The Makers and Teachers of Judaism Part 27

And when the fact was clear to Judas, that he had come to him with deceit, he was very much afraid of him and would see his face no more. So Nicanor knew that his plan was discovered, and he went out to meet Judas in battle near Capharsalama. And there fell of those with Nicanor about five hundred men. Then they fled into the city of David.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:33-38]

Now after these things Nicanor went to Zion. And when some of the priests came out of the sanctuary, and some the elders of the people, to salute him peaceably and to show him the whole burnt-offering that was being offered for the king, he mocked them, and laughed at them, and abused them, and talked insolently. He also swore in a rage, saying, Unless Judas and his army are now delivered into my hands, if I come again in peace, I will burn up this temple. He went out in a great rage. Then the priests went in and stood before the altar and the temple; and they wept and said, Thou didst choose this temple to be called by thy name, to be a house of prayer and supplication for thy people. Take vengeance on this man and his army, and let him fall by the sword. Remember their blasphemies, and let them live no longer.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:39-48]

And Nicanor set forth from Jerusalem and encamped in Bethhoron, and there the army of Syria met him. But Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand men. Then Judas prayed and said, When they who came from the king blasphemed, thine angel went out and smote among them an hundred and sixty-five thousand. Even so destroy thou this army before us to-day, and let all the rest know that he hath spoken wickedly against thy sanctuary, and judge thou him according to his wickedness. So on the thirteenth day of the month Adar the armies joined battle; and Nicanor's army was defeated, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. And when his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw away their weapons and fled.

And [the Jews] pursued them a day's journey from Adasa as far as Gazara when they sounded the trumpet-signal for the return. Then they came out from all the villages of Judea on every hand and outflanked them; and the one turned them back on the other army, and they all fell by the sword, so that none of them was left.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:47-50]

And they took the spoils and the booty, and they struck off Nicanor's head and his right hand, which he had stretched out so haughtily, and brought them and hung them up in the citadel of Jerusalem. And the people were very glad. They also enacted an ordinance for the celebration of this day year by year, the thirteenth day of Adar. So the land of Judah had rest for a brief period.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:1-6]

When Demetrius heard that Nicanor had fallen with his forces in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus again into the land of Judah a second time, and the southern wing of his army with them. And they went by that way that leads to Gilgal, and encamped against Masaloth, which is in Arbela, and gained possession of it and destroyed many people. And the first month of the hundred and fifty-second year they encamped against Jerusalem. Then they set out and went to Berea with twenty thousand footmen and two thousand hors.e.m.e.n. And Judas was encamped at Elasa, and three thousand chosen men with him. And when they saw the mult.i.tude of the forces, that they were many, they were greatly frightened, and many slipped away from the army, so that there were left of them not more than eight hundred men.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:7-10]

And when Judas saw that his army had dispersed, he was deeply troubled, because he had no time to gather them together, and he grew discouraged.

And he said to those who were left, Let us arise and go up against our adversaries, if perhaps we may be able to fight with them. And they would have dissuaded him, saying, We shall not be able; but let us rather save our lives now; let us return again with our fellow-countrymen and fight against them, for we are few. But Judas said, Far be it from me so to do, that I should flee from them. For if our time has come, let us die manfully for the sake of our fellow-countrymen and not leave a cause of reproach against our honor.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:11-18]

Then the army set out from the camp and drew up to meet them; and the cavalry drew up into two companies, and the slingers and the archers went before the army, with all the strong, foremost warriors. But Bacchides was in the rear wing. Then the phalanx advanced on both sides, and they sounded their trumpets. And Judas's men also sounded their trumpets, and the earth shook with the shout of the armies; so the battle was begun and continued from morning until evening. And when Judas saw that Bacchides and the strength of his army were on the right side, all who were brave in heart went with him, and the right wing was defeated by them, and he pursued them to the slope of the mountains. And they who were on the left wing, when they saw that the right wing was defeated, turned and followed upon the footsteps of Judas and of those who were with him. And the battle grew fierce, and many on both sides fell mortally wounded. Then Judas fell and the rest fled.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:19, 20]

And Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother and buried him in the sepulchre of his fathers at Modein. And they bewailed him, and all Israel made great lamentation for him and mourned many days, and said,

How is the hero fallen, The saviour of Israel!

