12.33–34 Simon, now governor in the coastal district (11.59), puts down a planned rebellion in Joppa (10.76).
12.35–36 The strongholds probably included those fortified by Bacchides (9.50; 10.12). The Jerusalem citadel still escaped Maccabean control.
12.37 Chaphenatha, usually identified as the “Second Quarter,” northwest of the temple area (see 2 Kings 22.14).
12.38 Adida, near Lydda, could serve as a stronghold between the coastal plain and the hill country of Judea.
12.39–53 At first Trypho is thwarted from capturing Jonathan but finally succeeds in doing so, thus leaving Israel without a leader or helper (v. 53).
12.39 Asia, a name for the Seleucid Empire.
12.40–41 Beth-shan (Scythopolis-Nysa), a strategic point in the Jordan Valley (see 5.52). Although forty thousand picked warriors is an exaggeration, it does seem that Jonathan’s large force frightened Trypho.
12.48 For earlier references to the hostility of Ptolemais, see 5.15, 22, 55.
12.49 The Great Plain, also called Esdraelon, the western section of the valleys and plains separating Galilee from Samaria.
12.50 As 13.23 shows, Jonathan had not yet perished.
1 MACCABEES 13
Simon Takes Command
1Simon heard that Trypho had assembled a large army to invade the land of Judah and destroy it, 2and he saw that the people were trembling with fear. So he went up to Jerusalem, and gathering the people together 3he encouraged them, saying to them, “You yourselves know what great things my brothers and I and the house of my father have done for the laws and the sanctuary; you know also the wars and the difficulties that my brothers and I have seen. 4By reason of this all my brothers have perished for the sake of Israel, and I alone am left. 5And now, far be it from me to spare my life in any time of distress, for I am not better than my brothers. 6But I will avenge my nation and the sanctuary and your wives and children, for all the nations have gathered together out of hatred to destroy us.”
7The spirit of the people was rekindled when they heard these words, 8and they answered in a loud voice, “You are our leader in place of Judas and your brother Jonathan. 9Fight our battles, and all that you say to us we will do.” 10So he assembled all the warriors and hurried to complete the walls of Jerusalem, and he fortified it on every side. 11He sent Jonathan son of Absalom to Joppa, and with him a considerable army; he drove out its occupants and remained there.
Deceit and Treachery of Trypho
12Then Trypho left Ptolemais with a large army to invade the land of Judah, and Jonathan was with him under guard. 13Simon encamped in Adida, facing the plain. 14Trypho learned that Simon had risen up in place of his brother Jonathan, and that he was about to join battle with him, so he sent envoys to him and said, 15“It is for the money that your brother Jonathan owed the royal treasury, in connection with the offices he held, that we are detaining him. 16Send now one hundred talents of silver and two of his sons as hostages, so that when released he will not revolt against us, and we will release him.”
17Simon knew that they were speaking deceitfully to him, but he sent to get the money and the sons, so that he would not arouse great hostility among the people, who might say, 18“It was because Simona did not send him the money and the sons, that Jonathanb perished.” 19So he sent the sons and the hundred talents, but Tryphoc broke his word and did not release Jonathan.
20After this Trypho came to invade the country and destroy it, and he circled around by the way to Adora. But Simon and his army kept marching along opposite him to every place he went. 21Now the men in the citadel kept sending envoys to Trypho urging him to come to them by way of the wilderness and to send them food. 22So Trypho got all his cavalry ready to go, but that night a very heavy snow fell, and he did not go because of the snow. He marched off and went into the land of Gilead. 23When he approached Baskama, he killed Jonathan, and he was buried there. 24Then Trypho turned and went back to his own land.
