HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  38“In view of these things King Demetrius confirmed him in the high priesthood, 39made him one of his Friends, and paid him high honors. 40For he had heard that the Jews were addressed by the Romans as friends and allies and brothers, and that the Romansl had received the envoys of Simon with honor.

  41“The Jews and their priests have resolved that Simon should be their leader and high priest forever, until a trustworthy prophet should arise, 42and that he should be governor over them and that he should take charge of the sanctuary and appoint officials over its tasks and over the country and the weapons and the strongholds, and that he should take charge of the sanctuary, 43and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all contracts in the country should be written in his name, and that he should be clothed in purple and wear gold.

  44“None of the people or priests shall be permitted to nullify any of these decisions or to oppose what he says, or to convene an assembly in the country without his permission, or to be clothed in purple or put on a gold buckle. 45Whoever acts contrary to these decisions or rejects any of them shall be liable to punishment.”

  46All the people agreed to grant Simon the right to act in accordance with these decisions. 47So Simon accepted and agreed to be high priest, to be commander and ethnarch of the Jews and priests, and to be protector of them all.m 48And they gave orders to inscribe this decree on bronze tablets, to put them up in a conspicuous place in the precincts of the sanctuary, 49and to deposit copies of them in the treasury, so that Simon and his sons might have them.

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  a 140B.C.

  b Gk He

  c Other ancient authorities add of Judah

  d Gk them

  e 140B.C.

  f This word resembles the Hebrew words for the court of the people of God or the prince of the people of God

  g Meaning of Gk uncertain

  h Gk their

  i Gk them

  j Other ancient authorities read conduct

  k Gk their

  l Gk they

  m Or to preside over them all

  14.1–3 In 140 BCE Simon’s ally Demetrius II was removed from power in his campaign against the Parthians.

  14.2 Arsaces VI, the dynastic name of the Parthian king Mithridates I (171–138 BCE). He treated Demetrius well and even married his daughter to him.

  14.4–15 A poem summarizes Simon’s achievements (vv. 4–7) and celebrates them in biblical language (vv. 8–15).

  14.5 The capture of Joppa (see 12.33; 13.11) gave Simon a Mediterranean port.

  14.8–15 For biblical texts underlying this section, see Lev 26.3–4 (v. 8); Zech 8.4 (v. 9); Mic 4.4 (v. 12).

  14.14 Renegades and outlaws, Jews who still supported the Seleucid program (1.11–15).

  14.16–24 The alliances with Rome and Sparta are renewed under Simon.

  14.18 It was customary to renew alliances when leadership changed. The renewal of the Roman alliance probably took place shortly after Simon’s accession in 142 BCE. For bronze tablets, see 8.22.

  14.22 Numenius and Antipater had served previously as Jonathan’s ambassadors (12.16).

  14.24 The report about the gold shield may belong before 14.16, since Numenius and Antipater had already visited Rome and Sparta (12.16, 22).

  14.25–49 The official decree declaring Simon as benefactor of the Jewish people outlines his good deeds, confirms him as sole leader, and warns those who oppose him.

  14.27 The decree is dated September 140 BCE.

  14.29–40 A summary of events narrated elsewhere in the book, apart from the note that Simon spent great sums of his own money (v. 32). This fact has not been mentioned, unless 13.15–19; 14.24 should be taken this way.

  14.41–42 The people agree that Simon should have military (leader), religious (high priest), and political (governor) powers. The provision about a trustworthy prophet (see 4.46; 9.27) suggests some doubt about or opposition to Simon’s high priesthood.

  14.43 For dating contracts, see 13.42. For purple and gold as insignia of a high priest and a king’s Friend, see 10.20, 89.