[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:22]

And the rest of the valiant acts of Judas, and his wars and the valiant deeds which he did, and his greatness--they have not been recorded, for they were very many.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:23-27]

Now after the death of Judas, the apostates showed themselves in all the territory of Israel, and all who practised injustice flourished. About the same time there was a very severe famine, and the whole people sided with them. Then Bacchides selected the G.o.dless men and made them rulers of the country. And they conducted a thorough search for the friends of Judas and brought them to Bacchides, and he took vengeance on them and tortured them cruelly. Then great tribulation came upon Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets had ceased to appear among them.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:28-35]

Thereupon all the friends of Judas a.s.sembled and said to Jonathan, Since your brother Judas has died, we have no one like him to go out against our enemies and Bacchides and against those of our own kin who hate us. Now therefore we have chosen you this day to be our prince and leader in his place that you may fight our battles. So Jonathan a.s.sumed the leadership at that time and took the place of his brother Judas.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:1-6]

Now in the one hundred and sixtieth year, Alexander the son of Antiochus Epiphanes went up and took possession of Ptolemais, and they received him, and he reigned there. When King Demetrius heard of it, he gathered very large forces and went out to meet him in battle. Demetrius also sent letters to Jonathan with words of peace, so as to honor him greatly. For he said, Let us get the start in making peace with them before he makes a compact with Alexander against us. For he will remember all the wrongs that we have done to him, and to his brothers and his nation. And he gave him authority to collect forces and to provide arms and to be his ally.

Also he commanded that they should deliver up to him the hostages who were in the citadel.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:7-14]

Then Jonathan came to Jerusalem, and read the letters in the hearing of all the people, and of those who were in the citadel. And they were greatly afraid when they heard that the king had given him authority to collect an army. And the garrison delivered up the hostages to Jonathan, and he restored them to their parents. And Jonathan took up his residence in Jerusalem and began to rebuild and renew the city. And he commanded those who did the work to build the walls and Mount Zion round about with square stones for defence; and they did so. Then the foreigners, who were in the strongholds which Bacchides had built, fled, and each man left his place and went into his own land. Only some of those who had forsaken the law and the commandments were left at Bethsura, because it was an asylum for them.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:15-17]

And when King Alexander heard all the promises which Demetrius had made to Jonathan and had been told of the battles which he and his brothers had fought and the valiant deeds that they had done and of the hardships which they had endured, he said, Shall we find such another man? Now therefore let us make him our friend and ally. So he wrote letters and sent them to him with contents like these:

King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greeting: We have heard of you that you are a valiant man and fit to be our friend. And now we have appointed you to-day to be high priest of your nation and to be called the king's Friend (and he sent to him a purple robe and a crown of gold), and to take our part and to remain on friendly terms with us.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:21]

And Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the hundred and sixtieth year at the feast of tabernacles, and he gathered together forces, and provided arms in abundance.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:67-71]

Now in the one hundred and sixty-fifth year, Demetrius son of Demetrius, came from Crete into the land of his fathers. Then King Alexander heard of it, and he was exceedingly troubled and returned to Antioch. And Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was over Coele-Syria, and he collected a great army and encamped in Jamnia, and sent to Jonathan the high priest this message:

You alone are hostile to us, and I have become a laughing-stock and b.u.t.t of ridicule on account of you. Now why do you flaunt your power against us in the mountains? If, indeed, you trust your forces, come down to us in the plain, and there let us try the matter together, because with me is the power of the cities.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:74-76]

Now when Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was stirred to anger, and he chose ten thousand men and went forth from Jerusalem, and Simon his brother met him to help him. And he encamped against Joppa. The people of the city, however, shut him out, because Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa. So they fought against it. Then the people of the city were afraid and opened to him, and Jonathan became master of Joppa.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:20-27]

At that time Jonathan gathered together the people of Judea to take the citadel that was at Jerusalem, and he erected many engines of war against it. Some, however, who hated their own nation, apostates, went to the king, and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel. And when he heard it, he was angry, and immediately after he heard of it he set out and came to Ptolemais, and wrote to Jonathan that he should not besiege it, and that he should meet him and confer with him at Ptolemais with all speed. But when Jonathan heard this, he gave orders to proceed with the siege, while he chose certain of the elders of Israel and of the priests, and putting himself in peril, and taking silver and gold and garments, and various presents besides, he went to the king at Ptolemais.

