Chapter 9
The Heroic Death of Judas. 1 When Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his army had fallen in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus into the land of Judah for a second time, and with them the right wing of his army. 2 They took the road to Galilee and, besieging Mesaloth in Arbela,[a] they captured it and killed many people. 3 In the first month of the year one hundred and fifty-two they encamped outside Jerusalem,[b] 4 and from there they marched to Berea with twenty thousand foot soldiers and two thousand cavalry.
5 Judas meanwhile had encamped at Elasa with three thousand picked men. 6 When his men saw the immense number of the enemy forces, they were greatly terrified, and many slipped away from the camp, until only eight hundred men remained.
7 When Judas realized that the battle was imminent and that his army was melting away, he became despondent, for he had no time to redeploy them. 8 But despite being disheartened, he said to those who remained, “Let us rise up and advance against the enemy. We may have sufficient strength to defeat them.” 9 His men tried to dissuade him, saying, “We do not have the necessary strength. Let us save our own lives now and return to fight them when our kindred have joined up with us. Right now we are too few.” 10 But Judas replied, “Far be it from us to do such a thing as to flee from them. If our time has come, let us die bravely for our kindred and leave no stain upon our honor.”
11 Then the army of Bacchides marched out from the camp and was arrayed in battle position. The cavalry was divided into two squadrons. The slingers and the archers went ahead of the army, and the most skilled warriors were in the front line. 12 Bacchides was on the right wing. The phalanx, flanked by the two squadrons, advanced to the sound of the trumpets, and the men with Judas also blew their trumpets. 13 The earth shook with the noise of the armies, and the battle raged from morning until evening. 14 Observing that Bacchides and the main strength of his army were on the right, Judas, with his most valiant men at his side, 15 drove back the right wing and pursued them as far as Mount Azotus.[c] 16 But when those on the left wing observed that the right wing had been crushed, they reversed direction and closely followed Judas and his men, attacking them from the rear. 17 The battle was fought desperately, and many on both sides fell. 18 Judas was among those who fell, and the rest fled.
19 Jonathan and Simon took their brother Judas and buried him in the tomb of their ancestors at Modein. 20 All Israel wept over him with great mourning for many days, saying, 21 “How tragically the mighty one has fallen, the savior of Israel!” 22 The rest of the acts of Judas, the battles that he waged, the valorous deeds that he performed, and his greatness have not been recorded, for they were very numerous.
The Politics of Jonathan (160–143 B.C.)
23 Jonathan Succeeds Judas. After the death of Judas, the renegades came out of hiding in all parts of Israel, and all the evildoers reappeared. 24 In those days there was a severe famine, and the country went over to their side. 25 Bacchides chose godless men to be in charge of the country. 26 These searched out and hunted down the friends of Judas and brought them to Bacchides, who took his revenge on them and mocked them. 27 There was great distress[d] in Israel, the likes of which had not been since the days when the prophets ceased to appear among them.
28 Then all the friends of Judas assembled and said to Jonathan, 29 “Since the death of your brother Judas there has been no one like him to lead us against our enemies and Bacchides, as well as against those of our own nation who are hostile to us. 30 Therefore, today we have chosen you to take his place as our ruler and our leader, and to fight our battle.” 31 Thereupon Jonathan accepted the leadership in the place of his brother Judas.
32 Jonathan and Simon Retaliate. When Bacchides learned of this, he made plans to kill Jonathan, 33 but Jonathan and his brother Simon and all who were with him heard about it, and they took refuge in the wilderness of Tekoa,[e] where they encamped by the waters of the pool of Asphar. 34 Bacchides learned of this on the Sabbath day, and he crossed the Jordan with his entire army.
35 Jonathan sent his brother[f] to act as leader of the multitude and to ask the Nabateans, with whom he was friendly, for permission to store with them the great quantity of baggage that they had brought with them. 36 However, the sons of Jambri made a sortie from Medeba,[g] captured John, and carried off the baggage. 37 Some time afterward the news was reported to Jonathan and his brother Simon: “The sons of Jambri are celebrating a great wedding, and with a large retinue they are escorting from Nadabath the daughter of one of the great nobles of Canaan.” 38 Remembering how their brother John had been slain, they went up and hid themselves under the cover of a mountain.
39 As they kept watch, they observed a tumultuous procession come into sight carrying a great amount of baggage. The bridegroom came forth, escorted by his fully armed friends and his kindred, to welcome the bridal party with tambourines and musicians. 40 The Jews sprang on them from their place of ambush and began to slay them. Many fell wounded, and the rest fled toward the mountain; and the Jews gathered up all their spoil. 41 Thus the wedding was turned into mourning and the sound of their music into lamentation.[h] 42 Having thereby gained revenge for the blood of their brother, the Jews returned to the marshes of the Jordan.
