1 Maccabees 10: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

In year 160 Alexander takes Ptolemais and reigns there, and King Demetrius writes to Jonathan with friendly words, giving him authority to raise an army and ordering the hostages released. Alexander then appoints Jonathan high priest and king's friend, and Demetrius sends a longer letter promising wide tax relief and privileges, which Jonathan and the people do not believe. Demetrius is killed in battle with Alexander, who marries Ptolemee's daughter Cleopatra at Ptolemais and honors Jonathan there in front of his accusers. Later Demetrius's son comes from Crete, and his general Apollonius challenges Jonathan, who with Simon takes Joppa, defeats Apollonius near Azotus, and burns the temple of Dagon; Alexander then honors Jonathan further.

Claim by Claim

1. 10:1
   • In the one hundred and sixtieth year Alexander, the son of Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, went up.
   • Alexander took Ptolemais.
   • The people of Ptolemais received him.
   • Alexander reigned there.
2. 10:2
   • King Demetrius heard of this.
   • Demetrius gathered together an exceedingly great army.
   • Demetrius went out to meet Alexander in battle.
3. 10:3
   • Demetrius sent letters to Jonathan.
   • The letters were worded peaceably.
   • The letters honored Jonathan.
4. 10:4
   • Demetrius said they should make peace with the Jews first.
   • Demetrius said this should be done before Jonathan made peace with Alexander against them.
5. 10:5
   • Demetrius said Jonathan would otherwise remember all the evils they had done against him.
   • Demetrius said Jonathan would remember the evils done against his brothers.
   • Demetrius said Jonathan would remember the evils done against his nation.
6. 10:6
   • Demetrius gave Jonathan authority to gather an army.
   • Demetrius gave Jonathan authority to make weapons.
   • Demetrius made Jonathan his ally.
   • Demetrius commanded that the hostages in the citadel be handed over to Jonathan.
7. 10:7
   • Jonathan came to Jerusalem.
   • Jonathan read the letters aloud to all the people.
   • Jonathan read the letters aloud to those in the citadel.
8. 10:8
   • They were greatly afraid.
   • They were afraid when they heard that the king had given Jonathan authority to gather an army.
9. 10:9
   • Those in the citadel handed the hostages over to Jonathan.
   • Jonathan returned the hostages to their parents.
10. 10:10
    • Jonathan settled in Jerusalem.
    • Jonathan began to build the city.
    • Jonathan began to renew the city.
11. 10:11
    • Jonathan told the workmen to build the walls.
    • Jonathan told the workmen to build around Mount Zion with squared stones for fortification.
    • The workmen did so.
12. 10:12
    • The foreigners in the strongholds that Bacchides had built fled away.
13. 10:13
    • Each man left his place.
    • Each man went away into his own land.
14. 10:14
    • At Bethsura some of those who had forsaken the law and the commandments remained.
    • Bethsura was a place of refuge for them.
15. 10:15
    • King Alexander heard of the promises Demetrius had sent to Jonathan.
    • Alexander was told of the battles Jonathan and his brothers had fought.
    • Alexander was told of the brave deeds Jonathan and his brothers had done.
    • Alexander was told of the hardships they had endured.
16. 10:16
    • Alexander asked whether they could find another such man.
    • Alexander said they would now make Jonathan their friend and ally.
17. 10:17
    • Alexander wrote a letter.
    • Alexander sent the letter to Jonathan with these words.
18. 10:18
    • The letter greeted Jonathan as King Alexander's brother.
19. 10:19
    • Alexander said he had heard about Jonathan.
    • Alexander said Jonathan was a man of great strength.
    • Alexander said Jonathan was fit to be his friend.
20. 10:20
    • Alexander appointed Jonathan that day as high priest of his nation.
    • Alexander appointed Jonathan to be called the king's friend.
    • Alexander sent Jonathan a purple robe.
    • Alexander sent Jonathan a golden crown.
    • Alexander required Jonathan to take his side.
    • Alexander required Jonathan to keep friendship with him.
21. 10:21
    • Jonathan put on the holy robe.
    • This was in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year.
    • This was at the feast of tabernacles.
    • Jonathan gathered forces.
    • Jonathan provided much armour.
22. 10:22
    • Demetrius heard these things.
    • Demetrius was grieved.
    • Demetrius spoke.
23. 10:23
    • Demetrius asked what they had done.
