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1 Maccabees 1:1-2:70

MACCABEES 1. Alexander the Great. (1Mace.1.1-9)

1¹Alexander of Macedon son of Philip had come from the land of Kittim and defeated Darius king of the Persians and Medes, whom he succeeded as ruler, at first of Hellas. ²He undertook many campaigns, gained possession of many fortresses, and put the local kings to death. ³So he advanced to the ends of the earth, plundering nation after nation; the earth grew silent before him, and his ambitious heart swelled with pride. ⁴He assembled very powerful forces and subdued provinces, nations and princes, and they became his tributaries. ⁵But the time came when Alexander took to his bed, in the knowledge that he was dying. ⁶He summoned his officers, noblemen who had been brought up with him from his youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was still alive. ⁷Alexander had reigned twelve years when he died. ⁸Each of his officers established himself in his own region. ⁹All assumed crowns after his death, they and their heirs after them for many years, bringing increasing evils on the world.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes & the renegade Jews. (176-175 BCE) (1Mace.1.10-15)

¹⁰From these there grew a wicked offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the 107th year of the kingdom of the Greeks. ¹¹It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people astray. 'Come,' they said, 'let us ally ourselves with the gentiles surrounding us, for since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.' ¹²This proposal proved acceptable, ¹³and a number of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorised them to practise the Gentiles' observances. ¹⁴So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the gentiles have, ¹⁵disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting to gentile rule as willing slaves of impiety.

Antiochus attacks Egypt. (1Mace.1.16-19)

¹⁶Once Antiochus had seen his authority established, he determined to make himself king of Egypt and the ruler of both kingdoms. ¹⁷He invaded Egypt in massive strength, with chariots and elephants (and cavalry) and a large fleet. ¹⁸He engaged Ptolemy king of Egypt in battle, and Ptolemy turned back and fled before his advance, leaving many casualties. ¹⁹The fortified cities of Egypt were captured, and Antiochus plundered the country.

Antiochus persecutes the Jews. (170-169 BCE) (1Mace.1.20-64)

²⁰After his conquest of Egypt, in the year 143, Antiochus turned about and advanced on Israel and Jerusalem in massive strength. ²¹Insolently breaking into the sanctuary, he removed the golden altar and the lamp-stand for the light with all its fittings, ²²together with the table for the loaves of permanent offering, the libation vessels, the cups, the golden censers, the veil, the crowns, and the golden decoration on the front of the Temple, which he stripped of everything. ²³He made off with the silver and gold and precious vessels; he discovered the secret treasures and seized them ²⁴and, removing all these, he went back to his own country, having shed much blood and uttered words of extreme arrogance. ²⁵There was deep mourning for Israel throughout the country: ²⁶Rulers and elders groaned; girls and young men wasted away; the women's beauty suffered a change; ²⁷every bridegroom took up a dirge, the bride sat grief-stricken on her marriage-bed. ²⁸The earth quaked because of its inhabitants and the whole House of Jacob was clothed with shame. ²⁹Two years later the king sent the Mysarch through the cities of Judah. He came to Jerusalem with an impressive force, ³⁰and addressing them with what appeared to be peaceful words, he gained their confidence; then suddenly he fell on the city, dealing it a terrible blow, and destroying many of the people of Israel. ³¹He pillaged the city and set it on fire, tore down its houses and encircling wall, ³²took the women and children captive and commandeered the cattle. ³³They then rebuilt the City of David with a great strong wall and strong towers and made this their Citadel. ³⁴There they installed a brood of sinners, of renegades, who fortified themselves inside it, ³⁵storing arms and provisions, and depositing there the loot they had collected from Jerusalem; they were to prove a great trouble.

³⁶It became an ambush for the sanctuary, an evil adversary for Israel at all times. ³⁷They shed innocent blood all round the sanctuary and defiled the sanctuary itself. ³⁸The citizens of Jerusalem fled because of them, she became a dwelling-place of strangers; estranged from her own offspring, her children forsook her. ³⁹Her sanctuary became as forsaken as a desert, her feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into a mockery, her honour into reproach. ⁴⁰Her dishonour now fully matched her former glory, her greatness was turned into grief.