43 “Let Us . . . Fight for Our Lives.” When Bacchides heard of this, he came with a huge force to the banks of the Jordan on the Sabbath. 44 Then Jonathan said to those with him, “Let us get up now and fight for our lives, for today things have changed considerably from the way they used to be. 45 In front of us the battle awaits; behind us are the waters of the Jordan on one side and marshland and thickets on the other. There is no way out. 46 Cry out to Heaven that you may be saved from our enemies.” 47 Once the battle had begun, Jonathan raised his arm to strike Bacchides, but Bacchides managed to elude him and escaped to the rear. 48 Jonathan then leapt into the Jordan and swam across to the other side with his men. However, the enemy did not pursue them across the Jordan. 49 On that day Bacchides lost about one thousand men.
50 Bacchides Builds Strongholds. After returning to Jerusalem, Bacchides built strongholds in Judea with high walls, gates, and bars: the fortress in Jericho, Emmaus, Beth-horon, Bethel, Timnath, Pharathon, and Tephon, 51 and he stationed a garrison in each to harass Israel. 52 He also fortified the city of Beth-zur, Gazara, and the citadel, and in them he placed soldiers and stores of provisions. 53 He took the sons of the leading men of the country as hostages and placed them under guard in the citadel at Jerusalem.
54 Alcimus Dies Paralyzed. In the year one hundred and fifty-three, in the second month, Alcimus ordered the demolition of the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary, thereby destroying the work of the prophets. 55 However, he had only begun the work of demolition when he suffered a stroke. His mouth was closed and he was paralyzed, unable to utter a word or give commands concerning his house. 56 Before much time had passed, he died in great agony. 57 On learning that Alcimus was dead, Bacchides returned to the king, and the land of Judah was left in peace for two years.
58 Bacchides Negotiates with Jonathan. Then all the renegades gathered together in council. “Now is the time,” they said, “with Jonathan and his people living in peace and security, for us to bring back Bacchides, and he will capture all of them in a single night.” 59 Therefore, they went and consulted with him. 60 Bacchides set out with a large force, simultaneously sending letters secretly to all his allies in Judea that instructed them to seize Jonathan and his men. However, they were unable to do so because their plot became known, 61 and Jonathan and his men arrested about fifty of the ringleaders in this treacherous plan and put them to death.
62 Then Jonathan withdrew with Simon and his companions to Bethbasi[i] in the desert. He rebuilt the fortifications that had been demolished and strengthened them. 63 When Bacchides learned of this, he assembled his entire army and sent instructions to his supporters in Judea. 64 Then he came and encamped opposite Bethbasi, and after constructing engines of war, he fought against it for many days.
65 Leaving his brother Simon in the city, Jonathan went out into the country area accompanied by only a few men. 66 He struck down Odomera and his kindred and the people of Phasiron in their encampment, all of whom had been preparing to set out to join in the battle.[j] 67 Meanwhile, Simon and his forces made a sortie from the town and set fire to the engines of war. 68 Moving against Bacchides, they exerted such pressure that they inflicted a severe defeat upon him. Inasmuch as his plans for a military assault had been frustrated, 69 Bacchides vented his anger on the renegades who had advised him to undertake this invasion. He slew many of them and then decided to return to his own land.
70 When Jonathan learned of this, he sent envoys to negotiate terms of peace with him and obtain the release of the captives. 71 Bacchides agreed to Jonathan’s proposals and swore that he would never again try to cause him harm for the rest of his life. 72 He handed over the prisoners he had previously taken captive from the land of Judah. Then he returned to his own land and never again came into their territory.
73 Thus the sword ceased from Israel. Jonathan settled in Michmash,[k] from where he began to serve as judge for the people and to exile the renegades from Israel.
Footnotes
- 1 Maccabees 9:2 They took the road . . . Arbela: this is a reconstruction of the Greek text, which reads: “They took the road to Gilgal and camping opposite Mesaloth captured it” but makes no sense. For Gilgal was in the Jordan Valley close to Jericho while Arbela was a hill in Galilee; Mesaloth were caves overhanging a gorge west of the Sea of Tiberias.
- 1 Maccabees 9:3 That is, March–April of 160 B.C., a few weeks after the rout of Nicanor. Scholars have noted that the interval of time is too short for the Syrians to have been able to gather together a new army, but perhaps this may be explained by Bacchides’s volatile nature.
- 1 Maccabees 9:15 Mount Azotus: some think that this should read mountain slopes because of a scribal error confusing the word ashdot (“slopes”) with ashdod (“Azotus”).
- 1 Maccabees 9:27 Great distress: with respect to the distress of the Jews at the silence of the prophets, see 4:46.
- 1 Maccabees 9:33 Tekoa was the home of the prophet Amos (Am 1:1) about five miles from Bethlehem.
- 1 Maccabees 9:35 His brother: this was not Simon but John (v. 36).
- 1 Maccabees 9:36 Medeba was located northeast of the Dead Sea.
- 1 Maccabees 9:41 This is a quotation from Am 8:10.
- 1 Maccabees 9:62 Bethbasi was a little southeast of Bethlehem.
- 1 Maccabees 9:66 It is a question of semi-nomadic tribes who resisted the recruitment of Jonathan.
- 1 Maccabees 9:73 Michmash was eight miles northeast of Jerusalem and well known because of the deed of Jonathan, the son of Saul (see 1 Sam 14:5-23). Jonathan . . . began to serve as judge: Jonathan acted as a natural leader, as the leaders of the Book of Judges had done.