    • Demetrius said Alexander had gotten ahead of them in making friendship with the Jews.
    • Demetrius said Alexander did this to strengthen himself.
24. 10:24
    • Demetrius said he would also write to the Jews words of encouragement.
    • Demetrius said he would promise them honors and gifts.
    • Demetrius said this was so that they would help him.
25. 10:25
    • Demetrius sent them a message to this effect.
    • The message greeted the nation of the Jews from King Demetrius.
26. 10:26
    • Demetrius said they had kept the covenants with him.
    • Demetrius said they had continued in his friendship.
    • Demetrius said they had not joined his enemies.
    • Demetrius said he had heard of this.
    • Demetrius said he was glad.
27. 10:27
    • Demetrius told them to continue to keep faith with him.
    • Demetrius said he would repay them with good for what they did for him.
28. 10:28
    • Demetrius said he would grant them many exemptions.
    • Demetrius said he would give them gifts.
29. 10:29
    • Demetrius said he freed them.
    • Demetrius said he released all the Jews from the tributes.
    • Demetrius said he released them from the tax on salt.
    • Demetrius said he released them from the crown taxes.
30. 10:30
    • Demetrius said he released the third part of the seed that was due him.
    • Demetrius said he released the half of the fruit of the trees that was due him.
    • Demetrius said this release began from that day onward.
    • Demetrius said it would not be taken from the land of Judea.
    • Demetrius said it would not be taken from the three districts added to Judea from Samaria and Galilee.
    • Demetrius said this held from that day forever.
31. 10:31
    • Demetrius said Jerusalem should be holy and free.
    • Demetrius said its borders should be free also.
    • Demetrius said this freedom covered the tithes and the taxes.
32. 10:32
    • Demetrius said he gave up his authority over the citadel in Jerusalem.
    • Demetrius said he gave the citadel to the high priest.
    • Demetrius said the high priest might station in it men of his own choosing to guard it.
33. 10:33
    • Demetrius said he set free without payment every Jewish person carried captive out of the land of Judea into any part of his kingdom.
    • Demetrius ordered that all his officers remit the taxes even on their cattle.
34. 10:34
    • Demetrius said all the feasts should be days of exemption and release.
    • Demetrius said the sabbaths should be such days.
    • Demetrius said the new moons should be such days.
    • Demetrius said the appointed days should be such days.
    • Demetrius said the three days before a feast should be such days.
    • Demetrius said the three days after a feast should be such days.
    • Demetrius said this applied to all the Jews in his kingdom.
35. 10:35
    • Demetrius said no man should have authority to exact anything from any of them.
    • Demetrius said no man should have authority to trouble any of them in any matter.
36. 10:36
    • Demetrius said about thirty thousand men of the Jews should be enrolled in the king's forces.
    • Demetrius said they should be given pay as is due to all the king's forces.
37. 10:37
    • Demetrius said some of them should be stationed in the king's great strongholds.
    • Demetrius said some of them should be set over affairs of the kingdom that are positions of trust.
    • Demetrius said their overseers and rulers should be from among themselves.
    • Demetrius said they should live by their own laws.
    • Demetrius said this was as the king had commanded in the land of Judea.
38. 10:38
    • Demetrius said the three districts added to Judea from the country of Samaria should be joined to Judea.
    • Demetrius said they should be reckoned as under one rule.
    • Demetrius said they should obey no authority other than the high priest's.
39. 10:39
    • Demetrius said he gave Ptolemais and the land belonging to it as a gift to the sanctuary at Jerusalem.
    • Demetrius said this was for the necessary expenses of the sanctuary.
40. 10:40
    • Demetrius said he gave fifteen thousand shekels of silver every year.
    • Demetrius said this came out of the king's accounts.
    • Demetrius said it came from the appropriate places.
41. 10:41
    • Demetrius said all the surplus that the officials had not paid in as in former years should from then on be given toward the works of the temple.
42. 10:42
    • Demetrius said that besides this there were five thousand shekels of silver taken yearly from the revenues of the sanctuary.