⁴¹The king then issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each nation renouncing its particular customs. ⁴²All the gentiles conformed to the king's decree, ⁴³and many Israelites chose to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the Sabbath. ⁴⁴The king also sent edicts by messenger to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, directing them to adopt customs foreign to the country, ⁴⁵banning burnt offerings, sacrifices and libations from the sanctuary, profaning Sabbaths and feasts, ⁴⁶defiling the sanctuary and everything holy, ⁴⁷building altars, shrines and temples for idols, sacrificing pigs and unclean beasts, ⁴⁸leaving their sons uncircumcised, and prostituting themselves to all kinds of impurity and abomination, ⁴⁹so that they should forget the Law and revoke all observance of it. ⁵⁰Anyone not obeying the king's command was to be put to death. ⁵¹Writing in such terms to every part of his kingdom, the king appointed inspectors for the whole people and directed all the towns of Judah to offer sacrifice city by city. ⁵²Many of the people—that is, every apostate from the Law—rallied to them and so committed evil in the country, ⁵³forcing Israel into hiding in any possible place of refuge. ⁵⁴On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year 145 the king built the appalling abomination on top of the altar of burnt offering; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah ⁵⁵and incense offered at the doors of houses and in the streets. ⁵⁶Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. ⁵⁷Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising the Law, the king's decree sentenced him to death. ⁵⁸Month after month they took harsh action against any offenders they discovered in the towns of Israel. ⁵⁹On the twenty-fifth day of each month, sacrifice was offered on the altar erected on top of the altar of burnt offering. ⁶⁰Women who had had their children circumcised were put to death according to the edict ⁶¹with their babies hung round their necks, and the members of their household and those who had performed the circumcision were executed with them. ⁶²Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean food. ⁶³They chose death rather than contamination by such fare or profanation of the holy covenant, and they were executed. ⁶⁴It was a truly dreadful retribution that visited Israel.

Mattathias. (1Mace.2.1-26)

2¹About then, Mattathias son of John, son of Simeon, a priest of the line of Joarib, left Jerusalem and settled in Modein. ²He had five sons, John known as Gaddi, ³Simon called Thassi, ⁴Judas called Maccabaeus, ⁵Eleazar, called Avaran, and Jonathan called Apphus. ⁶When he saw the blasphemies being committed in Judah and Jerusalem, ⁷he said, 'Alas that I should have been born to witness the ruin of my people and the ruin of the Holy City, and to sit by while she is delivered over to her enemies, and the sanctuary into the hand of foreigners. ⁸'Her Temple has become like someone of no repute, ⁹the vessels that were her glory have been carried off as booty, her babies have been slaughtered in her streets, her young men by the enemy's sword. ¹⁰Is there a nation that has not claimed a share of her royal prerogatives, that has not taken some of her spoils? ¹¹All her ornaments have been snatched from her, her former freedom has become slavery. ¹²See how the Holy Place, our beauty, our glory, is now laid waste, see how the gentiles have profaned it! ¹³What have we left to live for?' ¹⁴Mattathias and his sons tore their garments, put on sackcloth, and observed deep mourning. ¹⁵The king's commissioners who were enforcing the apostasy came to the town of Modein for the sacrifices. ¹⁶Many Israelites gathered round them, but Mattathias and his sons drew apart. ¹⁷The king's commissioners then addressed Mattathias as follows, 'You are a respected leader, a great man in this town; you have sons and brothers to support you. ¹⁸Be the first to step forward and conform to the king's decree, as all the nations have done, and the leaders of Judah and the survivors in Jerusalem; you and your sons shall be reckoned among the Friends of the King, you and your sons will be honoured with gold and silver and many presents.' ¹⁹Raising his voice, Mattathias retorted, 'Even if every nation living in the king's dominions obeys him, each forsaking its ancestral religion to conform to his decrees, ²⁰I, my sons and my brothers will still follow the covenant of our ancestors. ²¹May Heaven preserve us from forsaking the Law and its observances. ²²As for the king's orders, we will not follow them: we shall not swerve from our own religion either to right or to left.' ²³As he finished speaking, a Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein as the royal edict required. ²⁴When Mattathias saw this, he was fired with zeal; stirred to the depth of his being, he gave vent to his legitimate anger, threw himself on the man and slaughtered him on the altar. ²⁵At the same time he killed the king's commissioner who was there to enforce the sacrifice, and tore down the altar. ²⁶In his zeal for the Law he acted as Phinehas had against Zimri son of Salu.