And he was favorably received; and although some apostates of the nation Made complaints against him, the king treated him just as his predecessors had done and exalted him in the presence of all his Friends, both confirming to him the high priesthood, and all the other honors that he had before, and giving him preeminence among his Chief Friends.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:28, 29]

And Jonathan requested the king to make Judea free from tribute, together with the three districts of Samaria, and he promised him three hundred talents. And the king consented and wrote letters to Jonathan concerning all these things.

I. The Political Situation. The position of the Jewish patriots was both perilous and tragic. A ring of hostile peoples pressed them closely on every side. The Jews were the victims of centuries of wrong and hatred.

Those residing in the neighboring lands also suffered from this widespread and bitter hostility. Among all the peoples of southwestern Asia they had no allies except the Nabateans, an Arabian people that had driven the Edomites from their home on Mount Seir. The only bond that bound them to this ambitious heathen race was the common hatred of the Syrians. It was natural, therefore, that Judas a little later should send an emba.s.sy with the object of securing the moral support, if not the direct intervention, of the distant Roman power whose influence was beginning to be felt throughout all the Mediterranean coast lands. For the present, however, Judas was dependent simply upon the sword for defence. He also had no time for permanent conquest, for he must prepare himself for the heavier blow that the court of Antioch was preparing to deliver. All that he could do, therefore, was to make sudden attacks upon his foes on every side and rescue the persecuted Jews by bringing them back with him to Judea.

II. The Jewish Att.i.tude toward the Heathen Reflected in the Book of Esther. In these perilous circ.u.mstances it is not strange that the Jews gravitated far from the position of broad tolerance advocated by the II Isaiah and the authors of the prophecy of Malachi and in the stories of Ruth and Jonah. In the stress of conflict they completely lost sight of their mission as Jehovah's witnesses to all the world. The destruction of the heathen seemed to them absolutely necessary if Jehovah's justice was to be vindicated. The spirit of this warlike, blood-thirsty age is most clearly formulated in the book of Esther. The presence of Aramaic and Persian words testify to its late date. It is closely allied to the midrashim or didactic stories that were a characteristic literary product of later Judaism. Like the stories of Daniel, the book of Esther contains many historical inconsistencies. For example, Mordecai, carried as a captive to Babylon in 597 B.C., is made Xerxes's prime-minister in 474 B.C. Its pictures of Persian customs are also characteristic of popular tradition rather than of contemporary history. Its basis is apparently an old Babylonian tradition of a great victory of the Babylonians over their ancient foes, the Elamites. Mordecai is a modification of the name of the Babylonian G.o.d Marduk. Estra, which appears in the Hebrew Esther, was the late Babylonian form of the name of the Semitic G.o.ddess Ishtar. Vashti and Hamman, the biblical Haman, were names of Elamite deities. Like the story of creation, this tale has been Hebraized and adapted to the story-teller's purpose. His aim is evidently to trace the origin of the late Jewish feast of Purim. It is probable that this feast was an adaptation of the Babylonian New-Year's feast which commemorated the ancient victory. The story in its present form is strongly Jewish. It exalts loyalty to the race, but its morality is far removed from that of Amos and Isaiah. Its exultation over the slaughter of thousands of the heathen is displeasing even in a romance, although it can easily be understood in the light of the Maccabean age in which it was written.

III. Campaigns against the Neighboring Peoples. The first book of Maccabees records in detail the repeated blows that Judas struck against his heathen foes. At Akrabattine, probably identical with the Scorpion Pa.s.s at the southwestern end of the Dead Sea, he fought and won a signal victory over his hereditary foes, the Idumeans. His chief enemy on the east was Timotheus, the leader of the Ammonites against whom Judas was successful in the preliminary skirmishes. Angered by these defeats, the heathen east of the Jordan attacked the resident Jews, who fled to one of the towns, where they were besieged. Judas, a.s.sembling six thousand of his picked warriors, made a rapid march of three days out into the wilderness.

