1 Maccabees 7
New Catholic Bible
The Rise of the Hasmoneans
Judah Renews the Resistance
Chapter 7
Demetrius Becomes King.[a] 1 In the year one hundred and fifty-one, Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, departed from home and, arriving with a few men at a town on the seacoast, began to rule there. 2 As he was entering the royal palace of his ancestors, his troops seized Antiochus and Lysias with the intention of handing them over to him. 3 However, when he was informed of this act, he said, “Keep them out of my sight.” 4 The soldiers therefore executed them, and Demetrius ascended the royal throne.
Alcimus Invents Intrigues for the New King. 5 Then all the renegades and godless men of Israel approached him, led by Alcimus[b] who had designs on the high priesthood. 6 They brought to the king this accusation against the people: “Judas and his brothers have killed all your Friends and have driven us out of our country. 7 Send a man whom you trust to go forth and inspect the devastation that Judas has wreaked on us and on the lands ruled by the king, and authorize him to punish him and all their allies.”
8 The king chose Bacchides, one of the Friends of the King, who was the governor of West-of-Euphrates, an influential personage in the kingdom, and a loyal supporter of the king. 9 He sent him and the godless Alcimus, whom he appointed as high priest, with orders to exact vengeance on the Israelites. 10 They set out, and when they arrived with a large army in the land of Judah, they sent envoys to Judas and his brothers to suggest deceitful proposals of peace. 11 But the latter placed no trust in their words, since they saw the immense force that had accompanied them.
12 However, a group of scribes approached Alcimus and Bacchides to ask for just terms of peace. 13 The Hasideans were the first among the Israelites to request a peace agreement, 14 for they said, “A priest of the line of Aaron has come with the army, and he will not be a party to any wrongful act.” 15 Alcimus engaged in peace talks with them, and he swore this oath to them: “We will not attempt to injure you or your friends.” 16 However, once he had gained their confidence, he arrested sixty of them and put them to death in one day, in fulfillment of the words of Scripture:
17 “They have scattered the bodies of your faithful ones
and shed their blood round about Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury them.”
18 Then fear and dread of them fell on the whole people. “There is no truth or justice among them,” they said. “They have violated their agreement and their sworn oath.”
19 Bacchides then withdrew from Jerusalem and encamped at Beth-zaith,[c] where he ordered the arrest of many of those who had deserted to him, along with some of the people. He slaughtered them and cast them into an immense pit. 20 After that he placed Alcimus in charge of the province, leaving an army with him to give him support, while he himself went back to the king.
21 The War Springs Up Anew. Alcimus used every means to continue in his role as high priest, 22 and all those who were reckoned as troublemakers rallied to his support. They gained control of the land of Judah and inflicted great damage on Israel. 23 When Judas saw all the wrongs that Alcimus and his supporters had inflicted on the Israelites, exceeding anything that the Gentiles had done, 24 he went throughout the territory of Judea, punishing those who had deserted and preventing them from gaining access to rural areas. 25 When Alcimus saw that Judas and his supporters were gaining considerable strength and realized that he would not be able to withstand them, he returned to the king and brought malicious charges against them.
26 Nicanor Is Entrusted with Putting Down the Insurgents. Then the king sent Nicanor,[d] one of his most distinguished officers and a bitter enemy of Israel, with orders to destroy the people. 27 Having arrived in Jerusalem with a large force, he sent to Judas and his brothers this deceitful message couched in peaceful terms: 28 “Let there be no fighting between you and me. I shall come with a small escort to have a peaceful meeting with you.”
29 When he came to Judas, they greeted each other peaceably, but the enemy had made plans to kidnap Judas. 30 When Judas became aware that Nicanor’s visit had a treacherous purpose, he became afraid and refused to meet him again. 31 After Nicanor realized that his plot had been uncovered, he marched out to meet Judas in battle near Caphar-salama.[e] 32 About five hundred of Nicanor’s men were slain; the rest fled to the City of David.