Mattathias' guerrilla warfare. (1Mace.2.27-48)

²⁷Then Mattathias went through the town, shouting at the top of his voice, 'Let everyone who has any zeal for the Law and takes his stand on the covenant come out and follow me.' ²⁸Then he fled with his sons into the hills, leaving all their possessions behind in the town. ²⁹Many people who were concerned for virtue and justice went down to the desert and stayed there, ³⁰taking with them their sons, their wives and their cattle, so oppressive had their sufferings become. ³¹Word was brought to the royal officials and forces stationed in Jerusalem, in the City of David, that those who had repudiated the king's edict had gone down to the hiding places in the desert. ³²A strong detachment went after them, and when it came up with them ranged itself against them in battle formation, preparing to attack them on the Sabbath day, ³³and said, 'Enough of this! Come out and do as the king orders and you will be spared.' ³⁴The others, however, replied, 'We refuse to come out, and we will not obey the king's orders and profane the Sabbath day.' ³⁵The royal forces at once went into action, ³⁶but the others offered no opposition; not a stone was thrown, there was no barricading of the hiding places. ³⁷They only said, 'Let us all die innocent; let heaven and earth bear witness that you are massacring us with no pretence of justice.' ³⁸The attack was pressed home on the Sabbath itself, and they were slaughtered, with their wives and children and cattle, to the number of one thousand persons. ³⁹When the news reached Mattathias and his friends, they mourned them bitterly ⁴⁰and said to one another, 'If we all do as our brothers have done, and refuse to fight the gentiles for our lives and institutions, they will only destroy us the sooner from the earth.' ⁴¹So then and there they came to this decision, 'If anyone attacks us on the Sabbath day, whoever he may be, we shall resist him; we must not all be killed, as our brothers were in the hiding places.' ⁴²Soon they were joined by the Hasidaean party, stout fighting men of Israel, each one a volunteer on the side of the Law. ⁴³All the refugees from the persecution rallied to them, giving them added support. ⁴⁴They organised themselves into an armed force, striking down the sinners in their anger, and the renegades in their fury, and those who escaped them fled to the gentiles for safety. ⁴⁵Mattathias and his friends made a tour, overthrowing the altars ⁴⁶and forcibly circumcising all the boys they found uncircumcised in the territories of Israel. ⁴⁷They hunted down the upstarts and managed their campaign to good effect. ⁴⁸They wrested the Law out of the control of the gentiles and the kings and reduced the sinners to impotence.

Death of Mattathias. (1Mace.2.49-70)

⁴⁹As the days of Mattathias were drawing to a close, he said to his sons, 'Arrogance and outrage are now in the ascendant; it is a period of turmoil and bitter hatred. ⁵⁰This is the time, my children, for you to have a burning zeal for the Law and to give your lives for the covenant of our ancestors. ⁵¹Remember the deeds performed by our ancestors, each in his generation, and you will win great honour and everlasting renown. ⁵²Was not Abraham tested and found faithful, was that not considered as justifying him? ⁵³Joseph in the time of his distress maintained the Law, and so became lord of Egypt. ⁵⁴Phinehas, our father, in return for his burning zeal, received the covenant of everlasting priesthood. ⁵⁵Joshua, for carrying out his task, became judge of Israel. ⁵⁶Caleb, for his testimony before the assembled people, received an inheritance in the land. ⁵⁷David for his generous heart inherited the throne of an everlasting kingdom. ⁵⁸Elijah for his consuming fervour for the Law was caught up to heaven itself. ⁵⁹Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, for their fidelity, were saved from the flame. ⁶⁰Daniel for his singleness of heart was rescued from the lion's jaws. ⁶¹Know then that, generation after generation, no one who hopes in him will be overcome. ⁶²Do not fear the threats of the sinner, all his brave show must come to the dunghill and the worms. ⁶³Exalted today, tomorrow he is nowhere to be found, for he has returned to the dust he came from and his scheming is brought to nothing. ⁶⁴My children, be resolute and courageous for the Law, for it will bring you glory. ⁶⁵'Here is your brother Simeon, I know he is a man of sound judgement. Listen to him all your lives; let him take your father's place. ⁶⁶Judas Maccabaeus, strong and brave from his youth, let him be your general and conduct the war against the gentiles. ⁶⁷The rest of you are to enrol in your ranks all those who keep the Law, and to assure the vengeance of your people. ⁶⁸Pay back the gentiles to the full, and hold fast to the ordinance of the Law.' ⁶⁹Then he blessed them and was joined to his ancestors. ⁷⁰He died in the year 146 and was buried in his ancestral tomb at Modein, and all Israel mourned him deeply.