Chapter Nine

The renewal of the war with the Syrians and the death of Judas (Antt. XII, 11) (1 Macc 9:1-22). The wretched state of Israel and the election of Jonathan as leader and commander of the people (1 Macc 9:23-31). Jonathan’s retreat into the wilderness of Tekoa; the loss of John, seized by “the sons of Jambri” along with his entire caravan; Jonathan’s vengeance for him; the battle with Bacchides at the river Jordan (1 Macc 9:32-50). Bacchides’s fortification of the country (1 Macc 9:50-53). Alcimus’s wicked enterprise and his death (1 Macc 9:54-57). Bacchides’s second war with Jonathan and the conclusion of peace (1 Macc 9:58-73).

1 Maccabees 9:1. When Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his soldiers had fallen in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus a second time into the land of Judea, and with them the right wing. Having heard of Nicanor’s defeat (VII:43 ff.), Demetrius sends Bacchides and Alcimus to Judea a second time “and with them the right wing...” — an expression that is not entirely clear. The more correct interpretation is that this refers to the southern portion of the army, which stood closest to Judea. The dispatch of this detachment took place, without doubt, before the conclusion of Judas’s alliance with the Romans, and in any case before the dispatch or receipt of the letter from the Roman Senate to King Demetrius mentioned in VIII:31 ff.

1 Maccabees 9:2. And they set out on the road to Galgala and encamped at Mesaloth, which is in Arbela, and seizing it they destroyed many people. “They set out... to Galgala and encamped at Mesaloth, which is in Arbela...” These place identifications cannot be determined with certainty today. Γάλγαλα in the LXX (cf. Josh 4:19 and 2 Kgs 2:1 and others) is the name of three localities in Palestine. Since it cannot be the Gilgal that lay between Jericho and the Jordan, the search must be among the other two, situated to the north and northwest of Jerusalem. It was, therefore, either the Gilgal at the site of the present large village of Dschildschule — between Gophna (Jifna) and Nablus, 2½ miles south of the latter (Deut 11:30), or at the site of the present Dschildschule — east or southeast of Kefr Saba (Antipatris) on the road from Damascus to Egypt — which may be assumed in Josh 12:23. This latter is also the candidate for the present passage, suggested both by the expression “they set out on the road to Galgala,” ὁδὸν τὴν εἰς Γάλγαλα, where a well-known main or military road is evidently implied — and also by the circumstance that an army wishing to advance as quickly as possible would have chosen the nearest open caravan route through the valley rather than the difficult mountain road from Shechem to Jerusalem. If this assumption about Galgala is correct, Μαισαλὼθ ἡ ἐν Ἀρβήλοις should be sought between Dschildschule and Jerusalem, perhaps at the ascent from the valley into the hilly terrain. Neither Μαισαλώθ nor Ἄρβηλα (setting aside..., Hos 10:14) are mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. And from “Mesaloth, which is in Arbela” one can only conclude that Arbela is a district name, not a town.

1 Maccabees 9:3–4. In the first month of the one hundred and fifty-second year they encamped against Jerusalem, but they broke camp and marched to Berea with twenty thousand men and two thousand cavalry. “In the first month of year 152...” (Seleucid era), thus shortly after the defeat of Nicanor (IX:3) — as quickly as possible, so as not to give Judas time to gather his forces — “...they marched to Berea...” in order to strike at Judas, who “had encamped at Elasa...” (v. 5). The location of both of these places — Berea and Elasa — is unknown. One thing that can be assumed with reasonable certainty is that the site of the clash between the opposing sides was west or southwest of Jerusalem.

1 Maccabees 9:5–6. And Judas had encamped at Elasa, and three thousand chosen men were with him. But when they saw the multitude of the army, how great it was, they were greatly afraid, and many from his camp fled, and no more than eight hundred men remained of them. “The war was oppressing him...” — Greek: ὁ πόλεμος ἔθλιβεν αὐτόν, Slavonic: “the battle was grieving him...” — i.e., it was bringing him sorrow by its inescapability.

1 Maccabees 9:7–10. When Judas saw that his troops had fled and the war was oppressing him, he was troubled at heart, because he had no time to gather them. He was grieved and said to those who remained: let us rise and go against our enemies; perhaps we shall be able to fight with them. But they were discouraging him and saying: we are not able, but let us now save our lives and then return with our brothers, and after that we will fight against them — but right now we are few. But Judas said: no, let it never happen to me that I flee from them; but if our hour has come, let us die bravely for our brothers and leave no stain on our glory. “No, let it never happen to me!” — μή μοι γένιτο ποιήσαι, Slavonic: “Let me not do this thing!” — “If our hour has come...” — ὁ καιρός — the time appointed for us, i.e., the time of death (Slavonic: “if our time has drawn near”).