Jonathan’s Tomb
25Simon sent and took the bones of his brother Jonathan, and buried him in Modein, the city of his ancestors. 26All Israel bewailed him with great lamentation, and mourned for him many days. 27And Simon built a monument over the tomb of his father and his brothers; he made it high so that it might be seen, with polished stone at the front and back. 28He also erected seven pyramids, opposite one another, for his father and mother and four brothers. 29For the pyramidsd he devised an elaborate setting, erecting about them great columns, and on the columns he put suits of armor for a permanent memorial, and beside the suits of armor he carved ships, so that they could be seen by all who sail the sea. 30This is the tomb that he built in Modein; it remains to this day.
Judea Gains Independence
31Trypho dealt treacherously with the young King Antiochus; he killed him 32and became king in his place, putting on the crown of Asia; and he brought great calamity on the land. 33But Simon built up the strongholds of Judea and walled them all around, with high towers and great walls and gates and bolts, and he stored food in the strongholds. 34Simon also chose emissaries and sent them to King Demetrius with a request to grant relief to the country, for all that Trypho did was to plunder. 35King Demetrius sent him a favorable reply to this request, and wrote him a letter as follows, 36“King Demetrius to Simon, the high priest and friend of kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews, greetings. 37We have received the gold crown and the palm branch that youe sent, and we are ready to make a general peace with you and to write to our officials to grant you release from tribute. 38All the grants that we have made to you remain valid, and let the strongholds that you have built be your possession. 39We pardon any errors and offenses committed to this day, and cancel the crown tax that you owe; and whatever other tax has been collected in Jerusalem shall be collected no longer. 40And if any of you are qualified to be enrolled in our bodyguard,f let them be enrolled, and let there be peace between us.”
41In the one hundred seventieth yearg the yoke of the Gentiles was removed from Israel, 42and the people began to write in their documents and contracts, “In the first year of Simon the great high priest and commander and leader of the Jews.”
The Capture of Gazara by Simon
43In those days Simonh encamped against Gazarai and surrounded it with troops. He made a siege engine, brought it up to the city, and battered and captured one tower. 44The men in the siege engine leaped out into the city, and a great tumult arose in the city. 45The men in the city, with their wives and children, went up on the wall with their clothes torn, and they cried out with a loud voice, asking Simon to make peace with them; 46they said, “Do not treat us according to our wicked acts but according to your mercy.” 47So Simon reached an agreement with them and stopped fighting against them. But he expelled them from the city and cleansed the houses in which the idols were located, and then entered it with hymns and praise. 48He removed all uncleanness from it, and settled in it those who observed the law. He also strengthened its fortifications and built in it a house for himself.
Simon Regains the Citadel at Jerusalem
49Those who were in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going in and out to buy and sell in the country. So they were very hungry, and many of them perished from famine. 50Then they cried to Simon to make peace with them, and he did so. But he expelled them from there and cleansed the citadel from its pollutions. 51On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred seventy-first year,j the Jewsk entered it with praise and palm branches, and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel. 52Simonl decreed that every year they should celebrate this day with rejoicing. He strengthened the fortifications of the temple hill alongside the citadel, and he and his men lived there. 53Simon saw that his son John had reached manhood, and so he made him commander of all the forces; and he lived at Gazara.
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a Gk I
/> b Gk he
c Gk he
d Gk For these
e The word you in verses 37-40 is plural
f Or court
g 142B.C.
h Gk he
i Cn: Gk Gaza
j 141B.C.
k Gk they
l Gk He
13.1–11 As the only remaining brother (see 2.1–5), Simon takes over Jonathan’s roles in Judea.
13.3–6 Simon’s speech reminds the people of what the Maccabees fought for (laws, sanctuary, Israel) and how they died doing so: Eleazar (6.46), Judas (9.18), John (9.36–42), and Jonathan (13.23).
13.10–11 For fortifications in Jerusalem, see 12.36–37. For problems at Joppa, see 12.33–34. Jonathan son of Absalom, possibly the brother of Mattathias (11.70).
13.12–24 Trypho deceives Simon and kills Jonathan but fails to capture Jerusalem.
