1 Maccabees 13

Simon heard that Tryphon had gathered a great army to march into the land of Judea and destroy it.

1Now when Simon heard that Tryphon had gathered together a great host to invade the land of Judea, and destroy it,

NoteSimon is the last surviving son of Mattathias, the priest whose family began the revolt against Seleucid rule about twenty-five years earlier; his brothers Judas Maccabeus and Jonathan had led before him. Tryphon was a Seleucid general who governed through a boy king and was working to take the throne himself. Judea is the territory around Jerusalem.

2He saw that the people were shaking with great fear. So he went up to Jerusalem and called the people together.

2And saw that the people was in great trembling and fear, he went up to Jerusalem, and gathered the people together,

3He encouraged them, saying, "You yourselves know what great things I, my brothers, and my father's family have done for the laws and the holy place, and the battles and hardships we have been through.

3And gave them exhortation, saying, Ye yourselves know what great things I, and my brethren, and my father’s house, have done for the laws and the sanctuary, the battles also and troubles which we have seen.

Note"The sanctuary" is the temple in Jerusalem. "My father's house" means the family line of Mattathias, not a building.

4"Because of this, all my brothers have been killed for Israel's sake, and I am left alone.

4By reason whereof all my brethren are slain for Israel’s sake, and I am left alone.

NoteMattathias had five sons. By this point Judas, Jonathan, Eleazar and John had all died in the fighting or been killed, leaving only Simon.

5"Now far be it from me to spare my own life in any time of trouble, for I am no better than my brothers.

5Now therefore be it far from me, that I should spare mine own life in any time of trouble: for I am no better than my brethren.

6"I will surely take revenge for my nation, and for the holy place, and for our wives and our children, because all the nations have gathered out of sheer hatred to destroy us."

6Doubtless I will avenge my nation, and the sanctuary, and our wives, and our children: for all the heathen are gathered to destroy us of very malice.

Note"The heathen" in the King James simply means the Gentiles, the non-Jewish peoples and kingdoms around Judea. It carries no sense of savagery; it is the ordinary word for foreign nations.

7As soon as the people heard these words, their spirit came back to life.

7Now as soon as the people heard these words, their spirit revived.

8They answered with a loud voice, saying, "You will be our leader in place of Judas and your brother Jonathan.

8And they answered with a loud voice, saying, Thou shalt be our leader instead of Judas and Jonathan thy brother.

9"Fight our battles, and whatever you tell us to do, we will do."

9Fight thou our battles, and whatsoever, thou commandest us, that will we do.

10So he gathered together all the fighting men and hurried to finish the walls of Jerusalem, and he fortified the city all around.

10So then he gathered together all the men of war, and made haste to finish the walls of Jerusalem, and he fortified it round about.

11He also sent Jonathan son of Absalom to Joppa, and a large force with him. Jonathan threw out the people who were in the city and stayed there himself.

11Also he sent Jonathan the son of Absolom, and with him a great power, to Joppa: who casting out them that were therein remained there in it.

NoteJoppa, modern Jaffa, was the harbor town on the Mediterranean about thirty-five miles from Jerusalem, Judea's only real outlet to the sea. Expelling its existing inhabitants and garrisoning it was how a ruler secured a port.

12Tryphon moved out from Ptolemais with a large force to invade the land of Judea, and Jonathan was with him under guard.

12So Tryphon removed from Ptolemaus with a great power to invade the land of Judea, and Jonathan was with him in ward.

NotePtolemais, modern Acre, was a coastal city north of Judea and a base for Seleucid forces. "In ward" in the King James means in custody, under guard.

13But Simon pitched his camp at Adida, facing the plain.

13But Simon pitched his tents at Adida, over against the plain.

NoteAdida was a hill town on the edge of the foothills, overlooking the coastal plain and covering the road up to Jerusalem.

14When Tryphon learned that Simon had risen up in place of his brother Jonathan, and meant to fight a battle with him, he sent messengers to him, saying,

14Now when Tryphon knew that Simon was risen up instead of his brother Jonathan, and meant to join battle with him, he sent messengers unto him, saying,

15"We are holding your brother Jonathan because of money he owes to the king's treasury, from the duties that were put in his charge.

15Whereas we have Jonathan thy brother in hold, it is for money that he is owing unto the king’s treasure, concerning the business that was committed unto him.

NoteJonathan had held royal appointments from the Seleucid kings, including the high priesthood and a governorship, and such offices came with revenue owed back to the crown. Tryphon is dressing up a kidnapping as a tax dispute.