1 Maccabees 9:11. And the army moved out of the camp and took a position against them; the cavalry was divided into two divisions, and the slingers and archers went in front of the army, and all the powerful men at the front. “And the army moved out...” — ἡ δύναμις — i.e., the Syrian army, whose formation into battle order is then described in more detail.

1 Maccabees 9:12–15. Bacchides was on the right wing, and the detachments drew near from both sides and they sounded the trumpets. Those with Judas also sounded the trumpets, and the earth shook at the noise of the armies, and the battle was fierce from morning until evening. When Judas saw that Bacchides and the strongest part of his force was on the right side, all the bravehearted rallied to him, and the right wing was broken by them, and they pursued them as far as Mount Azotus. “They pursued them as far as Mount Azotus...” — ἕως Ἀζώτου ὄρους ... This reference raises considerable difficulty, which Josephus had already tried to resolve by reading Ἄζατου ὄρους in this passage. However, if one assumes that the battle took place to the west of Jerusalem on the border of the hills enclosing the Philistine plain, then Azotus could have been only 3–4 miles from the battlefield, and a pursuit of the enemy to the vicinity of that city or its hill would have been entirely feasible.

1 Maccabees 9:16. When those on the left wing saw that the right wing was broken, they turned and followed on the heels of Judas and those with him, from behind. “Turned and followed on the heels of Judas” — ἐπέστρεψαν κατὰ πόδας — more precisely in the Slavonic: “turned in the footsteps of Judas...”

1 Maccabees 9:17. And the battle was fierce, and many fell slain on both sides, “The battle was fierce...” — καί ἐβαρύνθη ὁ πόλεμος — more precisely in the Slavonic: “and the battle was made heavy...”

1 Maccabees 9:18–21. and Judas fell, and the rest fled. And Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother and buried him in the tomb of his fathers at Modein. And all the Israelites wept for him and mourned greatly, and were sorrowful for many days and said: how has the mighty one fallen, who saved Israel? “How has the mighty one fallen?” — an echo of David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan — 2 Sam 1:19: “...how have the mighty fallen?”

1 Maccabees 9:22. The rest of the deeds of Judas, and his battles and brave acts that he performed, and his greatness are not recorded, for there were very many of them. Conclusion of the history of Judas. “The rest of the deeds of Judas...” — τὰ περισσὰ τῶν λόγων Ἰούδα — more precisely in the Slavonic: “the rest of the words and battles of Judas...” — i.e., the remaining part of the accounts about Judas or of his history — the customary formula at the conclusion of accounts about the kings of Israel and Judah (1 Kgs 11:41 and others), with only this difference: that there the reader is normally referred to where their remaining acts are recorded, whereas here, on the contrary, it is noted that they “are not recorded” (οὐ κατεγράφη) — and it remains unclear whether the author intended to say that they are not recorded in this book of his, or that they are not recorded in the source he was using for his account of the history of Judas. The analogy with the cited passages from the Books of Kings, and especially the comparison with XVI:23, argues for the latter interpretation.

1 Maccabees 9:23. After the death of Judas, lawless men appeared throughout all the regions of Israel, and all the workers of iniquity rose up. After the death of Judas (160 BC), Jonathan succeeded him, and the account of Jonathan continues unbroken through XII:53. The apostate party among the Jews, suppressed and enfeebled for a long time by Judas’s vigorous action against it (VII:24), raised its head again after his death and came forward to help the Syrians in oppressing the faithful. To complete the calamity of the latter, a severe famine broke out, which was also connected with the surge of the apostates, who had grown greatly in number. This is reflected in the remark of v. 24 that “the land joined sides with them” — ηὐτομόλησεν ἡ χώρα μετ᾿ αὐτῶν — more precisely in the Slavonic: “and the land fell away with them...” This interpretation presupposes that the apostates exploited the famine (by obstructing the acquisition of bread) for their own ends — enlarging their party — and acted so successfully in this regard that one could say in truth that the whole land had been carried along with them. There is, however, another interpretation of this passage, perhaps the more accurate one. It assumes here a poetic expression of the thought that “even the land,” i.e., the earth itself, the soil (as people say even now — nature itself), having refused to yield its harvests, as it were fell away from its law — of nourishing its children — took the side of the people’s enemies (“fell away with them”) and along with them rose against those in Israel who were faithful to God.

