1 Maccabees, Chapter 3
1
Then his son Judas, called Maccabeus, rose up in his place.
2
And all his brothers helped him, and all those who had joined themselves to his father, and they fought with cheerfulness the battle of Israel.
3
And he got his people great honor, And put on a breastplate as a giant, And girt his warlike armor about him in battles, And protected the camp with the sword.
4
In his acts he was like a lion, And like a lion's whelp roaring for his prey.
5
And he pursued the wicked and sought them out, And those who troubled his people he burned.
6
And the wicked were driven away for fear of him, And all the workers of iniquity were troubled: And salvation prospered in his hand.
7
And he grieved many kings, And made Jacob glad with his works, And his memory is blessed forever.
8
And he went through the cities of Judah, And destroyed the wicked out of them, And turned away wrath from Israel.
9
And he was renowned even to the utmost part of the earth, And he gathered those who were perishing.
10
And Apollonius gathered together the nations, and a great army from Samaria, to make war against Israel.
11
And Judas understood it, and went forth to meet him: and he overthrew him, and killed him: and many fell down slain, and the rest fled away.
12
And he took their spoils, and Judas took the sword of Apollonius, and fought with it all his lifetime.
13
And Seron captain of the army of Syria heard that Judas had assembled a company of the faithful, and a congregation with him.
14
And he said: I will get myself a name, and will be glorified in the kingdom, and will overthrow Judas, and those who are with him, who have despised the edict of the king.
15
And he continued further: and the host of the wicked went up with him, strong helpers, to be revenged of the sons of Israel.
16
And he approached even as far as Beth-horon: and Judas went forth to meet him, with a small company.
17
But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas: How shall we, being few, be able to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, and we are ready to faint with fasting today?
18
And Judas said: It is an easy matter for many to be shut up in the hands of a few: and there is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven to deliver with a great multitude, or with a small company:
19
For the success of war is not in the multitude of the army, but strength comes from heaven.
20
They come against us with a multitude of insult, and of lawlessness, to destroy us, and our wives, and our children, and to take our spoils.
21
But we will fight for our souls and our ordinances:
22
And the Lord himself will overthrow them before our face: but as for you⁺, don't fear them.
23
And as soon as he had made an end of speaking, he rushed suddenly on them: and Seron and his host were overthrown before him:
24
And he pursued him by the descent of Beth-horon even to the plain, and there fell of them eight hundred men, and the rest fled into the land of the Philistines.
25
And the fear of Judas and of his brothers, and the dread of them began upon the nations round about them.
26
And his fame came to the king, and the nations told of the battles of Judas.
27
Now when King Antiochus heard these words, he was angry in his mind: and he sent and gathered the forces of all his kingdom, an exceedingly strong army.
28
And he opened his treasury, and gave out pay to the army for a year: and he commanded them, that they should be ready for all things.
29
And he perceived that the silver of his treasures failed, and that the tributes of the country were small because of the dissension, and the evil that he had brought on the land, that he might take away the laws of old times.
30
And he feared that he should not have as formerly enough, for charges and gifts, which he had given before with a liberal hand: for he had abounded more than the kings who had been before him.
31
And he was greatly perplexed in his soul, and purposed to go into Persia, and to take tributes of the countries, and to gather much silver.
32
And he left Lysias, a nobleman of the royal seed, to oversee the affairs of the kingdom, from the river Euphrates even to the river of Egypt:
33
And to bring up his son Antiochus, until he came again.
34
And he delivered to him half the army, and the elephants: and he gave him charge concerning all that he would have done, and concerning the inhabitants of Judea, and Jerusalem.
35
And that he should send an army against them, to destroy and root out the strength of Israel, and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away the memory of them from that place.
36
And that he should settle foreigners to live in all their coasts, and divide their land by lot.[fn]
37
So the king took the half of the army that remained, and went forth from Antioch the chief city of his kingdom, in the hundred and forty-seventh year: and he passed over the river Euphrates, and went through the higher countries.
38
Then Lysias chose Ptolemy the [son] of Dorymenus, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men of the king's friends.
39
And he sent with them forces to go into the land of Judah, and to destroy it according to the king's orders.[fn]
40
So they went forth with all their power, and came, and pitched near Emmaus in the plain country.
41
And the merchants of the countries heard the fame of them: and they took silver and gold in abundance, and servants: and they came into the camp, to buy the sons of Israel for slaves: and there were joined to them the forces of Syria, and of the land of the strangers.
42
And Judas and his brothers saw that evils were multiplied, and that the armies approached to their borders: and they knew the orders the king had given to destroy the people and utterly abolish them.
43
And they said every man to his fellow man: Let's raise up the low condition of our people, and let's fight for our people, and our sanctuary.
44
And the assembly was gathered that they might be ready for battle: and that they might pray, and ask mercy and compassion.
45
Now Jerusalem was not inhabited, But was like a desert. There was none of her children who went in or out, And the sanctuary was trodden down. And the foreigners were in the castle, There was the habitation of the nations. And joy was taken away from Jacob, And the pipe and harp ceased there.[fn]
46
And they assembled together, and came to Maspha opposite Jerusalem: for in Maspha was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel.
47
And they fasted that day, and put on sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads. And they rent their garments.
48
And they laid open the books of the law, in which the nations searched for the likenesses of their idols.
49
And they brought the priestly ornaments, and the firstfruits and tithes, and stirred up the Nazarites who had fulfilled their days.
50
And they cried with a loud voice toward heaven, saying:What shall we do with these, And where shall we carry them?
51
For your holies are trodden down, and are profaned, And your priests are in mourning, and are brought low.
52
And look, the nations have come together against us to destroy us: You know what they intend against us.
53
How shall we be able to stand before their face, Unless you help us?
54
Then they sounded with trumpets, and cried out with a loud voice.
55
And after this Judas appointed captains over the people, over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens.
56
And he said to those who were building houses, or had betrothed wives, or were planting vineyards, or were fearful, that they should return every man to his house, according to the law.
57
So they removed the camp, and pitched on the south side of Emmaus.
58
And Judas said: Gird yourselves, and be sons of valor, and be ready against the morning, that you⁺ may fight with these nations that are assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary.[fn]
59
For it is better for us to die in battle, than to see the evils of our nation, and of the holies.
60
Nevertheless as it shall be the will of God in heaven so be it done.
Footnotes
36
foreigners, literally 'sons of foreigners'.
39
The Greek text reads 'forty thousand men, and seven thousand horsemen.' Military force sizes in 1 Maccabees are systematically inflated beyond what the Seleucid Empire could field. This figure matches 1 Chronicles 19:18 (the force defeated by David) exactly. The Syriac version reads ten thousand infantry. At the Daphne parade shortly before this battle, the entire western Seleucid army numbered only about forty-one thousand infantry and forty-five hundred cavalry (Polybius 30.25), and the king took most of it east (3:37). Modern military analysis estimates the actual task force at roughly ten thousand troops.
45
foreigners, literally 'sons of foreigners'.
58
sons of valor, based on the Hebrew words used at 2 Samuel 2:7, which contains the same Greek words as this verse.
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