    • Demetrius said those five thousand shekels were also released.
    • Demetrius said they belonged to the priests who minister.
43. 10:43
    • Demetrius said that whoever flees to the temple at Jerusalem or within its borders should go free.
    • Demetrius said this applied to those owing money to the king.
    • Demetrius said this applied to those liable for any other matter.
    • Demetrius said all their possessions in his kingdom should go free as well.
44. 10:44
    • Demetrius said the expense for building and renewing the works of the sanctuary should be given out of the king's accounts.
45. 10:45
    • Demetrius said the expense for building the walls of Jerusalem should be given out of the king's accounts.
    • Demetrius said the expense for fortifying Jerusalem all around should be so given.
    • Demetrius said the expense for building the walls in Judea should be so given.
46. 10:46
    • Jonathan and the people heard these words.
    • They did not believe the words.
    • They did not accept them.
    • They remembered the great evil Demetrius had done in Israel.
    • They remembered that he had afflicted them severely.
47. 10:47
    • They favored Alexander.
    • They favored him because he was the first to speak words of peace to them.
    • They were allied with him always.
48. 10:48
    • King Alexander gathered great forces.
    • Alexander encamped opposite Demetrius.
49. 10:49
    • The two kings joined battle.
    • The army of Demetrius fled.
    • Alexander pursued him.
    • Alexander prevailed against them.
50. 10:50
    • Alexander pressed the battle hard until the sun went down.
    • Demetrius fell that day.
51. 10:51
    • Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy king of Egypt.
    • The ambassadors carried a message to this effect.
52. 10:52
    • Alexander said he had returned to his kingdom.
    • Alexander said he was seated on the throne of his fathers.
    • Alexander said he had taken hold of the dominion.
    • Alexander said he had crushed Demetrius.
    • Alexander said he had gained control of their country.
53. 10:53
    • Alexander said he had joined battle with Demetrius.
    • Alexander said Demetrius and his army were defeated by them.
    • Alexander said they sat on the throne of Demetrius's kingdom.
54. 10:54
    • Alexander proposed that they make a friendship together.
    • Alexander asked Ptolemy to give him his daughter as wife.
    • Alexander said he would become Ptolemy's son-in-law.
    • Alexander said he would give gifts to Ptolemy and to his daughter worthy of Ptolemy.
55. 10:55
    • King Ptolemy answered.
    • Ptolemy called happy the day on which Alexander returned to the land of his fathers.
    • Ptolemy called happy the day on which Alexander sat on the throne of their kingdom.
56. 10:56
    • Ptolemy said he would do for Alexander what he had written.
    • Ptolemy told Alexander to meet him at Ptolemais.
    • Ptolemy said this was so they might see one another.
    • Ptolemy said he would give his daughter in marriage as Alexander had said.
57. 10:57
    • Ptolemy went out of Egypt.
    • Cleopatra his daughter went with him.
    • They came to Ptolemais.
    • This was in the one hundred and sixty-second year.
58. 10:58
    • King Alexander met Ptolemy.
    • Ptolemy gave him his daughter Cleopatra.
    • Alexander celebrated her marriage at Ptolemais.
    • The marriage was celebrated with great glory, as kings do.
59. 10:59
    • King Alexander wrote to Jonathan.
    • Alexander wrote that Jonathan should come to meet him.
60. 10:60
    • Jonathan went with honor to Ptolemais.
    • Jonathan met the two kings.
    • Jonathan gave them silver and gold.
    • Jonathan gave their friends gifts as well.
    • Jonathan gave many presents.
    • Jonathan found favor in their sight.
61. 10:61
    • Certain pestilent men of Israel gathered against Jonathan.
    • These men were lawless.
    • They gathered to accuse him.
    • The king paid no attention to them.
62. 10:62
    • The king gave a command concerning them.
    • Jonathan's garments were taken off him.
    • Jonathan was clothed in purple.
    • They did so.
63. 10:63
    • The king made Jonathan sit with him.
    • The king told his princes to go out with Jonathan into the middle of the city.
    • The king told them to proclaim that no one should accuse Jonathan of any matter.
    • The king told them to proclaim that no one should trouble him for any cause.
64. 10:64
    • The accusers saw Jonathan's honor as the proclamation declared it.
    • The accusers saw him clothed in purple.