1 Maccabees 9:24–27. In those very days there was a very severe famine, and the land joined sides with them. And Bacchides chose wicked men and set them as rulers over the land. They would search out and track down the friends of Judas and bring them to Bacchides, who punished and mocked them. And there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the day when prophets ceased to be seen among them. “Since the day when prophets ceased to be seen among them...” The last prophet, as is well known, was Malachi in the time of Nehemiah — around 440 BC. Here a question naturally arises that is far from superfluous: why does the author, wishing to indicate the time since which there had not been such a calamity as the one he is describing, refer to the last prophet, rather than directly recalling some other comparable national disaster from the past — for example, the destruction of the Temple by the Chaldeans, or (like Josephus) at least the Babylonian captivity? — This is explained by the significance of the prophets as the best comforters in times of national calamity, in the view of the people themselves. By shedding the rays of divine revelations into the dark night of national suffering, the prophets at the same time pointed out the means and paths to the removal of the calamity. This consolation in affliction had been lacking to the people since the days of Malachi. The faithful Jews, who had rallied around the courageous Maccabees and gone into battle and death with prayer on their lips, had now lost with Judas their last hope for a victorious end to the war. In the person of this hero had fallen “the one who saved Israel” — σώζων τὸν Ἰσραήλ (v. 21) — who could only have been replaced in his significance and influence on the people by a prophet! It was this that made the weight of the coming calamity felt all the more heavily — such as had not been “since the day when prophets ceased to be seen among them...”

1 Maccabees 9:28–29. Then all the friends of Judas gathered together and said to Jonathan: since the time your brother Judas died, there has been no man like him to go out against the enemies and against Bacchides and against those who hate our people. “Against those who hate our people...” — καί ἐν τοῖς ἐχθραίνουσι — Slavonic: “against those warring against our nation...” Here we are to understand the pagans and apostates who had come out as enemies of the Jewish people.

1 Maccabees 9:30–33. Therefore, now we have chosen you to be our commander and leader in his place, to lead our war. And Jonathan accepted the leadership at that time and took the place of Judas his brother. And Bacchides learned of it and sought to kill him. Jonathan and Simon his brother learned of this, and all those who were with them fled into the wilderness of Tekoa and encamped by the water of the pool of Asphar. The wilderness of Tekoa begins about two hours’ journey southeast of Bethlehem and extends to the Dead Sea — it is a steppe very suitable for livestock. — Λάκκος Ἀσφάρ — not “lake Asphar” but precisely Λάκκος, which in the LXX corresponds to the Hebrew... — cisterns, artificial reservoirs, as in 2 Chr 26:10. — The site and name of these cisterns are not more precisely known.

1 Maccabees 9:34. Bacchides, learning of this on the day of the Sabbath, crossed over with all his army to the other side of the Jordan. The remark — about Bacchides’s crossing over the Jordan after receiving news of Jonathan’s retreat into the wilderness of Tekoa — is obscure and requires explanation: it is apparently unclear why Bacchides would cross the Jordan if he wanted to find Jonathan’s force, which had encamped in the wilderness of Tekoa, i.e., on the western side of the Dead Sea. It is also unclear why it was necessary to state that Bacchides learned the news “on the day of the Sabbath” — which clarifies nothing about the matter and appears entirely superfluous. The obscurity is further complicated here by the fact that the content of this verse (v. 34) anticipates the subsequent episode from the history of John, vv. 34–42, after which it is again repeated in its main features (v. 43) and connected with what follows. Clearly the historian intended to narrate directly about the confrontation between Bacchides and Jonathan at the Jordan (v. 44 ff.), but suddenly recalled that he had not yet reported how Jonathan with his company came to the Jordan, and so he inserted this event into his narrative in the form of a separate episode.

1 Maccabees 9:35. And Jonathan sent his brother — commander of the people — and asked his friends the Nabateans to allow him to store his large supply with them. “He sent his brother...” — His name is given in the following verse 36: it was John. — “Commander of the people...” — “The people” (ὁ ὄχλος) here in the sense of “crowd,” which in this case consisted partly of a detachment to escort the “supplies,” and partly of the crowds of old men, women, and children who were to be given refuge among the Nabateans (see note on V:25).