16"So now send a hundred talents of silver and two of his sons as hostages, so that when he is set free he will not turn against us, and then we will let him go."

16Wherefore now send an hundred talents of silver, and two of his sons for hostages, that when he is at liberty he may not revolt from us, and we will let him go.

NoteA talent was a weight of silver of roughly seventy-five pounds, so a hundred talents was an enormous sum, comparable to a year's revenue from a whole district. Handing over sons as hostages was a normal guarantee of good behavior in treaties of the time.

17Simon understood that they were speaking to him falsely, but he sent the money and the children anyway, so that he would not bring great hatred from the people on himself.

17Hereupon Simon, albeit he perceived that they spake deceitfully unto him yet sent he the money and the children, lest peradventure he should procure to himself great hatred of the people:

18They might have said that Jonathan died because Simon did not send the money and the children.

18Who might have said, Because I sent him not the money and the children, therefore is Jonathan dead.

19So he sent them the children and the hundred talents, but Tryphon broke his word and would not let Jonathan go.

19So he sent them the children and the hundred talents: howbeit Tryphon dissembled neither would he let Jonathan go.

Note"Dissembled" in the King James means acted falsely, hid what he really intended.

20After this Tryphon came to invade the land and destroy it, going around by the road that leads to Adora. But Simon and his army marched against him at every place he went.

20And after this came Tryphon to invade the land, and destroy it, going round about by the way that leadeth unto Adora: but Simon and his host marched against him in every place, wheresoever he went.

NoteAdora was a town in Idumea, south of Hebron. Tryphon was swinging wide to the south to come at Judea from a direction Simon was not blocking.

21Now the men in the tower sent messengers to Tryphon, urging him to hurry to them through the wilderness and to send them food.

21Now they that were in the tower sent messengers unto Tryphon, to the end that he should hasten his coming unto them by the wilderness, and send them victuals.

Note"The tower" is the Akra, a fortress inside Jerusalem held since about 167 BC by a Seleucid garrison and their Jewish supporters. It sat in the city but was not under Jewish control, and supplying it from outside was the only way to keep it alive.

22So Tryphon got all his horsemen ready to come that night, but a very heavy snow fell, and because of it he did not come. He marched away and went into the country of Gilead.

22Wherefore Tryphon made ready all his horsemen to come that night: but there fell a very great snow, by reason whereof he came not. So he departed, and came into the country of Galaad.

NoteSnow falls in the hills of Judea and the highlands east of the Jordan only in deep winter, but when it comes it can close the passes. The detail fixes this campaign in the winter months.

23When he came near Bascama, he killed Jonathan, who was buried there.

23And when he came near to Bascama he slew Jonathan, who was buried there.

NoteBascama was somewhere in Gilead, the region east of the Jordan River, which the King James spells "Galaad" from the Greek form. Its exact site is not known.

24After that Tryphon turned back and went away to his own land.

24Afterward Tryphon returned and went into his own land.

25Then Simon sent men and took the bones of his brother Jonathan, and buried them at Modin, the town of his ancestors.

25Then sent Simon, and took the bones of Jonathan his brother, and buried them in Modin, the city of his fathers.

NoteModin was the family's home village in the foothills northwest of Jerusalem, where Mattathias had first refused to sacrifice and the revolt began.

26All Israel mourned loudly for him and wept for him many days.

26And all Israel made great lamentation for him, and bewailed him many days.

27Simon also built a monument over the tomb of his father and his brothers. He raised it up high so it could be seen, with polished stone on the front and the back.

27Simon also built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his brethren, and raised it aloft to the sight, with hewn stone behind and before.

NoteThe monument is a tomb in the Greek style of the period: a raised structure faced with dressed stone, built to be seen from a distance rather than a simple cave burial.

28He also set up seven pyramids, one facing another, for his father, his mother, and his four brothers.

28Moreover he set up seven pyramids, one against another, for his father, and his mother, and his four brethren.

NoteThese pyramids are pyramid-shaped stone markers, not Egyptian tombs. Six are accounted for by Mattathias, his wife and four sons; the seventh was presumably Simon's own, prepared in advance.

29On these he made skillful work. He set great pillars around them, and on the pillars he made suits of armor as a lasting memorial. Beside the armor he carved ships, so that everyone sailing on the sea could see them.

29And in these he made cunning devices, about the which he set great pillars, and upon the pillars he made all their armour for a perpetual memory, and by the armour ships carved, that they might be seen of all that sail on the sea.

