Great as was the exultation of the patriots over their victory, no oneamong them, and least of all their far-sighted general, deceived himselfwith the flattering notion that it had finished the war. Every one waswell aware that the defeat and death of Apollonius was not only a disgracethat Antiochus and his lieutenants were bound to avenge, but a disasterthat had to be repaired. It was without surprise, therefore, that Judasheard that Seron, Governor of Coele-Syria, was marching southwards overthe great maritime plain known by the name of Sharon, with what rumourdescribed as a vast host.
Judas at once resolved to repeat the policy which had been found sosuccessful in the conflict with Apollonius. The enemy would soon reach thepasses that led into the hill-country of Eastern Palestine; and it wasthere that he must be met. To allow him to make good this movement withoutopposition would be to throw away a great advantage. The Jewish commanderresolved, accordingly, to dispute the possession of the pass. With aboldness which seemed to some of his followers to verge upon rashness, heleft Jerusalem, occupied as it was by a hostile garrison, behind him, andmarched westward till he reached the range which looks over the Plain ofSharon to the Great Sea.
This strategy was simple enough, though it was not wanting in boldness;but then came the difficult question, "What road will the enemy take--theordinary route by Emmaues,(10) or the more difficult way through the passof Beth-horon?" The scouts were at fault, but it seemed likely that ageneral strange to the country would prefer the easier course. Butscarcely had Judas acted on this probability and taken up his position onthe plateau of Emmaues, than a breathless messenger came rushing in withthe intelligence that Beth-horon was to be the point of attack. Thepatriots had already been in motion since dawn, but another march wasnecessary, and, if it was to be of any avail, must be executed at fullspeed, and without any pause for food or rest. There had been just time toreach the head of the pass, and to hide the vanguard behind rocks and inthe ravines that led into the main road, when the Greek force was seen tobe approaching. It was still a mile distant, and as the road was steep,making a rise of not less than five hundred feet in the mile, its progresswas slow. It was an anxious time of waiting as the patriots watched thehostile column drawing nearer and nearer. They could see its strength, itsdense and numerous files, the discipline showed by the precision of itsmarch, and its complete equipment, so different from their own imperfectsupply of weapons and armour. And there were some whose hearts faintedwithin them at the sight. "How shall we, being so few, be able to stand upagainst so great and strong a multitude? And now we are worn withmarching, and weak for want of bread." Judas was indefatigable in cheeringand encouraging them. "With the Lord our God," he said, as he went fromone company to another, "it is all one to deliver with a great multitude,or with a small company." Then he pointed to Ajalon, and recalled to thethoughts of his hearers the famous associations of the place. "Do you notremember," he said, "how Joshua, the son of Nun, smote the five kings ofthe Canaanites? The Lord was with him, staying even the sun and the moonin their course, that He might give to His people the heritage of theheathen, and surely He will be with us on this day, for His name's sake,that he may restore to us this same heritage. His enemies come against usin the pride of their hearts to destroy us, and our wives, and ourchildren. But the Lord is on our side; and He will overthrow them beforeour face. And as for you, be not afraid of them. Stand fast and quit youlike men." He had not completed the round of his force--and indeed therewere some companies in it which he knew to be of temper so sturdy thatthey might safely be left to themselves--when the Greeks, slowly labouringin their heavy armour up the ascent, came within reach. Judas gave thesignal, and with a loud cry, "The Hammer of God! The Hammer of God!" thepatriots rose from their ambush, and threw themselves on the van of theenemy. The attack was entirely unexpected, for the Greek commander wasill-served by his scouts, and it met with no serious resistance. Almost ina moment the Greek line was broken, and a wild flight commenced. When thefugitives reached the plain they scattered themselves in all directions.With his usual prudence, Judas checked his men in their pursuit of thevanquished, but eight hundred lay dead or seriously wounded upon theplain.
Seraiah, who had extorted from the old physician attached to the patriotarmy an unwilling permission to bear arms, had fallen fainting to theground, close to the entrance to the pass. Near him lay six or seven Greekcorpses. The tide of battle had passed elsewhere, and the place wasdeserted. This was exactly the opportunity which Benjamin and hisassociates--since his escape during the expedition to Modin he had gatheredabout him a small band--had been watching. They issued from theirhiding-places among the rocks, and began to search the prostrate bodiesfor spoil. The first that they came to was a Greek sub-officer, somewhatrichly attired. The man was still alive and groaned as they turned himover to get more conveniently at the silver ornaments of his belt. "Cursethe villain!" cried Benjamin, as he drove his sword into his side; andwhen the poor wretch breathed his last, went on, "A brave man might havebeen left to take his chance, but such cowards as these 'tis positively agood work to despatch. Did you ever see such a scandalous flight?--and theywere positively five to one at the very least."
It was now Seraiah's turn to be stripped. He, too, gave signs of life, andone of the robbers, an Edomite, who hated Jews and Greeks impartially, wasabout to stab him, when Benjamin, who recognized his old comrade's face,interfered.
"Nay, man," he said, "'tis one of the patriots, and an old friend of mineto boot. Look you after the others, and I will attend to this bravefellow."
Hastily and with a practised hand he bound up Seraiah's wound, for the oldplace had broken out afresh. The injured man, consumed by the thirst thatfollows the loss of blood, begged for water. Benjamin supplied him with adraught from the bottle which he carried, and followed it up with somerough wine of the country in a wooden cup. By this time the robbers, whohad finished their work of spoiling the dead, were ready to return totheir hiding-place among the hills.
"Come, captain," said the Edomite, "'tis time to go; you had best leaveyour friend to himself, or you will see more of his countrymen than youwill quite like."
