Chapter 4
The Battle of Emmaus.[a] 1 Gorgias took five thousand infantry and a thousand picked cavalry, and this detachment set out at night 2 in order to launch a surprise attack on the camp of the Jews. Men from the citadel served as his guides. 3 However, Judas learned of their plan, and he and his soldiers moved out to attack the royal forces at Emmaus 4 while some of the troops were still dispersed away from the camp. 5 When Gorgias reached the camp of Judas by night, therefore, he found no one there, and he began to search for them in the mountains, saying, “These men are fleeing from us.”
6 At daybreak, Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand men, although they lacked the armor and the swords they would have wished for. 7 They saw the camp of the Gentiles with its strong fortifications, flanked with cavalry, and a fighting force expert in the art of warfare. 8 Judas said to those who were with him: “Do not be afraid of their superior numbers or panic when they attack. 9 Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea when Pharaoh was pursuing them with his forces. 10 So now let us cry out to Heaven, asking him to show us his favor, to remember his covenant with our ancestors, and to destroy this army confronting us today. 11 Then all the Gentiles will know that there is one who redeems and saves Israel.”
12 When the foreigners looked up and saw them advancing against them, 13 they came out of their camp to engage in battle. Then the men with Judas blew their trumpets, 14 and the fighting began. The Gentiles were defeated and fled into the plain. 15 All those who were in the rear fell by the sword, and the rest were pursued as far as Gazara[b] and the plains of Judea, to Azotus and Jamnia, with about three thousand of them slain.
16 When Judas and his army broke off their pursuit, he said to the people: 17 “Do not be greedy for plunder, for we have yet another battle ahead of us. 18 Gorgias and his army are very close to us in the mountain area. Stand firm now against our enemies and defeat them. After that, you can safely take as much booty as you please.”
19 Just as Judas was finishing this speech, a detachment appeared, looking down from the mountain. 20 They could see that their army had been put to flight and that their camp was being burned. The smoke that could be clearly seen indicated what had occurred. 21 When they perceived this, they were very much afraid, and when they also beheld the army of Judas in the plain, ready for battle, 22 they all fled into the territory of the Philistines.
23 Then Judas went back to plunder the camp, and they confiscated a great amount of gold and silver, violet and purple cloths, and magnificent treasures. 24 As they returned, they sang hymns of thanksgiving and praise to glorify Heaven, “for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.”[c] 25 Thus Israel experienced a great deliverance that day.
26 Victory over Lysias. Those foreigners who had managed to escape went to Lysias and reported to him everything that had occurred. 27 When he heard the news, he was greatly disturbed and disappointed, because his plots against Israel had not turned out as he had intended and in accordance with the command of the king.
28 So the following year he mobilized sixty thousand picked infantry and five thousand cavalry to defeat them. 29 They marched into Idumea and encamped at Beth-zur.[d] Judas confronted them with ten thousand men, 30 and when he realized how strong their army was, he offered this prayer:
“Blessed are you, O Savior of Israel, who crushed the attack of the mighty warrior by the hand of your servant David and delivered the camp of the Philistines into the hands of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and of his armor-bearer. 31 Deliver this army into the hands of your people Israel, and destroy the pride of the enemy in their troops and cavalry. 32 Fill them with fear, weaken the boldness of their strength, and let them quake at their own destruction. 33 Strike them down with the sword of those who love you, so that all who acknowledge your name will praise you with hymns.”
34 Then both sides entered into battle, and in the hand-to-hand combat five thousand of the army of Lysias were slain. 35 When Lysias saw his army being routed and the boldness of the soldiers of Judas who were prepared either to live or to die nobly, he withdrew to Antioch and began to recruit a force of mercenaries for a further invasion of Judea with an even larger army.
Restoration of the Temple[e]
36 Then Judas and his brothers said: “Behold, our enemies have been crushed; let us go up to purify the sanctuary and rededicate it.” 37 And so the entire army assembled, and they went up to Mount Zion. 38 There they found the sanctuary desolate, the altar desecrated, the gates burned to the ground, the courts overgrown with weeds as in a thicket or on some mountain, and the chambers of the priests in ruins. 39 Then they tore their garments and uttered loud cries of mourning; they sprinkled their heads with ashes 40 and fell prostrate, with their faces to the ground. And when the signal was given with the trumpets, they cried out to Heaven.