NoteHanging suits of armor on a monument was a Greek convention for a victory memorial. The carved ships most likely advertised Simon's control of the port at Joppa, and Modin stood on high ground within sight of shipping lanes.

30This is the tomb he made at Modin, and it still stands today.

30This is the sepulchre which he made at Modin, and it standeth yet unto this day.

31Now Tryphon dealt falsely with the young king Antiochus and killed him.

31Now Tryphon dealt deceitfully with the young king Antiochus, and slew him.

NoteThe young king was Antiochus VI, a child whom Tryphon had put on the throne as a figurehead while ruling in his name.

32He ruled in his place, put the crown of Asia on his own head, and brought great disaster on the land.

32And he reigned in his stead, and crowned himself king of Asia, and brought a great calamity upon the land.

Note"Asia" here does not mean the continent. Greek writers used it for the Seleucid kingdom, the empire based in Syria that stretched east from the Mediterranean.

33Then Simon built up the strongholds of Judea. He walled them all around with high towers, great walls, gates, and bars, and he stored food in them.

33Then Simon built up the strong holds in Judea, and fenced them about with high towers, and great walls, and gates, and bars, and laid up victuals therein.

NoteThe "bars" are the heavy beams dropped across gates on the inside to hold them shut. Storing food in a stronghold was what allowed it to survive a siege.

34Simon also chose men and sent them to King Demetrius, asking him to free the land from taxes, because everything Tryphon did was plundering.

34Moreover Simon chose men, and sent to king Demetrius, to the end he should give the land an immunity, because all that Tryphon did was to spoil.

NoteDemetrius II was the rival Seleucid king, fighting Tryphon for the throne, so he had reason to buy Jewish support. "Immunity" means exemption from tribute to the crown, which in practice meant independence.

35King Demetrius answered him and wrote back to him in this way:

35Unto whom king Demetrius answered and wrote after this manner:

36"King Demetrius to Simon the high priest and friend of kings, and to the elders and the nation of the Jews: greetings.

36King Demetrius unto Simon the high priest, and friend of kings, as also unto the elders and nation of the Jews, sendeth greeting:

Note"Friend of kings" was a formal rank at Hellenistic courts, conferred by the king, not a description of personal affection. The "elders" are the council of leading men at Jerusalem.

37"We have received the gold crown and the palm branch that you sent us. We are ready to make a firm peace with you, and to write to our officers to confirm the freedom from taxes that we have granted you.

37The golden crown, and the scarlet robe, which ye sent unto us, we have received: and we are ready to make a stedfast peace with you, yea, and to write unto our officers, to confirm the immunities which we have granted.

NoteThe King James reads "the scarlet robe," but the Greek says a palm branch, which is what the modern versions render. A golden crown and a golden palm branch were the customary honorific gifts sent to a king by a subject city or people.

38"Whatever agreements we have made with you shall stand, and the strongholds you have built shall be your own.

38And whatsoever covenants we have made with you shall stand; and the strong holds, which ye have builded, shall be your own.

39"As for any oversight or fault committed up to this day, we forgive it, and the crown tax you owe us as well. If any other tax was being collected in Jerusalem, it shall be collected no longer.

39As for any oversight or fault committed unto this day, we forgive it, and the crown tax also, which ye owe us: and if there were any other tribute paid in Jerusalem, it shall no more be paid.

NoteThe crown tax began as a voluntary gift of a gold crown to a king on his accession, then hardened into a regular levy collected whether anyone wanted to give it or not.

40"Any among you who are fit to serve in our court, let them be enrolled, and let there be peace between us."

40And look who are meet among you to be in our court, let then be enrolled, and let there be peace betwixt us.

NoteTo be "enrolled" in the king's court meant being taken onto the royal payroll as an officer or guardsman, a position of standing and income. "Meet" in the King James means suitable or qualified.

41In this way the yoke of the nations was lifted off Israel in the hundred and seventieth year.

41Thus the yoke of the heathen was taken away from Israel in the hundred and seventieth year.

NoteThe year is counted from the start of the Seleucid kingdom in 312 BC, so the hundred and seventieth year is about 142 BC. A "yoke" is the wooden harness laid across the necks of oxen, the standard image for foreign domination.

42The people of Israel began to write on their documents and contracts, "In the first year of Simon the high priest, the governor and leader of the Jews."

42Then the people of Israel began to write in their instruments and contracts, In the first year of Simon the high priest, the governor and leader of the Jews.

