1 Maccabees 5 - New Catholic Bible (NCB)

New Military Operations^[a]

Chapter 5

War against Nearby Tribes. ¹ When the Gentiles in the surrounding area heard that the altar had been rebuilt and the sanctuary had been rededicated, they became greatly angered. ² They determined to destroy the descendants of Jacob who were living in their midst, and they began to persecute and massacre the people. ³ Then Judas made war on the descendants of Esau at Akrabattene^[b] in Idumea because they were besieging the Israelites. He inflicted on them a massive defeat, overcame them, and took their spoils. ⁴ He also remembered the wickedness of the sons of Baean,^[c] who had proved to be a snare and a stumbling block to the people with their ambushes on the roads. ⁵ Having blockaded them in their towers, he vowed to effect their total destruction. Then he set ablaze their towers with all the people in them. ⁶ Next, he crossed over to attack the Ammonites,^[d] where he was confronted by a strong army and a large crowd of people, with Timothy as their leader. ⁷ He engaged in many battles with them, and they were crushed and struck down. ⁸ After capturing Jazer^[e] and its villages, he returned to Judea.

Judas Called Upon for Help. ⁹ The Gentiles in Gilead^[f] banded together against the Israelites who were living in their territory, with the intention of destroying them. However, the Israelites fled to the stronghold of Dathema ¹⁰ and sent the following letter to Judas and his brothers: “The Gentiles around us have banded together to destroy us, ¹¹ and they are preparing to come and seize this stronghold in which we have taken refuge. Timothy is in command of their army. ¹² Please come immediately and rescue us from their clutches, for many of us have already fallen. ¹³ All of our kindred who dwelt among the Tobiads have been killed, and the Gentiles have carried off their wives and children, confiscated their property, and slain about a thousand people there.”

¹⁴ While the letter was still in the process of being read, other messengers, with their garments torn, arrived from Galilee with a similar message, ¹⁵ reporting that the people of Ptolemais, Tyre, and Sidon^[g] had united with the whole of Galilee of the Gentiles to destroy them. ¹⁶ When Judas and the people heard these reports, they convened a great assembly to determine what they should do for their beleaguered kindred who were under attack by their enemies.

¹⁷ Judas said to his brother Simon, “Choose as many troops as you need and go forth to rescue your kindred in Galilee, while my brother Jonathan and I will go to Gilead.”

¹⁸ He left the remainder of his forces under the command of Joseph, son of Zechariah, and Azariah, a leader of the people, to defend Judea. ¹⁹ “Take charge of these people,” he commanded them, “but do not engage the Gentiles in battle until we come back.” ²⁰ Simon was allotted three thousand men for the march on Galilee, while eight thousand men were assigned to Judas for the march on Gilead.

²¹ Victories in Galilee and Gilead. Simon advanced into Galilee and engaged in many battles with the Gentiles, who were crushed before him. ²² He pursued them to the gate of Ptolemais. About three thousand of the Gentiles were slain, and he gathered their spoils. ²³ Then he took back with him the Jews who were in Galilee and Arbatta,^[h] with their wives and children and all their possessions, and he brought them to Judea with great rejoicing.

²⁴ Meanwhile, Judas Maccabeus and his brother Jonathan crossed the Jordan and journeyed for three days through the desert. ²⁵ There they encountered some Nabateans^[i] who received them peacefully and reported to them everything that had happened to their kindred in Gilead: ²⁶ “Many of them have been surrounded in Bozrah, in Bosor near Alema, in Chaspho, Maked, and Carnaim”—all of these towns were large and fortified— ²⁷ “and some have been shut up in the other towns of Gilead. The enemy plans to attack and capture these strongholds tomorrow and to destroy all the people inside them in a single day.”