  1 MACCABEES 15

  Letter of Antiochus VII

  1Antiochus, son of King Demetrius, sent a letter from the islands of the sea to Simon, the priest and ethnarch of the Jews, and to all the nation; 2its contents were as follows: “King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and ethnarch and to the nation of the Jews, greetings. 3Whereas certain scoundrels have gained control of the kingdom of our ancestors, and I intend to lay claim to the kingdom so that I may restore it as it formerly was, and have recruited a host of mercenary troops and have equipped warships, 4and intend to make a landing in the country so that I may proceed against those who have destroyed our country and those who have devastated many cities in my kingdom, 5now therefore I confirm to you all the tax remissions that the kings before me have granted you, and a release from all the other payments from which they have released you. 6I permit you to mint your own coinage as money for your country, 7and I grant freedom to Jerusalem and the sanctuary. All the weapons that you have prepared and the strongholds that you have built and now hold shall remain yours. 8Every debt you owe to the royal treasury and any such future debts shall be canceled for you from henceforth and for all time. 9When we gain control of our kingdom, we will bestow great honor on you and your nation and the temple, so that your glory will become manifest in all the earth.”

  10In the one hundred seventy-fourth yeara Antiochus set out and invaded the land of his ancestors. All the troops rallied to him, so that there were only a few with Trypho. 11Antiochus pursued him, and Tryphob came in his flight to Dor, which is by the sea; 12for he knew that troubles had converged on him, and his troops had deserted him. 13So Antiochus encamped against Dor, and with him were one hundred twenty thousand warriors and eight thousand cavalry. 14He surrounded the town, and the ships joined battle from the sea; he pressed the town hard from land and sea, and permitted no one to leave or enter it.

  Rome Supports the Jews

  15Then Numenius and his companions arrived from Rome, with letters to the kings and countries, in which the following was written: 16“Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy, greetings. 17The envoys of the Jews have come to us as our friends and allies to renew our ancient friendship and alliance. They had been sent by the high priest Simon and by the Jewish people 18and have brought a gold shield weighing one thousand minas. 19We therefore have decided to write to the kings and countries that they should not seek their harm or make war against them and their cities and their country, or make alliance with those who war against them. 20And it has seemed good to us to accept the shield from them. 21Therefore if any scoundrels have fled to you from their country, hand them over to the high priest Simon, so that he may punish them according to their law.”

  22The consulc wrote the same thing to King Demetrius and to Attalus and Ariarathes and Arsaces, 23and to all the countries, and to Sampsames,d and to the Spartans, and to Delos, and to Myndos, and to Sicyon, and to Caria, and to Samos, and to Pamphylia, and to Lycia, and to Halicarnassus, and to Rhodes, and to Phaselis, and to Cos, and to Side, and to Aradus and Gortyna and Cnidus and Cyprus and Cyrene. 24They also sent a copy of these things to the high priest Simon.

  Antiochus VII Threatens Simon

  25King Antiochus besieged Dor for the second time, continually throwing his forces against it and making engines of war; and he shut Trypho up and kept him from going out or in. 26And Simon sent to Antiochuse two thousand picked troops, to fight for him, and silver and gold and a large amount of military equipment. 27But he refused to receive them, and broke all the agreements he formerly had made with Simon, and became estranged from him. 28He sent to him Athenobius, one of his Friends, to confer with him, saying, “You hold control of Joppa and Gazara and the citadel in Jerusalem; they are cities of my kingdom. 29You have devastated their territory, you have done great damage in the land, and you have taken possession of many places in my kingdom. 30Now then, hand o
ver the cities that you have seized and the tribute money of the places that you have conquered outside the borders of Judea; 31or else pay me five hundred talents of silver for the destruction that you have caused and five hundred talents more for the tribute money of the cities. Otherwise we will come and make war on you.”

  32So Athenobius, the king’s Friend, came to Jerusalem, and when he saw the splendor of Simon, and the sideboard with its gold and silver plate, and his great magnificence, he was amazed. When he reported to him the king’s message, 33Simon said to him in reply: “We have neither taken foreign land nor seized foreign property, but only the inheritance of our ancestors, which at one time had been unjustly taken by our enemies. 34Now that we have the opportunity, we are firmly holding the inheritance of our ancestors. 35As for Joppa and Gazara, which you demand, they were causing great damage among the people and to our land; for them we will give you one hundred talents.”

  Athenobiusf did not answer him a word, 36but returned in wrath to the king and reported to him these words, and also the splendor of Simon and all that he had seen. And the king was very angry.