1 Maccabees 9:36. But the sons of Jambri came out from Medeba and seized John and all that he had, and went off. This caravan of John was seized in its entirety and carried off by “the sons of Jambri from Medeba,” while John himself perished (cf. v. 42). Οἱ υἱοί Ἀμβρί — i.e., “the descendants of Jambri” — are not mentioned elsewhere; Medeba — the place of their settlement — was originally an Amorite or Moabite city, then a border city of the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:9), later again in the possession of the Moabites, and by that time probably settled by Nabateans — it still exists under this name in ruins.

1 Maccabees 9:37. After these events, Jonathan and Simon his brother were told that the sons of Jambri were celebrating a grand wedding and were escorting the bride from Nadabath with great pomp — the daughter of one of the great nobles of Canaan. Nadabath, Ναδαβάθ — an unknown place, identified with the village of Nudeibe in Wady el-Butm.

1 Maccabees 9:38–42. Then they remembered John their brother and went out and hid under cover of the hill. They raised their eyes and looked: there were shouts and a large bridal procession; the groom and his friends and brothers came out to meet them with tambourines and music and many weapons. Then those with Jonathan rose against them from ambush and struck them down, and many fell slain, while the rest fled to the hill; and they seized all their belongings. And the wedding celebration was turned into mourning, and the sound of their music into lamentation. So they avenged the blood of their brother and returned to the marshy place by the Jordan. “They returned to the marshy place by the Jordan...” — The Jordan before its emptying into the Dead Sea periodically overflows its banks. According to the account of an American traveler who explored this river, the Jordan flooded both banks in one place to a depth of 12 feet. Since in that place the eastern bank is more sloped, the overflowing water formed between the river and the mountains on the eastern shore of the sea a sizable bay. This bay, opposite Medeba, could well be the τὸ ἕλος — the marshy place on the eastern side of the Jordan where Jonathan encamped.

1 Maccabees 9:43. And Bacchides heard of this — and on the day of the Sabbath came to the banks of the Jordan with a large army. Here the narrator continues the account broken off at v. 34 by the story about Jonathan. From comparing these two verses with vv. 44 and following, it is evident that Bacchides stationed troops not only at the fords of the Jordan on the western side, but also advanced further north up the Jordan, in order to cut off all Jonathan’s escape routes and deal with him more effectively in the open and marshy lowland of the Jordan’s bank.

1 Maccabees 9:44–50. Then Jonathan said to those who were with him: let us rise now and fight for our lives, for today is not like yesterday and the day before. Look, the enemy is before us and behind us; the waters of the Jordan are on both sides, and swamp and forest, and there is nowhere to turn. So now cry out to Heaven so that you may be delivered from the hand of your enemies. And the battle began. And Jonathan stretched out his hand to strike Bacchides, but he turned back from him. And Jonathan and those with him leaped into the Jordan and swam across to the other side, and they did not cross the Jordan after them. And about a thousand men fell on Bacchides’s side that day. And he returned to Jerusalem and built strong cities in Judea: a fortress in Jericho, and Emmaus and Beth-horon, and Bethel and Timnath in Pharathon, and Tephon with high walls, gates, and bars, “He built strong cities in Judea...” — ᾠκοδόμησε — means not only “building anew” but also the rebuilding and equipping of fortresses and fortifications. — “A fortress in Jericho...” — τὸ ὀχύρωμα τὸ ἐν Ἰεριχώ — therefore not Jericho itself (as Josephus represents). Strabo — XVI, p. 763 — mentions two fortresses situated at Jericho — Taurus and Thrax — which Pompey destroyed. — “Emmaus” — see note on III:40. — “Beth-horon...” — see note on III:16. — “Bethel...” — frequently occurring in the Old Testament — 12 miles north of Jerusalem, the present-day Beitin. — “Timnath in Pharathon...” — Θαμναθά Φαραθωνί — Slavonic: “in Timnath and Pharathon...” There are several significant textual variants at this point. Some texts read Φαραθών, and in Josephus — Φαραθώ, and in both cases the two names are also separated by the conjunction “and” (as preserved in the Slavonic text): Θαμνοθά καί Φαραθώ. In Θαμνοθά the Hebrew... or... resonates (Josh 15:57 and others) and Φαραθών... Judg 12:5. — There are three cities named Timnath in the Bible: 1) in the hills of Judah, Josh 15:57 — its location has not yet been determined; 2) in the tribe of Dan, Josh 15:10; Judg 14:1 ff. — the present Tibneh, 4–5 hours’ journey west of Ain-Shems; 3) in the tribe of Ephraim, with the added designation..., Josh 19:50; Judg 2:9 — the present Tibneh, 7 hours’ journey north of Jerusalem and 2 hours west of Dschildschilia; this last one need not be counted here, as it probably belonged already to Samaria and thus should scarcely be included. — Pharathon corresponds either to the village of Ferata — 2½ hours west or southwest of Nablus — or the village of Faraun — 6 hours west of Nablus. Ferata is 3 miles from Timnath-Serah, 4¼ from Timnath in the tribe of Dan; Faraun is 4¼ from the first and 8 miles from the second (in a straight line on the map). If Φαραθών is identical with one of these points, then clearly this word should not appear as an appositive of Θαμναθά distinguishing it from another place of the same name, but should have its own independent meaning, being joined to what precedes — as in the variant reading — by the conjunction “and.” The only thing speaking against this view is that this Φαραθών lay without doubt in Samaria, not in Judea. But if Φαραθών is distinguished from Ferata and Faraun, it may also be an appositive of Θαμναθά. — Τεφών (Τεφώ — in some codices), in the opinion of some scholars, is the village of Teffuh situated to the west of Hebron (the ancient..., Josh 15:53), where to this day large sections of old fortress walls can be seen among the houses. But there are also two other Tappuahs that may have needed fortifying: one in the Shephelah (Josh 15:34), and the last (third) to the west of Nablus (Josh 16:8), which, however, probably already belonged to Samaria and should therefore scarcely be counted here.