²⁸ Judas and his army immediately changed direction, crossing the desert to Bozrah. He captured the city, put the entire male population to the sword, confiscated all their possessions, and set the place on fire. ²⁹ During the night he led his army from that place and journeyed to the stronghold of Dathema. ³⁰ At dawn they caught sight of an innumerable horde who were bringing forth ladders and engines of war to capture the stronghold, and already beginning the assault on those besieged. ³¹ When Judas saw that the attack had begun and heard a war cry rising to heaven from the city, accompanied by trumpet blasts and loud shouts, ³² he said to the men of his army: “Fight this day for your kindred!”

³³ He advanced behind them with three columns, sounding their trumpets and shouting in prayer. ³⁴ When the army of Timothy realized that it was Maccabeus, they fled before him. He inflicted a crushing defeat on them, and about eight thousand of their men fell that day. ³⁵ Then he moved on toward Alema and attacked and captured it. He slew every male in it, plundered the town, and set it afire. ³⁶ From there he moved on and took Chaspho, Maked, Bosor, and the other cities of Gilead.

³⁷ After these things, Timothy gathered another army and pitched camp opposite Raphon, on the other side of the stream. ³⁸ Judas sent men to reconnoiter their camp, and they returned to him with this report: “All the Gentiles in this area have come to his support, encompassing a very large force. ³⁹ They have also hired Arab mercenaries to assist them. They are encamped across the stream and are prepared to attack you.” Judas therefore went forward to engage them in battle.

⁴⁰ As Judas and his army were approaching the stream, Timothy said to the officers of his forces, “If he crosses over to us first, we shall not be able to resist him, and he will surely defeat us. ⁴¹ However, if he is fearful and camps on the other side of the river, we will cross over to him and defeat him.”

⁴² When Judas reached the stream, he stationed the scribes^[j] of the people alongside it and gave them this command, “Do not allow anyone to encamp, but order them all to enter the battle.” ⁴³ He himself was the first one to cross over to the attack, and his entire army followed him. The Gentiles were crushed; at his approach they threw down their arms and fled to the temple^[k] at Carnaim. ⁴⁴ The Jews captured that city and then burned down the temple with all who were inside. Thus Carnaim was captured, and no further resistance was offered to Judas.

⁴⁵ Then Judas assembled all the Israelites who dwelt in Gilead, both great and small, with their wives and their children and their possessions, an enormous company of people, to escort them to the land of Judah. ⁴⁶ When they reached Ephron,^[l] a large, strongly fortified town situated along the road, they discovered that it was impossible to bypass it to either the right or the left; they had no other option than to pass through it. ⁴⁷ However, the inhabitants of the town barricaded the gates with stones and denied them passage. ⁴⁸ Judas then conveyed to them the following peaceful message: “We wish to pass through your territory in order to reach our own. No one will do you any harm. We will simply pass through on foot.” However, they refused to open their gates to him.

⁴⁹ Judas then issued an order that all of his forces should remain where they were. ⁵⁰ After they took up their positions, he led them in an assault on that town the entire day and all through the night, and it was delivered into his hands. ⁵¹ After he put every male to the sword, razed the town to the ground, and plundered it, he marched through it over the bodies of the dead.

⁵² Then they crossed the Jordan into the extensive plain^[m] opposite Beth-shan. ⁵³ Judas continued to rally the stragglers and to encourage the people throughout the journey until they reached the land of Judah. ⁵⁴ They ascended Mount Zion with joy and gladness and offered burnt offerings because they had returned safely without the loss of a single person.

⁵⁵ Israelite Commanders Defeated at Jamnia. While Judas and Jonathan were in Gilead and Simon their brother was in Galilee outside Ptolemais, ⁵⁶ Joseph, son of Zechariah, and Azariah, the commanders of the army, heard about their valiant deeds and the heroic battles that they had fought, ⁵⁷ and they said, “Let us also make a name for ourselves by going out to fight against the Gentiles in our area.”

⁵⁸ Therefore, they issued orders to the forces under their command to march against Jamnia. ⁵⁹ Gorgias and his men came out of the town to confront them in battle. ⁶⁰ Joseph and Azariah were routed, and they were pursued to the borders of Judea. On that day about two thousand Israelites were slain. ⁶¹ Thus the people suffered a massive defeat because they had not heeded the instructions of Judas and his brothers, but instead attempted to match their brave accomplishments. ⁶² However, they did not belong to the family of those through whom the deliverance of Israel was to be achieved.