NoteDating legal documents by a ruler's year was the mark of a sovereign state. Switching from the Seleucid king's years to Simon's own was the practical declaration that Judea no longer answered to anyone else.

43In those days Simon camped against Gazara and surrounded it. He made a siege engine, brought it up to the city, battered one of the towers, and captured it.

43In those days Simon camped against Gaza and besieged it round about; he made also an engine of war, and set it by the city, and battered a certain tower, and took it.

NoteThe King James prints "Gaza," but the Greek reads Gazara, the fortified town of Gezer inland on the road between Jerusalem and Joppa, not the Philistine city of Gaza on the coast. The "engine of war" was a wooden siege tower on wheels, rolled up against the wall with troops inside it.

44The men inside the engine jumped out into the city, and there was a great uproar in the city.

44And they that were in the engine leaped into the city; whereupon there was a great uproar in the city:

45The people of the city tore their clothes and climbed up on the walls with their wives and children, and cried out with a loud voice, begging Simon to make peace with them.

45Insomuch as the people of the city rent their clothes, and climbed upon the walls with their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, beseeching Simon to grant them peace.

NoteTearing one's clothes was the standard public gesture of grief or desperation. What the King James calls asking Simon "to grant them peace" is literally asking him to give them his right hand, the handclasp that sealed terms of surrender.

46They said, "Do not deal with us according to our wickedness, but according to your mercy."

46And they said, Deal not with us according to our wickedness, but according to thy mercy.

47So Simon was reconciled to them and fought against them no more. But he put them out of the city, cleaned out the houses where the idols were, and then entered the city with songs and thanksgiving.

47So Simon was appeased toward them, and fought no more against them, but put them out of the city, and cleansed the houses wherein the idols were, and so entered into it with songs and thanksgiving.

NoteCleansing the houses means removing the pagan images, altars and household shrines, which had to go before observant Jews could live in the buildings.

48He put every unclean thing out of it, settled men there who would keep the law, made it stronger than it was before, and built a house there for himself.

48Yea, he put all uncleanness out of it, and placed such men there as would keep the law, and made it stronger than it was before, and built therein a dwellingplace for himself.

Note"Uncleanness" is ritual impurity as defined by the law of Moses, a matter of what may be touched, eaten or kept in a house, not of dirt.

49The men in the tower in Jerusalem were shut in so tightly that they could not come out, or go into the country, or buy, or sell. So they were in great distress from lack of food, and a great number of them died of hunger.

49They also of the tower in Jerusalem were kept so strait, that they could neither come forth, nor go into the country, nor buy, nor sell: wherefore they were in great distress for want of victuals, and a great number of them perished through famine.

NoteThe garrison in the Jerusalem citadel had held out for roughly a quarter of a century. Cutting off buying and selling starved it out without an assault.

50Then they cried out to Simon, begging him to make peace with them, and he granted it. But he put them out of the tower, and he cleansed the tower from the things that had defiled it.

50Then cried they to Simon, beseeching him to be at one with them: which thing he granted them; and when he had put them out from thence, he cleansed the tower from pollutions:

51He entered it on the twenty-third day of the second month, in the hundred seventy-first year, with thanksgiving, palm branches, harps, cymbals, stringed instruments, hymns, and songs, because a great enemy had been destroyed out of Israel.

51And entered into it the three and twentieth day of the second month in the hundred seventy and first year, with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and with harps, and cymbals, and with viols, and hymns, and songs: because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel.

NoteThe second month is Iyyar, so the date falls in the spring of about 141 BC. Palm branches were carried in victory processions throughout the Greek world. "Viols" is the King James translators' name for a Renaissance instrument that did not yet exist; the Greek word simply means stringed instruments.

52He also ordered that this day be kept every year with gladness. He made the temple hill beside the tower stronger than it was, and he lived there himself with his men.

52He ordained also that that day should be kept every year with gladness. Moreover the hill of the temple that was by the tower he made stronger than it was, and there he dwelt himself with his company.

NoteMaking a date an annual holiday was the same step Judas had taken for the rededication of the temple, the festival later called Hanukkah.

53When Simon saw that his son John was a man, he made him commander of all the armies, and John lived in Gazara.

53And when Simon saw that John his son was a valiant man, he made him captain of all the hosts; and he dwelt in Gazera.

NoteThis is John Hyrcanus, who succeeded Simon and ruled for about thirty years. Greek copies differ here: some say John was "a man of valor," which the King James follows with "a valiant man," while others say only that he had become a man, that is, had reached adulthood.