41 Then Judas designated men to engage in combat with those in the citadel while he purified the sanctuary. 42 He appointed blameless priests who were devoted to the law; 43 these purified the sanctuary and carried off the stones of the Abomination to an unclean place. 44 They discussed what should be done about the altar of burnt offerings that had been desecrated, 45 and they made the proper decision to demolish it so that it would not be a source of lasting shame to them inasmuch as the Gentiles had defiled it.[f]
Therefore, they tore down the altar 46 and stored the stones in a suitable place on the temple hill until a prophet should appear on the scene to determine what should be done with them. 47 They took unhewn stones, according to the law, and built a new altar fashioned after the former one. 48 They also repaired the sanctuary and the interior of the temple and purified the courts. 49 They made new sacred vessels and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple. 50 Then they burned incense on the altar, and they lit the lamp on the lampstands to illuminate the temple. 51 Finally, they placed loaves of bread on the table and hung the curtains, thereby bringing to completion all of the work they had undertaken.
52 Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, that is, the month of Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-eight, 53 they arose and offered sacrifice, in accordance with the law, on the new altar of burnt offerings that they had constructed. 54 On the anniversary of the day on which the Gentiles had desecrated it, on that very day it was dedicated with hymns, harps, flutes, and cymbals. 55 All the people prostrated themselves in adoration and praised Heaven, who had granted success to their endeavors.
56 They celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days and joyfully offered burnt offerings and sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. 57 They decorated the front of the temple with gold crowns and shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests and furnished them with doors. 58 There was great rejoicing among the people inasmuch as the disgrace inflicted by the Gentiles had been removed. 59 Then Judas, his brothers, and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days marking the rededication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days every year on the anniversary, beginning on the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev.
60 At that time they fortified Mount Zion, encircling it with high walls and strong towers to prevent the Gentiles from coming and trampling over it as they had done in the past. 61 Judas stationed a garrison there to guard it, and he also fortified Beth-zur so that the people would have a stronghold facing Idumea.
Footnotes
- 1 Maccabees 4:1 Judas knows how to unite action and prayer. A remarkable tactician, he forces the adversary to divide his forces, then defeats him in a surprise attack, and pillages his camp. Once the victory is achieved, Judas and his men offer fervent thanksgiving to God (Heaven).
- 1 Maccabees 4:15 The pursuit took all directions: Gazara, or Gezer (Jos 21:21; 1 Ki 9:17), lay five miles northwest of Emmaus; Judea was to the far south; Azotus, or Ashdod, and Jamnia, were west and southwest.
- 1 Maccabees 4:24 The victors intoned the great Hallel (Ps 118) in thanksgiving.
- 1 Maccabees 4:29 Beth-zur: ancient Canaanite city situated on an isolated height at the confines of Idumea about twenty miles south of Jerusalem on the road to Hebron. Fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr 11:7), it had become in Maccabean times a key stronghold in the Judaic defense (see 1 Mac 4:61; 9:52; 11:65; 14:7-33; Jos 15:58).
- 1 Maccabees 4:36 After almost three and a half years of intense guerrilla fighting, the insurgents occupy Jerusalem. In the enthusiasm of the liberation, they put an end to the pagan profanation and reestablish the worship of God. This is the culminating moment of the Book. First the sanctuary had to be purified (see 2 Chr 29:3-17), the altar had to be rebuilt, and the constructions had to be restored. On December 14, 164 B.C., the sacrifice is celebrated. As in ancient times, the dedication is celebrated with the joyous participation of all the people. As a testimony of the times, however, is the fact that the sacred enclosure must be transformed into a fortress. This occurrence gives all their meaning to the struggles of the Jewish resistance; it is the reason why the author omits various preceding events that are recorded in 2 Mac 11:13—12:9, and records only afterward the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (1 Mac 6:1-17). A new feast is instituted: “Hanukkah,” or consecration, celebrated in December, remains ever popular within Jewish families; it is also called the second Feast of Booths (Lev 23) or the Feast of Lights; it will be mentioned in the Gospel (Jn 10:22).
- 1 Maccabees 4:45 From the time of Malachi, the prophets are silent in expectation of the Prophet par excellence (see Jn 1:21; Lk 7:16). This silence was one of the greatest trials for Judaism (see 1 Mac 9:27; 14:14; Pss 73:9; 76:9; Lam 2:9; Ezek 7:26): the expectation was that he would decide questions that had remained suspended (see v. 44: was it licit to utilize the altar that had been profaned by pagan sacrifices?). The interpretation of the law will henceforth be the task of the scribes.