1 Maccabees 9:51–52. and he placed garrisons in them to harass Israel. He also fortified the city of Beth-zur and Gazara and the citadel and left troops in them with provisions, “The city of Beth-zur...” — More correctly the variant reading of this place: τὴν πόλιν τὴν Βαιθσούραν (Sinai codex; Latin — emiatem Bethsuram). On Beth-zur see IV:29; on Gazara — note on IV:15.

1 Maccabees 9:53–54. and he took the sons of the leading men of the land as hostages and placed them under guard in the citadel in Jerusalem. In the one hundred and fifty-third year, in the second month, Alcimus ordered the demolition of the wall of the inner court of the temple and the destruction of the work of the prophets; and he had already begun the demolition. “In the 153rd year (Seleucid era), in the second month...” — in April or May of 159 BC, one year after the death of Judas. — “He ordered the demolition of the wall of the inner court of the temple...” — This “inner court of the temple” is the court of the priests. It must be borne in mind that the temple of Zerubbabel, built on the model of Solomon’s, had only two courts, of which the priestly one — with the altar of burnt offering in the middle — is explicitly called the inner court (1 Kgs 6:36, cf. 2 Chr 4:9). The wall of this court, therefore, is not the so-called “Soreg,” i.e., the low partition that separated the court of the Jews from the court of the Gentiles, but the actual wall between the court of the priests and the court of the people, by the removal of which Alcimus wished to strip the temple of its distinctive theocratic character. The author calls this undertaking the destruction of “the work of the prophets,” viewing the construction of the temple and the entire arrangement and plan of the sanctuary as the work of divine inspiration, basing this on Exod 25:9; 1 Chr 28:19, and having in view how the prophets Haggai and Zechariah had taken care that the restoration of the temple should be carried out according to the pattern indicated by God.

1 Maccabees 9:55–57. But at that very moment Alcimus was struck down and his undertakings were halted; his mouth was shut, he became mute and could no longer utter a single word or give instructions about his household. And Alcimus died at that time in great torment. When Bacchides learned that Alcimus had died, he returned to the king; and the land of Judea had two years of rest. Upon receiving news of Alcimus’s death, Bacchides returned to the king. Since Alcimus — by seeking the high priesthood and stirring up the king against the faithful Jews — had also brought about the sending of Bacchides to Judea (VII:5 ff.), the death of this ambitious man, who had energetically advanced the Hellenizing plans of the Syrians in Judea, could be a sufficient inducement for Bacchides’s return, for he now found himself alone and insufficiently strong for his task. This does not exclude other motives for his return suggested by commentators, such as, for example, the arrival of a Roman embassy with a demand to cease the harassment of Judea (VIII:31 ff.) and similar factors.

1 Maccabees 9:58. Then all the lawless men took counsel together and said: see, Jonathan and those who are with him are living in safety and at peace; let us now bring Bacchides, and he will seize them all in a single night. “Jonathan and those who are with him...” — i.e., his trusted friends and the leaders of the faithful people who were living with Jonathan. — “Are living in safety and at peace...” — κατοικοῦσι πεποιθότες — i.e., “fearing nothing evil.”

