1 Maccabees 14
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 14
Capture of Demetrius. 1 In the year one hundred and seventy-two, King Demetrius assembled his forces and marched into Media to obtain support for his war against Trypho.[a] 2 When Arsaces,[b] the king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius had invaded his territory, he sent one of his generals to take him alive. 3 The general marched forth and defeated the army of Demetrius. He captured him and brought him to Arsaces, who imprisoned him.
Glory of Simon[c]
4 The land was at peace all the days of Simon,
who sought the good of his people.
They were pleased at his rule
and with his magnificence throughout his life.
5 The crowning point of his glory was his capture of the port of Joppa,
affording him a gateway to the isles of the sea.
6 He enlarged the frontiers of his nation
and gained complete control of the country.
7 He took many captives
and conquered Gazara, Beth-zur, and the citadel.
He cleansed the citadel of its defilement;
no one was able to withstand him.
8 The people farmed their land in peace;
the ground yielded its produce
and the trees of the plain their fruit.
9 Old men sat in the squares;
all their conversation revolved around their prosperity,
while the young men were arrayed in splendid armor.
10 He supplied the towns with food
and equipped them with fortifications
until his renown resounded to the ends of the earth.
11 He established peace in the land,
and Israel was filled with great joy.
12 All the people sat under their own vines and fig trees,
and there was no one to make them afraid.
13 No one was left in the land to attack them;
the kings in those days had been crushed.
14 He gave help to the lowly among his people
and was zealous for the law,
suppressing all the lawless and the wicked.
15 He enhanced the splendor of the temple
and enriched it with many sacred vessels.
16 Renewal of the Alliance with Rome and Sparta. When the people heard in Rome and as far away as Sparta that Jonathan had died, they were deeply grieved.[d] 17 But when they heard that his brother Simon had succeeded him as high priest and that he was governing the country and the towns in it, 18 they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew the treaty of friendship and alliance that they had established with his brothers, Judas and Jonathan. 19 The terms of the treaty were read before the assembly in Jerusalem.
20 This is a copy of the letter sent by the Spartans: “The rulers and the citizens of Sparta send greetings to Simon the high priest and to the elders, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people, our brothers. 21 The envoys you sent to our people have informed us of your glory and fame, and we were overjoyed to receive them. 22 We have made a record of their report in the archives of our public assembly, as follows: ‘Numenius, the son of Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of Jason, have come to us to reaffirm their friendship with us. 23 The people have been pleased to receive these men with honor and to deposit a copy of their words in the public archives so that the people of Sparta may have a record of them. A copy of this document has been made for Simon the high priest.’ ”
24 After this, Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a large gold shield weighing one thousand minas, to confirm the alliance with the Romans.
25 Homage Rendered to Simon. When the people heard an account of these events, they said, “How can we possibly thank Simon and his sons? 26 He and his brothers and the house of his father have stood firm and repulsed the enemies of Israel, ensuring the nation’s freedom.” Therefore, they engraved an inscription on bronze tablets and affixed them to pillars on Mount Zion. 27 [e]The following is a copy of the inscription:
“On the eighteenth day of Elul,[f] in the year one hundred and seventy-two, the third year of the high priesthood of Simon, 28 in Asaramel, in a great assembly of the priests and the people and the rulers of the nation and the elders of the country, the following resolution was approved:
29 “ ‘Because wars were a frequent occurrence in our country, Simon, the son of Mattathias, a priest of the line of Joarib, and his brothers have placed their lives in jeopardy by confronting the enemies of their nation, so that their sanctuary and the law might be preserved, and in this way they have brought great glory to their nation. 30 After Jonathan had rallied his nation and become their high priest, he was gathered to his ancestors. 31 When enemies resolved to invade and to devastate their country and to lay hands on their sanctuary, 32 Simon next came forward to fight for his nation, spending a large portion of his personal wealth to equip the soldiers of his nation and pay their wages. 33 He fortified the towns of Judea, including Beth-zur on the Judean frontier, a location that had formerly been used by the enemy to store their arms, and he stationed there a garrison of Jewish soldiers. 34 He also fortified Joppa by the sea and Gazara on the border of Azotus, formerly occupied by the enemy. He resettled Jews there and provided them with everything that was necessary for their restoration.
