1 Maccabees 16

Then John came up from Gazera and told Simon his father what Cendebeus had done.

1Then came up John from Gazera, and told Simon his father what Cendebeus had done.

NoteGazera is Gezer, a fortified town on the edge of the coastal plain northwest of Jerusalem. Simon had captured it and put his son John in command there. This John is John Hyrcanus, who takes over the nation at the end of the chapter. Cendebeus was a Greek Seleucid officer stationed on the coast with orders to raid Judean territory.

2So Simon called his two oldest sons, Judas and John, and said to them, "I and my brothers and my father's household have fought against the enemies of Israel from the time I was young until this day, and things have gone so well in our hands that we have rescued Israel many times.

2Wherefore Simon called his two eldest sons, Judas and John, and said unto them, I, and my brethren, and my father’s house, have ever from my youth unto this day fought against the enemies of Israel; and things have prospered so well in our hands, that we have delivered Israel oftentimes.

NoteSimon is the last living of the five sons of Mattathias, the priest whose family led the revolt; the brothers, including Judas Maccabeus, had died one by one in the fighting. "My father's house" means that family and its descendants, not a building.

3But now I am old, and you, by God's mercy, are old enough. Take my place and my brother's place. Go out and fight for our nation, and may the help that comes from heaven be with you."

3But now I am old, and ye, by God’s mercy, are of a sufficient age: be ye instead of me and my brother, and go and fight for our nation, and the help from heaven be with you.

Note"Me and my brother" is singular in most Greek copies, probably meaning Jonathan, the brother who led the nation just before Simon, though a few copies read "my brothers," taking in all of them. The oddness is in the original, not in the translation.

4So he picked out from the country twenty thousand fighting men, along with horsemen, and they went out against Cendebeus and spent that night at Modin.

4So he chose out of the country twenty thousand men of war with horsemen, who went out against Cendebeus, and rested that night at Modin.

NoteModin was the family's home village, where Mattathias first refused to sacrifice to Greek gods and started the revolt, and where the family tombs stood. Camping there on the way to battle placed the sons at the spot where their grandfather's fight began.

5When they got up in the morning and went out into the plain, a huge army of foot soldiers and horsemen came to meet them. But there was a stream of water between the two sides.

5And when as they rose in the morning, and went into the plain, behold, a mighty great host both of footmen and horsemen came against them: howbeit there was a water brook betwixt them.

6So he and his people set up camp facing them. When he saw that the people were afraid to cross the stream, he crossed over first himself, and then the men saw him and crossed over after him.

6So he and his people pitched over against them: and when he saw that the people were afraid to go over the water brook, he went first over himself, and then the men seeing him passed through after him.

7After that he divided his men and placed the horsemen in the middle of the foot soldiers, because the enemy had very many horsemen.

7That done, he divided his men, and set the horsemen in the midst of the footmen: for the enemies’ horsemen were very many.

8Then they blew the holy trumpets, and Cendebeus and his army were driven into flight. Many of them were killed, and the rest got away to the stronghold.

8Then sounded they with the holy trumpets: whereupon Cendebeus and his host were put to flight, so that many of them were slain, and the remnant gat them to the strong hold.

NoteThe "holy trumpets" are the silver trumpets sounded by priests, made and used according to the instructions in Numbers 10, where blowing them in battle was a formal call for God to remember his people. They are signaling instruments, not ordinary military horns.

9At that time Judas, John's brother, was wounded. But John kept chasing after them until he came to Cedron, which Cendebeus had built.

9At that time was Judas John’s brother wounded; but John still followed after them, until he came to Cedron, which Cendebeus had built.

NoteCedron, also spelled Kidron, is a town out on the coastal plain that Cendebeus had fortified as a forward base. It is not the Kidron valley beside Jerusalem.

10They fled all the way to the towers in the fields of Azotus, and he burned it with fire. About two thousand of them were killed. Afterward he returned to the land of Judea in peace.

10So they fled even unto the towers in the fields of Azotus; wherefore he burned it with fire: so that there were slain of them about two thousand men. Afterward he returned into the land of Judea in peace.

NoteAzotus is the Greek name for Ashdod, one of the old Philistine cities on the coast, by this time a Seleucid stronghold. "He burned it with fire" refers back to Cedron, the fortified town of the previous verse.

11Also, Ptolemeus the son of Abubus had been made commander over the plain of Jericho, and he had a great deal of silver and gold,

11Moreover in the plain of Jericho was Ptolemeus the son of Abubus made captain, and he had abundance of silver and gold:

Note"Made captain" means appointed governor, a civil and military post over the Jericho district under Simon's own government. The point of mentioning his silver and gold is that the post was lucrative and gave him the means to hire men.

12because he was the high priest's son-in-law.

12For he was the high priest’s son in law.

NoteThe high priest in question is Simon himself, who held both the high priesthood and the rule of the nation. Ptolemeus had married Simon's daughter, which is why he was trusted with the Jericho command.

