to the land of your ancestors and took your seat on the throne of their kingdom. ⁵⁶ I hereby agree to your request, but please come to me at Ptolemais so that we may meet each other, and I will become your father-in-law, as you have proposed.”

⁵⁷ In the year one hundred and sixty-two, Ptolemy set out from Egypt with his daughter Cleopatra and came to Ptolemais, ⁵⁸ where King Alexander met him. Ptolemy gave him his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, and their wedding was celebrated at Ptolemais with great pomp, as is customary with such royal occasions.

⁵⁹ Jonathan Is Named Governor.^[g] King Alexander then wrote to Jonathan, asking him to come and meet him. ⁶⁰ Jonathan went amidst great pomp to Ptolemais, where he met the two kings. He presented them and their Friends with silver and gold and many gifts and thus won their favor. ⁶¹ Some troublemaking renegades from Israel united themselves in opposition to him, but the king paid no heed to them. ⁶² Rather, he issued orders that Jonathan should be divested of his own garments and be clothed in royal purple, and this was done. ⁶³ The king then seated him at his side and said to his officers, “Accompany him to the center of the city and proclaim that no one is to bring charges against him on any matter or to make trouble for him in any way.”

⁶⁴ When his accusers observed the honor that was paid to him in this proclamation and saw him clothed in his purple robe, they all fled. ⁶⁵ The king also honored him by enrolling him as one of his Chief Friends, and he appointed him as commander and governor of the province. ⁶⁶ Then Jonathan returned in peace and joy to Jerusalem.

⁶⁷ Jonathan Defeats Apollonius. In the year one hundred and sixty-five, Demetrius,^[h] the son of Demetrius, came from Crete to the land of his ancestors. ⁶⁸ When King Alexander learned of this, he was greatly disturbed, and he returned to Antioch. ⁶⁹ Demetrius appointed Apollonius as governor of Coelesyria,^[i] and the latter assembled a large force, encamped at Jamnia, and sent the following message to Jonathan the high priest: ⁷⁰ “You are the only one who has seen fit to rise up against us. Because of you, I have been assailed by ridicule and brought into disgrace. Why do you flaunt your authority against us in the hill country? ⁷¹ If you have such confidence in your forces, come down to meet us in the plain, and there we can test each other’s strength. The power of the cities is ready to support me. ⁷² Make an inquiry to find out who I am and the identity of the others who are supporting me. You will be told that you cannot make a stand against us. Your ancestors were twice put to flight in their own land. ⁷³ Now you too will not be able to withstand my cavalry and such an army in the plain, where there is not a stone or a pebble or a place to flee.”

⁷⁴ When Jonathan heard this message from Apollonius, his spirit was aroused. He set out from Jerusalem with ten thousand picked men, and his brother Simon joined him with reinforcements. ⁷⁵ He encamped outside Joppa, where the people of the city had closed its gates against him because Apollonius had a garrison there. ⁷⁶ However, when they began the siege, the people of the city became terrified, and they opened the gates, whereupon Jonathan took possession of Joppa.

⁷⁷ When Apollonius learned of this, he assembled three thousand cavalry and a large force of infantry. He marched to Azotus as though he were planning to march through it, but at the same time he advanced into the plain, confident in the strength of such a large number of cavalry. ⁷⁸ Jonathan pursued him as far as Azotus, where the armies engaged in battle. ⁷⁹ Apollonius, however, had left a thousand cavalry concealed behind them. ⁸⁰ Jonathan realized that there was an ambush behind him, for his army was surrounded and showered with arrows from morning until evening. ⁸¹ But his men held their ground as Jonathan had ordered, while the enemy’s horses became weary.

⁸² At that point, when the cavalry was exhausted, Simon led his forces forward and engaged the enemy phalanx in battle. Overwhelmed by him, they took to flight. ⁸³ The horsemen scattered over the plain and fled to Azotus, seeking refuge in Beth-dagon, the temple of their idol. ⁸⁴ However, Jonathan burned and plundered Azotus and its surrounding villages, and he destroyed by fire both the temple of Dagon and the men who had taken refuge in it. ⁸⁵ The number of those who fell by the sword, together with those who were burned to death, totaled about eight thousand men. ⁸⁶ Then Jonathan left there and encamped outside Ashkelon, and the people of that city came out to meet him with great pomp. ⁸⁷ He and his men then returned to Jerusalem laden with a great deal of booty.

⁸⁸ When King Alexander heard of these events, he conferred even greater honors on Jonathan. ⁸⁹ He sent him a gold buckle, which it was customary to present to the King’s Kinsmen,^[j] and he also gave him Ekron and all its territory as a possession.

Footnotes

1. 1 Maccabees 10:1 Jonathan belongs to the priestly families that the biblical genealogies trace to Aaron, and our author considers his nomination on the part of the occupying prince to be normal. However, others will be more perplexed. Thus, the movement of the Asmodians will judge this fact as arbitrary and irregular, and the Essenes regard it as a true usurpation of the high priesthood and separate themselves from official Judaism. On the other hand, a descendant of the high priest Onias (see 2 Mac 3), Onias IV, will construct a Jewish temple at Leontopolis in Egypt. In any case, the new high priest has his mind above all on things of war and politics.
2. 1 Maccabees 10:1 Alexander I Epiphanes came from Ephesus and claimed to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes although his given name was Balas. He claimed the kingship in 150 B.C. and reigned until 145 B.C. The Roman senate recognized him—aided by the urging of Attalus II of Pergamum and by the fact that the Romans had not forgiven Demetrius for becoming king without permission.
3. 1 Maccabees 10:21 Jonathan . . . Feast of Booths: Jonathan’s tenure as high priest began around October 23–30, 152 B.C., after there had been no high priest in Jerusalem for seven years.
4. 1 Maccabees 10:29 The payment of crown levies was at first spontaneous but had now become a tax.
5. 1 Maccabees 10:39 At that time Ptolemais was in the possession of Alexander Balas so that such a gift could provide the Jews with an incentive to side with Demetrius and achieve the effective possession of the city.
6. 1 Maccabees 10:51 The new alliance is ratified in 150 B.C. at Ptolemais, a city that had remained half-Egyptian: the new king of Antioch married Cleopatra, the daughter of the king of Egypt. Cleopatra was about fifteen; she later married Demetrius II and still later his brother Antiochus VII.
7. 1 Maccabees 10:59 Received with royal honors, the Hasmonean sees his civil and military powers confirmed. Already high priest, he can manage sword and thurible. This means going beyond the religious tradition of Israel and embarking on a perilous way that will render unpopular the Maccabean dynasty, in which the Herodian kings will insert themselves.
8. 1 Maccabees 10:67 Demetrius: Demetrius II Nicator.
9. 1 Maccabees 10:69 Coelesyria was the name of the valley between Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon. Here it includes Palestine and indicates the whole western province of the Seleucid kingdom.
10. 1 Maccabees 10:89 King’s Kinsmen: a title higher than that of “Friends of the King” (see 1 Mac 2:18). It referred to a more elevated class among the dignitaries of the Hellenistic courts. Ekron was an ancient Philistine city, about eight miles southeast of Jamnia, which had been given to Jonathan as a personal possession with taxes assigned to him (see 1 Sam 27:6).