He apparently carried few supplies, but depended rather upon the spoil of the captured towns for support. Bosra, far out on the borders of the desert, was seized and looted. Thence returning westward, he rescued the Jews from the town of Damethah, or, as it appears in the Syriac, Rametha.

This is probably identical with the modern town of Remtheh a little south of the Yarmuk on the great pilgrim highway from Damascus to Mecca. After making a detour to the south he crossed the Yarmuk and captured a series of towns lying to the north and northeast of this river. Returning he apparently met his Ammonite foe, who had succeeded in rallying an army, at the point where the pilgrim highway crosses the headwaters of the Yarmuk.

Here Judas won a sweeping victory. Then collecting the many Jews of the dispersion who had settled near these upper waters of the Yarmuk, he returned victoriously to Jerusalem. His brother Simon, who had been despatched on a similar mission to Galilee, likewise came back bringing many fellow-Jews and laden with spoils.

Antic.i.p.ating a renewal of the Syrian attack, Judas next made a rapid campaign into the territory of the Idumeans, capturing the old Hebrew capital of Hebron and carrying his victories as far as Ashdod on the western borders of the Philistine plain. Within a few months he had overrun and partially conquered a territory larger than the kingdom of David. In an incredibly short time this peasant warrior had won more victories against greater odds than any other leader in Israel's history. The results of these victories were necessarily ephemeral. They accomplished, however, three things: (1) Judas intimidated his foes and established his prestige; (2) he was able to rescue thousands of Jews from the hands of the heathen; and (3) by bringing them back to Judea he increased its population and laid the foundations of that kingdom which rose as the result of his patriotic achievements.

IV. The Battle of Beth-zacharias. There was still a Syrian outpost in the heart of Judea: it was the citadel at Jerusalem, which looked down upon the temple area. This Judas attempted to capture, but in so doing incited to action the Syrian king, Antiochus Eupator, who had succeeded to the throne after the death of his father Antiochus Epiphanes. Under the direction of his prime-minister Lysias he collected a huge army of one hundred thousand infantry and twenty thousand cavalry. To this was added thirty-two elephants with full military equipment--the heavy ordinance used in the warfare of the period. The approach from the plain was along the valley of Elah and up past Bethsura, as in the last Syrian campaign.

Judas, who was able at this time to rally an army of ten thousand men, met the Syrian host near the town of Beth-zacharias, a little north of Bethsura on the central highway from Hebron to Jerusalem. This time the natural advantages were with the Syrians, one wing of whose army rested upon a declining hill and the other on the level plain. Thus they were able to utilize their entire fighting force and to launch against the valiant Jews their elephants against which the heroism of an Eleazar was fruitless. For the first time during this struggle Judas was defeated and fell back upon Jerusalem, where he was closely besieged. Soon the Jews were obliged to surrender, and the Maccabean cause would have been lost had not complications at Antioch compelled the Syrians to retire.

V. Victories Over Nicanor. In the treaty which followed the surrender of Jerusalem the religious liberty of the Jews was a.s.sured. This concession satisfied the majority of the Hasideans, so that henceforth Judas found himself deserted by a great body of his followers. The apostate high priest who was placed in control of the temple was supported by Syrian soldiery and Judas was obliged to resort again to outlaw life.

He succeeded, however, in winning two signal victories over Nicanor, the Syrian general. The one at Capharsalama was probably fought near the modern town of Kefr Silwan, across the Kidron Valley from the City of David on the southern slope of Jerusalem. In the latter victory Nicanor was slain, and Judas was left for the moment in control of Judea.

VI. The Death of Judas. Soon another Syrian army invaded the land. The advance was from the northwest up over the pa.s.s of Bethhoron. A little east of the road that ascends from Lower to Upper Bethhoron, near where he won his first great battle and in sight of his home at Modein, the intrepid Jewish champion fought his last battle. Terror at the approach of the enemy had thinned his ranks until he was obliged to meet them with only eight hundred men at his back. Even against these great odds he was on the eve of victory when he was slain. At the sight of their fallen leader his followers fled. This disastrous ending of his career as a warrior obscured to a great extent the character and quality of Judas's services for his people. In brief (1) he taught them to fight for their rights; (2) he helped them to save their law and traditions; (3) he secured for them religious freedom; (4) he restored many of the Jews of the dispersion and thus prepared the way for the consolidated kingdom which later rose with Jerusalem as the centre; (5) he inspired his countrymen with ambitions for political independence; and (6) he set them a n.o.ble example of courage, patriotism, and practical piety. While measured by the higher standards of a later day Judas is not without his faults, yet he is unquestionably one of the great heroes of Israel's history and an example to all of unselfish and devoted patriotism.