33 After these events, Nicanor went up to Mount Zion. Some of the priests from the sanctuary and some of the elders of the people came out to greet him peaceably and to show him the burnt offering that was being offered for the king. 34 But he mocked and jeered at them, defiled them,[f] and spoke arrogantly, 35 swearing in his rage: “Unless Judas and his army are turned over to me immediately, I will burn this temple to the ground when I return victorious.” Then he went off in great anger. 36 At this turn of events, the priests went in and stood tearfully before the altar and the sanctuary, saying: 37 “You have chosen this house to bear your name and to be a house of prayer and supplication for your people. 38 Exact vengeance on this man and his army, and let them fall by the sword. Remember their blasphemies and grant them no reprieve.”
39 Judas Routs the Enemy. Nicanor left Jerusalem and encamped at Beth-horon, where he was joined by an army from Syria. 40 Meanwhile, Judas pitched camp in Adasa[g] with three thousand men, where he offered this prayer: 41 “When the messengers from the king were guilty of blasphemy, your angel sent forth and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of his men. 42 In the same way, crush this army before us today, so that everyone will come to know that Nicanor has spoken blasphemously against your sanctuary. Judge him according to his wickedness.”
43 The armies met in battle on the thirteenth of the month of Adar. Nicanor’s army was crushed, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. 44 When his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw down their arms and fled. 45 The Jews pursued them a day’s journey, from Adasa as far as Gazara, sounding their trumpets in warning as they followed. 46 People emerged from all the surrounding villages of Judea and hemmed in Nicanor’s forces, driving them back to confront their pursuers. They all fell by the sword, without a single one managing to escape.
47 Then the Jews collected the spoils and the booty. They cut off Nicanor’s head and the right hand that he had stretched out so arrogantly, and they brought them to Jerusalem to be put on display there. 48 The people rejoiced greatly and celebrated that day as a great festival. 49 They decreed that this occasion was to be observed each year on the thirteenth day of Adar.[h] 50 And for a short time the land of Judah was at peace.
Footnotes
- 1 Maccabees 7:1 Demetrius I Soter (reigned 162–150 B.C.) was the son of Seleucus IV Philopator, elder brother of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the lawful heir to the kingdom. When his father Seleucus had become king (1 Mac 1:10), he had been sent as a hostage to Rome to replace his uncle. Upon the death of his uncle, he petitioned the senate to be released, but to no avail. At the age of twenty-five he fled from Rome with a small group of men and landed in Tripolis, a town on the seacoast. With the aid of the Syrians he defeated his rival Antiochus V and had him put to death. His ascent to the throne rekindled the internal conflict that pitted the Hellenizing Jews and the party of the resistance against one another. The family of the Maccabees ended up getting the best of him.
- 1 Maccabees 7:5 Alcimus: he was not a member of the high priestly family but belonged to the Hellenizing party and was willing to help Demetrius. After the death of Menelaus (2 Mac 14:3), he became high priest and was confirmed by Demetrius. He caused more havoc on the Israelites than the Gentiles did (1 Mac 7:23).
- 1 Maccabees 7:19 Beth-zaith: perhaps three miles north of Beth-zur and twelve miles south of Jerusalem or Bezetha, north of the temple area in Jerusalem.
- 1 Maccabees 7:26 Nicanor was, according to Josephus, one of the men who escaped from Rome with Demetrius. He is placed in a better and truer light by 2 Mac 14:17-25, and 2 Mac 14:26-30 shows that his friendship with Judas was eroded by the machinations of Alcimus.
- 1 Maccabees 7:31 Caphar-salama: a town about five miles northeast of Jerusalem.
- 1 Maccabees 7:34 Defiled them: he spat on them and made them legally defiled.
- 1 Maccabees 7:40 Adasa: a town about seven miles from Beth-horon on the road to Jerusalem.
- 1 Maccabees 7:49 The thirteenth day of Adar: March 161 B.C. This feast came to be called Nicanor Day and was one of the days on which mourning was prohibited, but it was not celebrated for very long.