    • They all fled away.
65. 10:65
    • The king honored Jonathan.
    • The king enrolled him among his chief friends.
    • The king made him a general.
    • The king made him governor of a district.
66. 10:66
    • Jonathan returned to Jerusalem.
    • Jonathan returned with peace and gladness.
67. 10:67
    • In the one hundred and sixty-fifth year Demetrius the son of Demetrius came out of Crete.
    • He came into the land of his fathers.
68. 10:68
    • King Alexander heard of it.
    • Alexander was greatly grieved.
    • Alexander returned to Antioch.
69. 10:69
    • Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was governor of Coelesyria, as his general.
    • Apollonius gathered a great army.
    • Apollonius encamped at Jamnia.
    • Apollonius sent a message to Jonathan the high priest.
70. 10:70
    • Apollonius said Jonathan alone lifted himself up against them.
    • Apollonius said he was made a laughingstock and a reproach because of Jonathan.
    • Apollonius asked why Jonathan exercised power against them in the mountains.
71. 10:71
    • Apollonius said that if Jonathan trusted in his forces he should come down to them into the plain.
    • Apollonius said they should test each other there.
    • Apollonius said the power of the cities was with him.
72. 10:72
    • Apollonius told Jonathan to ask and learn who he was.
    • Apollonius told him to learn who the others helping him were.
    • Apollonius said they say Jonathan's foot cannot stand before their face.
    • Apollonius said Jonathan's fathers were twice put to flight in their own land.
73. 10:73
    • Apollonius said Jonathan would not be able to withstand the cavalry.
    • Apollonius said Jonathan would not be able to withstand such an army in the plain.
    • Apollonius said there was neither stone nor flint there.
    • Apollonius said there was no place to flee there.
74. 10:74
    • Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius.
    • Jonathan was moved in his mind.
    • Jonathan chose ten thousand men.
    • Jonathan went out from Jerusalem.
    • Simon his brother met him to help him.
75. 10:75
    • Jonathan encamped against Joppa.
    • The people of the city shut him out.
    • They shut him out because Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa.
    • They fought against the city.
76. 10:76
    • The people of the city were afraid.
    • The people of the city opened to him.
    • Jonathan gained possession of Joppa.
77. 10:77
    • Apollonius heard of it.
    • Apollonius mustered three thousand horsemen.
    • Apollonius mustered a great army besides.
    • Apollonius went to Azotus as though passing through.
    • Apollonius at the same time advanced into the plain.
    • Apollonius did this because he had a large number of horsemen.
    • Apollonius trusted in his horsemen.
78. 10:78
    • Jonathan pursued after him to Azotus.
    • The armies joined battle.
79. 10:79
    • Apollonius had left a thousand horsemen in hiding behind them.
80. 10:80
    • Jonathan knew there was an ambush behind him.
    • They surrounded his army.
    • They shot darts at the people from morning until evening.
81. 10:81
    • The people stood fast as Jonathan had commanded.
    • The enemies' horses grew tired.
82. 10:82
    • Simon brought forward his force.
    • Simon engaged the phalanx.
    • The cavalry was exhausted.
    • They were crushed by him.
    • They fled.
83. 10:83
    • The cavalry was scattered in the plain.
    • They fled to Azotus.
    • They entered Bethdagon, their idol's temple.
    • They entered it to save themselves.
84. 10:84
    • Jonathan burned Azotus.
    • Jonathan burned the cities around it.
    • Jonathan took their spoils.
    • Jonathan burned the temple of Dagon with fire.
    • Those who had fled into it were burned with it.
85. 10:85
    • Those who fell by the sword together with those who were burned came to about eight thousand men.
86. 10:86
    • Jonathan moved on from there.
    • Jonathan encamped against Ascalon.
    • The men of the city came out to meet him.
    • They met him with great honor.
87. 10:87
    • Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with his men.
    • They had many spoils.
88. 10:88
    • King Alexander heard these things.
    • Alexander honored Jonathan still more.
89. 10:89
    • Alexander sent Jonathan a golden buckle.
    • Such a buckle is customarily given to those of the king's kindred.
    • Alexander gave him Accaron.
    • Alexander gave him all its borders as a possession.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