  Victory over Cendebeus

  37Meanwhile Trypho embarked on a ship and escaped to Orthosia. 38Then the king made Cendebeus commander-in-chief of the coastal country, and gave him troops of infantry and cavalry. 39He commanded him to encamp against Judea, to build up Kedron and fortify its gates, and to make war on the people; but the king pursued Trypho. 40So Cendebeus came to Jamnia and began to provoke the people and invade Judea and take the people captive and kill them. 41He built up Kedron and stationed horsemen and troops there, so that they might go out and make raids along the highways of Judea, as the king had ordered him.

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  a 138B.C.

  b Gk he

  c Gk He

  d The name is uncertain

  e Gk him

  f Gk He

  15.1–14 Antiochus VII makes promises to Simon and traps Trypho at Dor in 138 BCE.

  15.1 Since Antiochus VII, the son of Demetrius I and younger brother of Demetrius II, grew up in Side in Pamphylia, he was known as Sidetes.

  15.3 The scoundrels included Trypho, and perhaps Alexander Balas and Antiochus VI.

  15.6 To the privileges already granted to Simon, Antiochus added the right to mint his own coinage. But there are no Jewish coins from Simon’s time (see v. 27).

  15.9 Despite the independence implied by the privileges, it appears that Antiochus VII regarded Judea as part of his own kingdom.

  15.11 Dor, south of Mount Carmel and nine miles north of Caesarea Maritima.

  15.15–24 The sequel to 14.16–24, this passage presents a letter (from the copy sent to Simon, v. 24) reaffirming friendship and alliance between Rome and the Jews.

  15.15 Numenius, the Jewish envoy (12.16; 14.22, 24).

  15.16 Lucius Caecilius Metullus (consul in 142 BCE) addresses Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (146–116 BCE). The text sent to the Egyptian ruler was also sent to those listed in vv. 22–23.

  15.22 Demetrius II of Syria (see 14.3); Attalus II of Pergamum; Ariarathes V of Cappadocia; and Arsaces of Parthia (see 14.2).

  15.23 Countries…Cyrene, mainly independent states in Asia Minor, Greece, and the Greek Isles.

  15.25–36 Antiochus VII refuses Simon’s aid, takes away all concessions, and demands indemnities from Simon.

  15.25 The story of the siege of Dor broken off in v. 14 is rejoined with the awkward expression for the second time.

  15.27 Antiochus VII refused Simon’s help because victory was in his grasp and he did not need Simon. Therefore he retracted the promises made in vv. 5–9.

  15.30 The places outside the borders of Judea probably included the Samaritan districts (11.34) as well as Adida, Beth-zur, and Akkaron.

  15.33 The right to the inheritance of one’s ancestors was based on Greek international law as well as (in the case of the Jews) the biblical promises of the land.

  15.37–16.10 Simon’s son John defeats the Seleucids under Cendebeus.

  15.37 When Trypho escaped to Orthosia (a port north of Tripolis), Antiochus VII pursued him and had him killed in Apamea.

  15.38–41 Cendebeus, governor of the coastal region appointed in the absence of Antiochus VII. Kedron, Cendebeus’s base, four miles southeast of Jamnia.

  1 MACCABEES 16

  1John went up from Gazara and reported to his father Simon what Cendebeus had done. 2And Simon called in his two eldest sons Judas and John, and said to them: “My brothers and I and my father’s house have fought the wars of Israel from our youth until this day, and things have prospered in our hands so that we have delivered Israel many times. 3But now I have grown old, and you by Heaven’sa mercy are mature in years. Take my place and my brother’s, and go out and fight for our nation, and may the help that comes from Heaven be with you.”