"Go," said Benjamin; "I will follow you soon."
Seraiah was now sufficiently revived to be able to sit up. The robberoffered him bread and flesh. "'Tis clean meat," he said. The wounded man,however, refused it. It might be of a lawful kind, but he did not knowthat it had been lawfully killed, and he contented himself with bread towhich he added a few raisins with which he happened to have providedhimself. Another draught of wine completed the repast.
"Benjamin," he said, when he had finished, "you are too good for thislife, for these friends. Come with us and fight on our side, for be surethat it is the side of the Lord. I will intercede for you to our captain,and he is as merciful as he is strong."
"Nay, nay," said Benjamin, "you are too confident; yours may be the sideof the Lord, for I don't know much about these things, but the side of theLord, as far as I have been able to see, does not always win. I hate theseGreeks. They robbed me of my house and everything that I had. May all thecurses that are written in the Law overtake them! But they are very likelyto get the best of it after all."
"Did you see how they fled to-day?" cried Seraiah.
"Yes; you made them run," said the robber, with a grim laugh. "It was raresport to see them pelt helter-skelter down the pass, like so many sheepwith a dog after them. But there are many more where these came from, andthey will simply trample you down."
"That will not be done so easily as you think. Is Judas the Hammer--forthat is what the people call him--a likely man to be so dealt with? Nay,Benjamin, he is another Joshua, another David, and I am as sure as if aprophet had told me that the Lord of Hosts is with him, and will deliverthe heathen into his hands."
Benjamin was silent awhile. Then he said, in an altered tone, "You say thetruth about Judas, the son of Mattathias. A better captain to lead, abetter soldier to strike with the sword, I never saw. I would gladlyfollow him. An
d verily I would sooner fight for my people than for my ownhand. But your ways are over-strict. I cannot put up with these'religious' as you call them. Why should I not eat pig's flesh if I canget it? It has a good relish, and it has never harmed me yet."
"But 'tis forbidden, Benjamin," gently answered Seraiah, now in good hopesof winning over this somewhat stubborn proselyte, "and you are too good aman to give up your country for a matter of meat or drink."
"Aye," said the man, "but there are other things."
"Nothing surely that cannot be borne," went on Seraiah. "Oh, Benjamin, youhave saved my life to-day, and henceforth you are my brother; but I couldalmost wish, but for my wife and child's sake--you remember Ruth and thebabe?--that you had left me to die, if I am to see you return to the waysof death."
The cause was almost won when, at an unhappy moment, a party of Jewishsoldiers returning from the pursuit came in sight. One of them immediatelyrecognized Benjamin, and gave the alarm to his companions. They rushed toarrest him, but Benjamin divined their purpose and dashed up the rocks. Toovertake him was impossible, for he was fleet of foot and unencumbered;but one of the Chasidim, for the soldiers belonged to this party, let flyan arrow which struck him in the left arm. It was but a slight wound, forthe barb was not covered in the flesh; but it stirred him to a furiousrage, which was all the fiercer because, by a great effort, he had justbrought himself to yield to Seraiah's arguments. He tore the arrow fromthe wound, hurled it at his pursuers with impotent rage, and crying, "Allthe plagues of Egypt consume you!" disappeared among the rocks.
"You have lost a good recruit," said Seraiah to his comrades when theyreturned to him.
"What should this son of Belial profit us?" one of the Chasidim haughtilyreplied. "The Lord grant that my next arrow may be driven better home!"
Seraiah made no answer, but painfully lifting himself from the ground madehis way up the pass alone. He did not care for the company of hiscomrades, and they, on their part, though they could not help respectinghim as a soldier, thought him sadly wanting in zeal for the Law and forthe traditions of the elders.
Late that night some of the fugitives, who had crossed the mountainssomewhat further to the south, reached Jerusalem. They found the cityanxiously expecting tidings of the battle; and two of their number whowere officers were at once brought into the Governor's house. He wasindisposed, and Cleon, who had given up his post at Modin and was nowattached to head-quarters, saw the new arrivals in his stead. When he hadheard their story, he did not conceal his scorn for the mismanagement--orwas it cowardice?--that had made a well-equipped and powerful army fleebefore a crowd of half-armed vagabonds.
"It is easy to talk, my fine sir," retorted one of the men, "when you haveonly got to stop at home and find fault; but if you had seen them to-day,you would be singing to a very different tune. By all the gods above andbelow, these Jews rushed on more like lions than men. And as to thisJudas, son of Asmon, there is no standing against him. No man wants twoblows from _his_ sword."
"A good soldier, I dare say," said Cleon superciliously, "and a skilfulswordsman. But there are others as good as he. And as for his army, if itis to be called an army, it is quite impossible that it can hold out verylong. I was a little hasty in what I said just now. These fanatics have away of giving some trouble at first, and it is quite possible for reallygood troops to be beaten by them. But it is quite out of the question tosuppose that they can resist any serious attempt to deal with them. Ofcourse we have made the usual mistake of making too light of them. Thatmust not be done again. The next expedition will be made with overwhelmingforce, and will unquestionably bring this troublesome matter to an end. Ihope to go with it myself."
"That will be as you please, sir," said the officer, who had not by anymeans recovered his temper after the imputations cast on his courage, "butif I may venture to say so, I would recommend that you should not get inthe way of Judas, the son of Asmon."
And, indeed, whatever men like Cleon may have pretended to think, fromthat time "began the fear of Judas and his brethren and an exceeding greatdread to fall upon the nations round about them."
The Hammer: A Story of the Maccabean Times Page 18