13.13 Adida, recently fortified (12.38), blocked the road from Ptolemais to Jerusalem.
13.15–16 Although the reason Jonathan owed money to the royal treasury is not specified, the debt gave Trypho an excuse to exploit. Perhaps the independence shown by Jonathan was interpreted as a revolt, for the Seleucids still looked on the Maccabees as their clients.
13.20 Trypho tried to approach Jerusalem from the south, as Lysias had done (4.29; 6.31). Adora, about five miles southwest of Hebron.
13.21 The garrison at the Jerusalem citadel urged Trypho to attack from the wilderness of Judah, from the south and southeast.
13.22–23 Baskama. Location uncertain. If it was in Gilead (rather than Galilee), Trypho made a large circle in his abortive attack on Jerusalem. He probably killed Jonathan’s hostage sons also (vv. 16, 19) in the winter of 143/142 BCE.
13.25–30 The interment of Jonathan’s bones becomes the occasion for Simon to build a monument to his family.
13.25–27 The family tomb at Modein (2.70; 9.19) was presumably a cave or chamber carved out of rock, with small recesses for corpses. The monument was built over it.
13.28 For the pyramid or pillar of Absalom, see 2 Sam 18.18. The seventh pyramid was for Simon.
13.29–30 The ships may have commemorated the capture of Joppa and expressed a Maccabean claim to sea power. Modein, twelve miles from the sea.
13.31–42 Simon’s support for Demetrius II wins Judea’s freedom from the annual crown tax and a greater measure of independence.
13.31–32 Trypho deposed Antiochus VI in 142 BCE and had him killed in 139 BCE. For putting on the crown of Asia, see 8.6.
13.34 Simon went over to Demetrius II because Trypho had killed Jonathan and demanded heavy taxes (plunder).
13.37 Gold crown, palm branch, peace offerings.
13.39–40 The errors and offenses included supporting Trypho and fighting against Demetrius II (11.63–74; 12.24–32). Crown tax, the annual tribute from Jerusalem. For the royal bodyguard, see 11.47–48.
13.41–42 Yoke of the Gentiles, perhaps specifically the annual crown tax (v. 39). Its removal was taken as the start of a new era, that of Simon.
13.43–48 With Trypho and Demetrius II occupied with their own struggle, Simon captures Gazara (Gezer).
13.43 The reading Gaza in the Greek is surely incorrect; the capture of Gazara (Gezer) is assumed in 13.53; 14.7, 34; 15.28, 35; 16.1, 19, 21. Siege engine, a movable tower containing battering rams and catapults, able to accommodate many soldiers.
13.47–48 Simon made Gazara a Jewish city (thus ensuring its loyalty to him) and was also able to reward his soldiers and supporters with property there.
13.49–53 Simon’s capture of the citadel at Jerusalem, the last symbol of anti-Maccabean power in Jerusalem, marks the final success of the revolt. There are parallels with the cleansing of the temple (4.41–61).
13.49–52 The citadel, founded under Antiochus IV in 167 BCE, fell in June 141 BCE. It was then fortified by Simon’s troops.
13.53 John Hyrcanus I succeeded his father, Simon, and ruled Judea from 134 to 104 BCE. 1 Maccabees may have been composed during his reign as a kind of dynastic history stretching from his grandfather Mattathias, through the brothers (Judas, Jonathan, Simon), to John Hyrcanus himself.
1 MACCABEES 14
Capture of Demetrius
1In the one hundred seventy-second yeara King Demetrius assembled his forces and marched into Media to obtain help, so that he could make war against Trypho. 2When King Arsaces of Persia and Media heard that Demetrius had invaded his territory, he sent one of his generals to take him alive. 3The generalb went and defeated the army of Demetrius, and seized him and took him to Arsaces, who put him under guard.
Eulogy of Simon
4The landc had rest all the days of Simon.
He sought the good of his nation;
his rule was pleasing to them,
as was the honor shown him, all his days.
5To crown all his honors he took Joppa for a harbor,
and opened a way to the isles of the sea.