13So his heart grew proud, and he decided to get the country for himself, and he made treacherous plans against Simon and his sons to destroy them.

13Wherefore his heart being lifted up, he thought to get the country to himself, and thereupon consulted deceitfully against Simon and his sons to destroy them.

Note"His heart being lifted up" is a Hebrew idiom for arrogance, the sense that one has outgrown one's place. English keeps a trace of it in the phrase "puffed up."

14Now Simon was traveling through the cities in the country, seeing that they were well run. At that time he came down himself to Jericho with his sons Mattathias and Judas, in the one hundred seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh month, called Sabat.

14Now Simon was visiting the cities that were in the country, and taking care for the good ordering of them; at which time he came down himself to Jericho with his sons, Mattathias and Judas, in the hundred threescore and seventeenth year, in the eleventh month, called Sabat:

NoteThe dates are counted from the founding of the Seleucid Greek kingdom, so the 177th year is about 135 or 134 BC. Sabat, usually spelled Shebat, is the eleventh month of the Jewish calendar, falling in late January and February. Simon's tour of the towns is the routine business of a ruler inspecting his administration.

15There the son of Abubus received them treacherously into a small stronghold called Docus, which he had built, and made them a great feast. But he had men hidden there.

15Where the son of Abubus receiving them deceitfully into a little hold, called Docus, which he had built, made them a great banquet: howbeit he had hid men there.

NoteDocus, or Dok, was a small fortress in the steep hills above Jericho, a private strongpoint Ptolemeus had built for himself. "Received them" is the ordinary word for welcoming a guest, which is what makes what follows a betrayal.

16So when Simon and his sons had drunk a great deal, Ptolemee and his men got up, took their weapons, rushed in on Simon in the banquet room, and killed him, his two sons, and some of his servants.

16So when Simon and his sons had drunk largely, Ptolemee and his men rose up, and took their weapons, and came upon Simon into the banqueting place, and slew him, and his two sons, and certain of his servants.

NoteIn this world a host who set food before guests was bound to protect them while they were under his roof, and guests at a banquet were unarmed and off guard. Attacking men at your own table was the worst breach of trust the culture recognized.

17In doing this he committed a great act of treachery, and paid back evil for good.

17In which doing he committed a great treachery, and recompensed evil for good.

18Then Ptolemee wrote about these things and sent word to the king, asking him to send an army to help him, and promising to hand over the country and the cities to him.

18Then Ptolemee wrote these things, and sent to the king, that he should send him an host to aid him, and he would deliver him the country and cities.

Note"The king" is the Seleucid king Antiochus VII, whose authority the Maccabees had thrown off. Ptolemeus is offering to hand Judea back to foreign rule in exchange for being installed as its governor.

19He also sent other men to Gazera to kill John, and he sent letters to the commanders of a thousand men, telling them to come to him so that he could give them silver, gold, and rewards.

19He sent others also to Gazera to kill John: and unto the tribunes he sent letters to come unto him, that he might give them silver, and gold, and rewards.

Note"Tribunes" translates a Greek term for officers commanding a thousand men. These are Simon's own commanders, and Ptolemeus is trying to buy the army's loyalty with cash before news of the murder spreads.

20And he sent others to seize Jerusalem and the temple hill.

20And others he sent to take Jerusalem, and the mountain of the temple.

Note"The mountain of the temple" is the temple hill in Jerusalem, a walled compound that functioned as a fortress as well as a sanctuary. Whoever held it held the religious and political center of the nation.

21Now someone had run ahead to Gazera and told John that his father and his brothers had been killed, and he said, "Ptolemee has sent men to kill you too."

21Now one had run afore to Gazera and told John that his father and brethren were slain, and, quoth he, Ptolemee hath sent to slay thee also.

Note"Quoth he" is old English for "he said." The sentence slips from reported speech into the messenger's own words partway through, which the Greek does as well.

22When John heard this, he was deeply shocked. So he seized the men who had come to destroy him and killed them, because he knew they were trying to do away with him.

22Hereof when he heard, he was sore astonished: so he laid hands on them that were come to destroy him, and slew them; for he knew that they sought to make him away.

23As for the rest of the acts of John, and his wars, and the brave deeds he did, and the building of the walls he built, and all he accomplished,

23As concerning the rest of the acts of John, and his wars, and worthy deeds which he did, and the building of the walls which he made, and his doings,

NoteVerses 23 and 24 copy the closing formula used for each king in the books of Kings, which signs off a reign by pointing the reader to an official record book. Using it here presents John Hyrcanus as a ruler in that same line.

24these are written in the records of his time as high priest, from the day he was made high priest after his father.

24Behold, these are written in the chronicles of his priesthood, from the time he was made high priest after his father.

Note"The chronicles of his priesthood" was an official record of John Hyrcanus's years as high priest, a document that has not survived. The book stops at this point because its author was writing during or just after his rule, which ran from 134 to 104 BC, so there was nothing further to tell.