10:1

"The hundred and sixtieth year" counts from the founding of the Seleucid kingdom in 312 BC, the calendar used all through this book; the year runs into 152 BC. Ptolemais is the port on the Mediterranean coast now called Acre. This Alexander, usually called Alexander Balas, claimed to be a son of the dead king Antiochus IV, whose adopted title Epiphanes meant roughly "God made visible"; many at the time doubted the claim, and the book itself only says he was "surnamed" so.

10:2

Demetrius I ruled the Seleucid kingdom, the Greek-speaking empire centered on Syria that governed Judea. Alexander was a rival claimant to the same throne, so what follows is a civil war between two men each calling himself king, with the Jews courted by both sides.

10:3

Jonathan was the leader of the Jews. He and his brothers had fought these kings for years.

10:6

The "tower" is the citadel, the Greek fortress in Jerusalem known as the Akra, held by a royal garrison and by Jews who backed the king. The hostages were relatives of leading Jewish families, kept there as a guarantee that those families would not rebel.

10:11

Mount Sion, Zion, here means the temple hill in Jerusalem itself, not a separate mountain. Square stones are dressed blocks cut to fit tightly, the strongest and most expensive kind of wall.

10:12

Bacchides was Demetrius's general, who a few years earlier had fortified a ring of towns across Judea and garrisoned them with foreign troops to hold the country down.

10:14

Bethsura, Beth-zur, was a fortress town guarding the road south of Jerusalem. "Those that had forsaken the law and the commandments" means Jews who had given up Jewish practice and sided with the Greek kings; they stayed behind walls because they were not safe among their own people.

10:18

"His brother" is court language, not family. A king addressed another ruler, or a man he wished to treat as a near equal, as brother.

10:20

The high priest ran worship at the temple in Jerusalem and by this period was also the political head of the Jewish people, so the office carried the whole nation with it. Seleucid kings claimed the right to appoint him, which is what Alexander is exercising here. "The king's friend" was a formal rank at the royal court, not a description of affection, and the purple robe and gold crown were the official insignia that went with it.

10:21

The seventh month is Tishri, falling in our September or October. The Feast of Tabernacles was the eight day autumn harvest festival during which people lived in temporary shelters of branches. The "holy robe" is the set of vestments worn by the high priest when he served at the temple.

10:23

In the King James English "prevented" means got there first, not stopped or hindered. Demetrius is complaining that Alexander beat him to it.

10:28

"Immunities" means exemptions from taxes and other obligations owed to the crown, the standard currency of favor between a Greek king and a subject city or nation.

10:29

Tribute was the lump sum a subject nation owed the king each year. The salt tax came from a royal monopoly: salt could only be bought through the crown. The crown tax began as an occasional gift of a gold crown presented to the king and had hardened into a regular levy.

10:30

A third of the grain harvest and half of the fruit crop were the king's standing share of the land's produce, so this gives up the main agricultural tax. The three districts are named later in the book as Aphairema, Lydda and Ramathaim, a strip of country lying between Judea and Samaria.

10:31

"Holy and free" is the formal Greek language for a free city, one exempt from royal taxation and garrison. "Tenths" are tithes, the tenth part of produce.

10:33

To be "carried away" means soldiers took people from home by force. They had to live and work far away in another land.

10:34

New moons are the first day of each lunar month, marked by special sacrifices and kept as holy days. "Solemn days" means the appointed festivals of the calendar. Declaring these days free of duty means no tax or debt could be collected on them, and with three days added on either side of each feast the exempt days added up to a large part of the year.

10:36

These Jewish men would join the king's army as soldiers. They would be paid, just like his other soldiers.

10:37

The promise is that Jewish soldiers and officials would serve under Jewish officers and keep their own law, which in practice meant sabbath rest and Jewish food rules, arrangements no ordinary unit of a Greek army enjoyed.

10:39

Ptolemais is the city Alexander had seized in verse 1. Demetrius is offering the revenues of a place he no longer controlled.

10:40

A shekel is a weight of silver, roughly eleven grams, worth about four days' wages for a laborer. Fifteen thousand a year was a substantial royal subsidy.