  4So Johnb chose out of the country twenty thousand warriors and cavalry, and they marched against Cendebeus and camped for the night in Modein. 5Early in the morning they started out and marched into the plain, where a large force of infantry and cavalry was coming to meet them; and a stream lay between them. 6Then he and his army lined up against them. He saw that the soldiers were afraid to cross the stream, so he crossed over first; and when his troops saw him, they crossed over after him. 7Then he divided the army and placed the cavalry in the center of the infantry, for the cavalry of the enemy were very numerous. 8They sounded the trumpets, and Cendebeus and his army were put to flight; many of them fell wounded and the rest fled into the stronghold. 9At that time Judas the brother of John was wounded, but John pursued them until Cendebeusc reached Kedron, which he had built. 10They also fled into the towers that were in the fields of Azotus, and Johnd burned it with fire, and about two thousand of them fell. He then returned to Judea safely.

  Murder of Simon and His Sons

  11Now Ptolemy son of Abubus had been appointed governor over the plain of Jericho; he had a large store of silver and gold, 12for he was son-in-law of the high priest. 13His heart was lifted up; he determined to get control of the country, and made treacherous plans against Simon and his sons, to do away with them. 14Now Simon was visiting the towns of the country and attending to their needs, and he went down to Jericho with his sons Mattathias and Judas, in the one hundred seventy-seventh year,e in the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat. 15The son of Abubus received them treacherously in the little stronghold called Dok, which he had built; he gave them a great banquet, and hid men there. 16When Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy and his men rose up, took their weapons, rushed in against Simon in the banquet hall and killed him and his two sons, as well as some of his servants. 17So he committed an act of great treachery and returned evil for good.

  John Succeeds Simon

  18Then Ptolemy wrote a report about these things and sent it to the king, asking him to send troops to aid him and to turn over to him the towns and the country. 19He sent other troops to Gazara to do away with John; he sent letters to the captains asking them to come to him so that he might give them silver and gold and gifts; 20and he sent other troops to take possession of Jerusalem and the temple hill. 21But someone ran ahead and reported to John at Gazara that his father and brothers had perished, and that “he has sent men to kill you also.” 22When he heard this, he was greatly shocked; he seized the men who came to destroy him and killed them, for he had found out that they were seeking to destroy him.

  23The rest of the acts of John and his wars and the brave deeds that he did, and the building of the walls that he completed, and his achievements, 24are written in the annals of his high priesthood, from the time that he became high priest after his father.

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  a Gk his

  b Other ancient authorities read he

  c Gk he

  d Gk he

  e 134B.C.

  16.1 The Maccabean fortress nearest to Cendebeus’s activity was Gazara, where John Hyrcanus was in command (see 13.53).

/>   16.2 For the fate of Simon’s sons Judas and Mattathias, see vv. 14–16.

  16.4 Jewish cavalry is mentioned here for the first time. Modein (see 2.1) had remained a center of Maccabean support.

  16.6 For courage in crossing the stream, see Judas’s action in 5.40–43.

  16.7 Having the Jewish cavalry go up against the Seleucid infantry (not cavalry) confused the enemy’s battle plan.

  16.10 Jonathan had burned Azotus previously (10.84).16.11–17 In the winter of 134 BCE, Simon and his sons Judas and Mattathias are murdered near Jericho in an attempted coup by Simon’s son-in-law Ptolemy.

  16.11 Abubus, probably “beloved” (in Hebrew chabub).

  16.15 Dok, a fortress near Jericho.

  16.18–24 Simon’s surviving son, John Hyrcanus, escapes his brother-in-law’s plot and succeeds his father as high priest and military and political ruler.

  16.18 Ptolemy’s report to the king suggests that he hoped to be appointed the official Seleucid ruler in Judea and environs.

  16.19–22 John Hyrcanus escaped at Gazara only because an informant told him what happened to Simon and his two brothers at Dok.

  16.23–24 Using a formula familiar from 1–2 Kings (see 1 Macc 9.22), the book ends by showing how John Hyrcanus inherited the Jewish high priesthood.

  2 MACCABEES

  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |

  Content

  THE SECOND BOOK OF MACCABEES supplies important information about the events leading up to the revolt under Judas Maccabeus and recounts the subsequent exploits of Judas up to 161 BCE (his defeat of Nicanor). It describes the political intrigues surrounding the Jewish high priesthood and portrays Judas Maccabeus as the ideal Jewish warrior—one who prays before battles and gives thanks afterward, one who is careful to observe the sabbath and other Jewish rituals.