⁶³ The Israelites’ Success over the Edomites and the Philistines. The valiant Judas and his brothers became greatly renowned throughout Israel and among all the Gentiles, wherever their name was heard, ⁶⁴ and crowds thronged around them to offer them praise. ⁶⁵ Then Judas and his brothers went forth and attacked the descendants of Esau in the country toward the south. He conquered Hebron^[n] and its villages, destroying its fortifications and burning down the towers encircling it. ⁶⁶ He then marched into the land of the Philistines and passed through Marisa. ⁶⁷ On that day, several priests who inadvisedly went out to fight in their desire to prove their courage fell in battle. ⁶⁸ Judas next turned toward Azotus in the land of the Philistines. He destroyed their altars and burned the statues of their gods, plundered their towns, and then returned to the land of Judah.

Footnotes

1. 1 Maccabees 5:1 Solidly established at Jerusalem, Judas undertakes military campaigns in the neighboring countries to liberate the faithful Jews and punish their persecutors. These punitive expeditions must have been carried out after the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (see 2 Mac 10:14-38).
2. 1 Maccabees 5:3 Akrabattene: a region that was situated along the ancient border of Judea, southwest of the Dead Sea, and that rose from the depression to the middle of Idumea. Another possibility may be the zone of Acrabeta about eight miles southwest of Shechem.
3. 1 Maccabees 5:4 Baean: probably a district in the Transjordan (Num 32:3).
4. 1 Maccabees 5:6 Ammonites: a Semitic people located east of the Jordan.
5. 1 Maccabees 5:8 Jazer: a town west of Ammon and fifteen miles north of Heshbon (Num 32:3).
6. 1 Maccabees 5:9 Gilead: a region of the Transjordan, north of the territory inhabited by the Ammonites (which corresponds to the land around the modern Ammon).
7. 1 Maccabees 5:15 Ptolemais, Tyre, and Sidon: three cities of the Phoenician coast, very famous in antiquity (Ptolemais, thus called by Ptolemy II in 261 B.C., was first known by the name Acco). Anti-Jewish hatred spreads in Palestine and especially in Galilee, which was inhabited from the most ancient times by a mixture of pagan populations (see 1 Ki 9:11); few Jews lived in Galilee of the Gentiles (Isa 9:1; Mt 4:15).
8. 1 Maccabees 5:23 Arbatta: a site near the Sea of Galilee or the Arabah depression south of the Dead Sea (Deut 1:7; Jos 11:16).
9. 1 Maccabees 5:25 Nabateans: a people of Arabic or Aramaic origin established southwest of Palestine; they became rich and powerful as caravaners moving commerce from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea and controlling all of the Transjordan as far as Damascus. It was a Nabatean governor from whom St. Paul escaped about A.D. 38 (2 Cor 11:32f).
10. 1 Maccabees 5:42 Scribes: not the doctors of the law of whom the Gospels speak but officials with either civil or military positions, perhaps in charge of enrollment.
11. 1 Maccabees 5:43 Temple: the temple dedicated to Atargatis, the Syrian fish goddess.
12. 1 Maccabees 5:46 Ephron: modern Et-Taiyibeh, eight miles east of the Jordan, the road that descends from Gilead to the bridge over the Jordan. A large village atop a rocky peak.
13. 1 Maccabees 5:52 The extensive plain lay between the Jordan and Mt. Gilboa. Beth-shan was located about eighteen miles south of the Sea of Galilee (see Jdg 1:27; 1 Ki 4:12).
14. 1 Maccabees 5:65 Hebron: the ancient city that David made the capital of his realm for seven years (2 Sam 2:11; 3:2; 5:5). Situated twenty miles south of Jerusalem, but always within the territory of the tribe of Judah, it subsequently fell into the hands of the Edomites.