VII. The Dissensions in the Syrian Court. The Jews ultimately attained political independence not primarily through their own efforts, but because the protracted contests between the rival claimants for the Syrian throne gave them opportunities which they quickly improved. In 152 B.C. a youth known as Alexander Balas, who claimed to be a son of Antiochus Epiphanes, raised the standard of revolt against the reigning Syrian king, Demetrius I. The kings of southwestern Asia and Egypt at first lent their support to this impostor. By 150 B.C. he had succeeded in defeating and putting to death Demetrius I. Two years later, however, Demetrius II, the son of the deposed king, appeared with a large body of Cretan mercenaries to contest the throne of his father. Many of the Syrian cities at once espoused his cause. Ptolemy Philometor, of Egypt, finally turned against Alexander Balas; and in 145 B.C. this strange adventurer was slain near Antioch by his own followers. Soon after his death, however, one of his generals, Tryphon, appeared with an infant son of Alexander whom he sought to place on the Syrian throne, thus perpetuating the feud that was constantly undermining the power of the Seleucid kingdom.

VIII. Concessions to Jonathan. The Jews profited by each turn in these tortuous politics. In 158 B.C., after a period of outlawry in the wilderness east of Judea, Jonathan and his followers were allowed by Demetrius I to settle again within the bounds of Judea. Jonathan Established his head-quarters at Michmash, the fortress famous for the achievement of Saul's valiant son Jonathan. Here he ruled over the Jews as a va.s.sal of Demetrius, who retained immediate control over the citadel at Jerusalem and the fortified cities that had been built along the borders of Judea. On the appearance of Alexander Balas in 152 B.C. Demetrius I, in order to retain the loyalty of the Jews, permitted Jonathan to maintain a small standing army and to rebuild the fortifications of Jerusalem. To outbid his rival the impostor Alexander Balas conferred upon Jonathan the coveted honor of the high priesthood, thus making him both the civil and religious head of the Jewish state. Disregarding his promises to Demetrius and the contemptible character of Alexander, Jonathan at once proceeded to establish his new authority. He was doubtless more acceptable to the majority of the Jews than the apostate high priests whom he succeeded, but the stricter Hasideans naturally regarded it as a sacrilege that a man whose hands were stained with war and bloodshed should perform the holiest duties in the temple service.

Under Alexander Balas Jonathan's power rapidly increased. He was made governor of Judea, and, under pretence of supporting the waning fortunes of Alexander, he captured in succession the Philistine cities of Joppa, Azotus (Ashdod), Ascalon, and Akron. When Demetrius II became master of Syria, Jonathan succeeded by rich gifts and diplomacy in so far gaining the support of the new king that part of the territory of Samaria was joined to Judea. In return for three hundred talents they were also promised exemption from taxation. Furthermore, membership in one of the royal orders was conferred upon the Maccabean leader. Thus by good fortune and by often questionable diplomacy the Jews finally secured in the days of Jonathan that freedom for which they had fought and which they had partially won under the valiant Judas.

Section CXII. PEACE AND PROSPERITY UNDER SIMON

[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:38-40]

And when King Demetrius saw that the land was quiet before him and that no resistance was made to him, he sent all his forces, each one to his own home, except the foreign mercenaries, whom he had enlisted from the isles of the heathen. All the troops, however, who had served his father hated him. Now Tryphon was one of those who had formerly belonged to Alexander's party, and when he saw that all the troops were murmuring against Demetrius, he went to Yamliku, the Arabian who was bringing up Antiochus, the young child of Alexander, and importuned him that he should deliver him to him, that he might reign in his father's place. And he told him all that Demetrius had done, and the hatred which his troops bore him. And he stayed there a long time.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:54-56]