1 Maccabees 9:59–62. They went and put this plan to him. He decided to march with a large army and secretly sent letters to all his allies who were in Judea, to seize Jonathan and those who were with him; but they were unable to, because their scheme became known. And Jonathan’s men seized about fifty of the men of the land who were the ringleaders of this evil and put them to death. Then Jonathan and Simon and those with them withdrew to Bethbasi, which is in the wilderness, and they rebuilt what had been demolished there and fortified the city. “Bethbasi,” to which Jonathan withdrew with his men, is completely unknown.

1 Maccabees 9:63–65. When Bacchides learned of this, he gathered all his army, sending word also to those who were in Judea, came and besieged Bethbasi, and fought against it for many days and built siege engines. But Jonathan left Simon his brother in the city and went out into the country, and went out with a small number, “Went out with a small number...” — ἐν ἀριθμῷ — more precisely in the Slavonic: “went out in number” — i.e., in such a quantity that it could easily be counted, “with a countable few,” as people still say today.

1 Maccabees 9:66. and struck down Odomera and his brothers and the sons of Phasiron in their tents and began to strike and advance with force. About “Odomera (Ὀδοαρρής; otherwise Ὀδομηρά, as in the Slavonic) and his brothers and the sons of Phasiron” one can only say that they were probably Bedouin families living in the vicinity of Bethbasi and mentioned nowhere else.

1 Maccabees 9:67. Then Simon and those with him sallied out from the city and burned the siege engines, The second half of the preceding verse: “began to strike and advance with force...” already refers to Jonathan’s actions against those besieging Bethbasi, and must be read in connection with what follows as a subordinate clause of circumstantial time in relation to the main clause. The sense here is therefore as follows: “Having strengthened himself with the victory over the Bedouin chiefs and the addition of new comrades from among the faithful Jews, Jonathan gained the ability to strike and advance against the besiegers with greater force.” It was then that Simon, coordinating his actions with Jonathan’s intentions, made a successful sortie from the city, destroying the enemy’s siege engines with fire. What follows (v. 68) is clear in itself: “and they fought against Bacchides...” — both brothers, Simon from within the city with sorties and Jonathan by advancing from without — and through these combined operations Bacchides “was routed by them...”

1 Maccabees 9:68–72. and they fought against Bacchides, and he was routed by them; this caused him great distress, because his plan and campaign had come to nothing. He was very angry with the lawless men who had advised him to go into that country, and he killed many of them, and he resolved to return to his own land. When Jonathan learned of this, he sent elders to him to make peace and to arrange for him to return the prisoners. He accepted this and did as he had said, and swore to him that he would not do him any harm for all the days of his life; and he returned to him the prisoners he had previously taken in the land of Judea, and returned to his own land and did not come again into their territory. Having returned all the prisoners under his treaty with Jonathan, Bacchides departed to Syria, never again to trouble Judea. However, the Syrian garrison remained in the citadel of Jerusalem even after this, and the Jewish hostages held there under guard were not returned (IX:53; cf. X:6).

1 Maccabees 9:73. And the sword rested from Israel, and Jonathan settled in Michmash; and Jonathan began to judge the people and destroyed the wicked from Israel. “And the sword rested from Israel...” — κατέπαυσε ἐξ Ἰσραήλ — i.e., it was at rest and remained far from Israel — ῥομφαία — the sword of war, more precisely in the Slavonic: “and the sword ceased from Israel.” — This peace of the sword lasted until the year 160 of the Seleucid era, i.e., 152 BC — that is, (assuming that the war begun after v. 58 was resolved within a year) a full 4 years (cf. X:1). — “Michmash” — Μαχμάς (Micmas) — the place of Jonathan’s settlement after the war — is at present a ruined village of Mukhmas, 9 miles or 3½ hours’ journey north of Jerusalem (1 Sam 13:2). — “Began to judge the people...” — This does not yet signify fully autonomous rule by Jonathan over Judea, which is noted only later, but only for now the unobstructed right of adjudication in civil matters of the people, on the basis of Mosaic law and legal order. Syrian dominion was still present, making itself known by such irrefutable signs as tribute to the Syrian king, Syrian garrisons in the external fortresses of the country and in the very center of it — Jerusalem, hostages, and so on. — Only in X:6, 10 ff. are these unpleasant aspects and signs of foreign domination mentioned as weakening and being removed. * * * The Books of Maccabees have been translated from the Greek, since they do not exist in the Hebrew text. Our Telegram channel