6He extended the borders of his nation,
and gained full control of the country.
7He gathered a host of captives;
he ruled over Gazara and Beth-zur and the citadel,
and he removed its uncleanness from it;
and there was none to oppose him.
8They tilled their land in peace;
the ground gave its increase,
and the trees of the plains their fruit.
9Old men sat in the streets;
they all talked together of good things,
and the youths put on splendid military attire.
10He supplied the towns with food,
and furnished them with the means of defense,
until his renown spread to the ends of the earth.
11He established peace in the land,
and Israel rejoiced with great joy.
12All the people sat under their own vines and fig trees,
and there was none to make them afraid.
13No one was left in the land to fight them,
and the kings were crushed in those days.
14He gave help to all the humble among his people;
he sought out the law,
and did away with all the renegades and outlaws.
15He made the sanctuary glorious,
and added to the vessels of the sanctuary.
Diplomacy with Rome and Sparta
16It was heard in Rome, and as far away as Sparta, that Jonathan had died, and they were deeply grieved. 17When they heard that his brother Simon had become high priest in his stead, and that he was ruling over the country and the towns in it, 18they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew with him the friendship and alliance that they had established with his brothers Judas and Jonathan. 19And these were read before the assembly in Jerusalem.
20This is a copy of the letter that the Spartans sent:
“The rulers and the city of the Spartans to the high priest Simon and to the elders and the priests and the rest of the Jewish people, our brothers, greetings. 21The envoys who were sent to our people have told us about your glory and honor, and we rejoiced at their coming. 22We have recorded what they said in our public decrees, as follows, ‘Numenius son of Antiochus and Antipater son of Jason, envoys of the Jews, have come to us to renew their friendship with us. 23It has pleased our people to receive these men with honor and to put a copy of their words in the public archives, so that the people of the Spartans may have a record of them. And they have sent a copy of this to the high priest Simon.’”
24After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a large gold shield weighing one thousand minas, to confirm the alliance with the Romans.d
Official Honors for Simon
25When the people heard these things they said, “How shall we thank Simon and his sons? 26For he and his brothers and the house of his father have stood firm; they have fought and repulsed Israel’s enemies and established its freedom.” 27So they made a record on bronze tablets and put it on pillars on Mount Zion.
This is a copy of what they wrote: “On the eighteenth day of Elul, in the one hundred seventy-second year,e which is the third year of the great high priest Simon, 28in Asaramel,f in the great assembly of the priests and the people and the rulers of the nation and the elders of the country, the following was proclaimed to us:
29“Since wars often occurred in the country, Simon son of Mattathias, a priest of the sonsg of Joarib, and his brothers, exposed themselves to danger and resisted the enemies of their nation, in order that their sanctuary and the law might be preserved; and they brought great glory to their nation. 30Jonathan rallied theh nation, became their high priest, and was gathered to his people. 31When their enemies decided to invade their country and lay hands on their sanctuary, 32then Simon rose up and fought for his nation. He spent great sums of his own money; he armed the soldiers of his nation and paid them wages. 33He fortified the towns of Judea, and Beth-zur on the borders of Judea, where formerly the arms of the enemy had been stored, and he placed there a garrison of Jews. 34He also fortified Joppa, which is by the sea, and Gazara, which is on the borders of Azotus, where the enemy formerly lived. He settled Jews there, and provided in those townsi whatever was necessary for their restoration.
35“The people saw Simon’s faithfulnessj and the glory that he had resolved to win for his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest, because he had done all these things and because of the justice and loyalty that he had maintained toward his nation. He sought in every way to exalt his people. 36In his days things prospered in his hands, so that the Gentiles were put out of thek country, as were also those in the city of David in Jerusalem, who had built themselves a citadel from which they used to sally forth and defile the environs of the sanctuary, doing great damage to its purity. 37He settled Jews in it and fortified it for the safety of the country and of the city, and built the walls of Jerusalem higher.
HarperCollins Study Bible Page 398