35 “ ‘When the people recognized Simon’s loyalty and the glory that he was determined to win for his nation, they made him their leader and high priest because of everything he had accomplished and for the loyalty and justice he had maintained toward his nation, as in every possible way he sought to exalt his people.
36 “ ‘In his time and under his leadership the Gentiles were driven out of their country, including those in the City of David in Jerusalem who had built for themselves a citadel from which they used to sally forth and defile the environs of the sanctuary and do grave damage to the state of its purity. 37 He installed Jewish soldiers in this citadel and fortified it for the greater security of the land and the city, and he also heightened the walls of Jerusalem. 38 As a result of all this, King Demetrius confirmed him in the office of high priest, 39 made him one of his Friends, and conferred the highest honors on him. 40 For he had heard that the Romans were addressing the Jews as friends and allies and brothers, and that they had received Simon’s envoys with great honor.
41 “ ‘The Jewish people and their priests have therefore resolved that Simon is to be their permanent leader and high priest until a true prophet shall appear. 42 He is to act as their governor and to have complete charge of the sanctuary and its functions, and in addition the supervision of the country, its weapons, and its strongholds, 43 and is to be obeyed by all the people. All contracts made in the country are to be written in his name. He shall be entitled to be clothed in royal purple and to wear gold ornamentation.
44 “ ‘None of the people or the priests are to have the lawful authorization to nullify any of these decisions, or to oppose any of his commands, or to convene an assembly in the country without his permission, or to be clothed in royal purple or wear a gold brooch. 45 Whoever acts in opposition to these decisions or rejects any of them is to be liable to punishment.
46 “ ‘All of the people have agreed to grant Simon the authority to act in accordance with these decisions. 47 Simon has accepted and has agreed to serve as high priest, to be commander and ethnarch of the Jews and the priests, and to be the protector of them all.’ ”
48 It was decreed that this inscription should be engraved on bronze tablets and placed in a conspicuous place in the precincts of the temple, 49 and that copies of it were to be deposited in the treasury, where they would be in the keeping of Simon and his sons.
Footnotes
- 1 Maccabees 14:1 Some historians assign a later date to the invasion, opting for 138 B.C. (instead of 140 B.C.), the year in which Demetrius was captured. Media was west of Tehran and continued to be claimed by the Seleucids.
- 1 Maccabees 14:2 Arsaces: Arsaces VI, also known as Mithridates I, the Parthian king (171–138 B.C.). The Greeks and Macedonians in Persia and Babylonia had appealed to Demetrius for help because the Parthians had taken over both countries.
- 1 Maccabees 14:4 The author rediscovers his poetic inspiration to exalt the new hero. The traditional biblical images help him to sketch the picture of a time of peace and prosperity that announces the kingdom of the Messiah (Isa 9:1-5; Zec 3:10; 8:4f; 1 Ki 5:4f). The component reveals the religious soul of Israel in the second century B.C.: in it are reunited the ideal of poverty sung by the prophets (Zep 3:12; Ps 18:28) and the cultic legalistic ideal of the doctors of the temple (Pss 1; 118).
- 1 Maccabees 14:16 The embassy to Rome and Sparta took place soon after Simon’s accession to power and the replies were received before Demetrius’s expedition (vv. 1-3)—probably in 142 B.C.
- 1 Maccabees 14:27 The high priest held his office by divine appointment, indicated by descent from a particular family. But because there was no legitimate claimant, Simon was legitimized by a process known in ancient Israel (see Ex 19; 2 Ki 23; Ezr 10; Neh 9).
- 1 Maccabees 14:27 Elul is the sixth month of the year (the name is Babylonian but was used by the Jews after the Exile). Hence, we are in September of the year 140 B.C. Asaramel: a Hebrew word meaning “court of the people of God.”