10:41

The "overplus" is arrears: sums the king's revenue officers had been holding back instead of paying over to the temple as they once did.

10:43

Certain temples in the Greek world held a recognized right of asylum: a fugitive who reached the sacred ground could not legally be seized. Demetrius is extending that protection to the Jerusalem temple and stretching it to cover debtors to the crown.

10:49

The King James wording has the two names the wrong way around here. In the Greek it is Alexander's army that breaks and Demetrius who pursues, which is why Demetrius can press the fight until sundown in the next verse and still be the one who falls.

10:51

Ptolemee is Ptolemy VI Philometor, king of Egypt. Egypt was ruled by a rival Greek dynasty descended from another of Alexander the Great's generals, and the two houses had fought over Palestine for generations.

10:54

Marriage between royal houses was a standard instrument of treaty. Asking for the daughter is asking for a formal alliance, and the "gifts worthy of your rank" are the bride price expected in such a match.

10:57

The year one hundred sixty-two on the Seleucid calendar is 150 BC. This Cleopatra, known as Cleopatra Thea, is not the famous Cleopatra of Roman times, who lived a century later.

10:60

Presenting silver, gold and gifts on being received by a king was expected protocol at a Greek court rather than a bribe, and the scale of the gift signaled the giver's standing.

10:61

"Pestilent fellows" is King James English for troublemakers, men treated as a plague on the community.

10:62

Purple cloth was dyed with a fabulously expensive shellfish dye and its use was restricted to royalty and the highest court ranks. Stripping off a man's own clothes and dressing him in purple in public was a formal act of promotion, visible to everyone watching.

10:65

"Duke" in the King James English means a military commander, not a nobleman with a title; the Greek word is strategos, general. The "chief friends" were a grade of court rank above the plain "king's friend" of verse 20, and "partaker of his dominion" means he was made governor of a province.

10:67

The year one hundred sixty-five is 147 BC. This Demetrius, Demetrius II, is the son of the Demetrius killed in verse 50, coming back with hired Cretan troops to claim his father's throne.

10:68

Antioch, in northern Syria, was the capital of the Seleucid kingdom. Returning there means Alexander left the coast to secure his center of power.

10:69

Celosyria, Coele-Syria, was the Seleucid province covering southern Syria and Palestine, Judea included, so Apollonius was Jonathan's nominal governor. Jamnia, Yavneh, was a town on the coastal plain west of Jerusalem.

10:71

The taunt is about terrain. On the flat coastal plain cavalry could charge and wheel freely; in the hill country of Judea they were nearly useless. "The power of the cities" means the Greek cities of the plain, which supplied Apollonius with troops.

10:72

The King James text is garbled at this point, printing "is not able to to flight" where words have dropped out. The Greek reads that Jonathan's foot cannot stand against them, because his ancestors were twice put to flight in their own land.

10:73

"Neither stone nor flint" means open ground with no rocks for cover, no loose stones for slings, and no broken terrain to break up a cavalry charge.

10:75

Joppa, modern Jaffa, was the harbor town that gave Judea its access to the sea, which made it worth fighting for out of all proportion to its size.

10:77

Azotus is the old Philistine city of Ashdod, on the coastal plain. Marching past "as one that journeyed" is a feint: Apollonius pretends to be moving through, to pull Jonathan off the hills and onto flat ground.

10:79

An ambush is soldiers who hide and wait. Then they rush out and attack from behind.

10:83

Dagon was a god worshiped in that region since long before, associated with grain. Bethdagon means "house of Dagon." The horsemen ran to a temple because temples were recognized places of refuge where a pursuer was not supposed to strike.

10:85

The eight thousand is the combined total of those cut down in the fighting and those who died in the burning of the temple.

10:86

Ascalon, Ashkelon, was another city of the coastal plain. Coming out to meet an approaching army "with great pomp" was the formal way a city announced it would submit rather than be besieged.

10:87

The King James reads "having any spoils," a printer's error for "many spoils."

10:89

The gold buckle was a clasp for fastening a cloak and served as a badge of the very top rank at the Seleucid court, given only to men counted as kinsmen of the king. Accaron is Ekron, one of the old Philistine cities, granted to Jonathan as personal territory with its revenues.