1 Maccabees

This is what happened after Alexander the Macedonian, son of Philip, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had defeated Darius king of the Persians and Medes: Alexander ruled in his place, the first to reign over Greece.

1And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece,

Note"Chettiim" is the Greek form of Kittim, originally the people of Kition on Cyprus, and later a broad Jewish name for the lands and peoples across the sea to the west, here Macedonia and Greece. Darius is Darius III, the last king of the Persian empire, whom Alexander defeated in a series of battles between 333 and 331 BC. "The first over Greece" means the first to rule a Greek empire of this kind; Alexander's father Philip had already made Macedon master of the Greek cities.

2He fought many wars, captured many strongholds, and killed the kings of the earth.

2And made many wars, and won many strong holds, and slew the kings of the earth,

3He went through to the ends of the earth and took the goods of many nations as plunder, so that the earth was quiet before him. Then he was lifted high, and his heart grew proud.

3And went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth was quiet before him; whereupon he was exalted and his heart was lifted up.

Note"His heart was lifted up" is a fixed biblical phrase for arrogance, not for high spirits. "The earth was quiet before him" means resistance had stopped, that is, the world lay subdued.

4He gathered a very strong army and ruled over countries, nations, and kings, and they had to pay him tribute.

4And he gathered a mighty strong host and ruled over countries, and nations, and kings, who became tributaries unto him.

NoteTribute was the regular payment an empire required from the peoples under it, part tax and part public admission of submission.

5After this he fell sick, and he knew that he was going to die.

5And after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he should die.

6So he called in his servants, the men of honor who had been brought up with him from his youth, and he divided his kingdom among them while he was still alive.

6Wherefore he called his servants, such as were honourable, and had been brought up with him from his youth, and parted his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive.

NoteAlexander died in 323 BC leaving no heir able to rule, and his generals fought over the empire and split it into rival kingdoms. That he handed it out himself while still alive is how this writer tells it; other ancient accounts describe the division differently.

7So Alexander reigned twelve years, and then he died.

7So Alexander reigned twelves years, and then died.

NoteAlexander reigned from 336 to 323 BC and died at about thirty-two.

8And his servants ruled, each one in his own place.

8And his servants bare rule every one in his place.

9After his death they all put crowns on their own heads, and so did their sons after them for many years, and evils grew many in the earth.

9And after his death they all put crowns upon themselves; so did their sons after them many years: and evils were multiplied in the earth.

NotePutting a crown on your own head meant claiming the title of king in your own right, rather than governing a province on someone else's behalf.

10Out of them came a wicked root, Antiochus called Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king. He had been a hostage at Rome, and he began to reign in the one hundred thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

10And there came out of them a wicked root Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been an hostage at Rome, and he reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.

NoteAntiochus IV, who ruled the Seleucid kingdom centered on Syria and Mesopotamia. "Epiphanes" is a royal title he took meaning roughly "[the god] made visible." He had lived at Rome as a hostage, one of the royal relatives handed over to guarantee the treaty Rome imposed on his father Antiochus III after defeating him. "A wicked root" is a plant image: a shoot growing out of that family stock. The dates in this book count from the start of the Seleucid kingdom in 312/311 BC, so the hundred thirty-seventh year is 175 BC.

11In those days wicked men came out of Israel and persuaded many, saying, "Let us go and make an agreement with the nations around us, because ever since we separated from them we have had much sorrow."

11In those days went there out of Israel wicked men, who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the heathen that are round about us: for since we departed from them we have had much sorrow.

Note"The heathen" here translates a Greek word meaning simply the nations, that is, everyone who is not Jewish; it carries no suggestion of savagery. The covenant these men propose to set aside is the agreement binding Israel to God, whose visible marks were circumcision, sabbath keeping and the food laws. Those marks were exactly what kept Jews socially separate from their neighbors, which is what "since we departed from them" refers to.

12This plan seemed good to them.

12So this device pleased them well.

13Some of the people were so eager for this that they went to the king, and he gave them permission to live by the customs of the other nations.

13Then certain of the people were so forward herein, that they went to the king, who gave them licence to do after the ordinances of the heathen:

NoteThe king's "licence" was formal royal permission, in practice permission to reorganize Jerusalem along the lines of a Greek city with Greek institutions.

14So they built a place for sports and training in Jerusalem, in the fashion of the other nations.

14Whereupon they built a place of exercise at Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen:

NoteA gymnasium was the center of Greek civic life: an exercise ground, school and social club where young men trained, competed and were educated. Building one was not simply a matter of sport; it was adopting the whole Greek way of forming citizens.

15They made themselves look uncircumcised, abandoned the holy covenant, joined themselves to the other nations, and sold themselves to do evil.

15And made themselves uncircumcised, and forsook the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the heathen, and were sold to do mischief.

NoteAthletes at a gymnasium trained and competed naked, so circumcision was visible and drew Greek ridicule. Some Jewish men underwent a painful surgical procedure to restore the appearance of a foreskin. Since circumcision was the bodily sign of the covenant, this was understood as formally renouncing it.

16When the kingdom was firmly established in Antiochus's eyes, he planned to rule Egypt as well, so that he might rule two kingdoms.

16Now when the kingdom was established before Antiochus, he thought to reign over Egypt that he might have the dominion of two realms.

NoteAntiochus ruled the Seleucid kingdom, stretching from Syria into Mesopotamia. Egypt was ruled by a rival Greek dynasty, the Ptolemies. The two had fought over Palestine, which lay between them, for over a century.

17So he entered Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots and elephants and horsemen and a large fleet of ships,

17Wherefore he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy,

NoteWar elephants were the heavy weaponry of the age, used by Greek armies to break infantry lines and to panic horses that had never met them.

18and he made war against Ptolemy king of Egypt. But Ptolemy was put to shame before him and fled, and many fell wounded and died.

18And made war against Ptolemee king of Egypt: but Ptolemee was afraid of him, and fled; and many were wounded to death.

NotePtolemy VI, then a young king under the control of his ministers. "Put to shame" means defeated in the field, not embarrassed.

19So they took the strong cities in the land of Egypt, and he carried off its plunder.

19Thus they got the strong cities in the land of Egypt and he took the spoils thereof.

20After Antiochus had defeated Egypt, he came back in the one hundred forty-third year and marched against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude.

20And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he returned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude,

NoteThe hundred forty-third year of the Seleucid count is 169 BC.

21He went boldly and proudly into the sanctuary and took away the golden altar, the lampstand that gives light, and all its equipment,

21And entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof,

NoteThe sanctuary is the temple in Jerusalem. The golden altar stood inside the building and was used for burning incense; it was a different object from the large altar in the courtyard outside where animals were offered. The lampstand is the seven-branched lamp kept burning in the temple.

22and the table for the bread set out before God, and the cups for the drink offerings, and the bowls, and the golden dishes for burning incense, and the curtain, and the crown, and the gold decoration on the front of the temple. He stripped it all off.

22And the table of the shewbread, and the pouring vessels, and the vials. and the censers of gold, and the veil, and the crown, and the golden ornaments that were before the temple, all which he pulled off.

NoteThe KJV's "shewbread" is bread set out, twelve loaves laid on a table in the sanctuary and replaced each week. "Pouring vessels" held the wine poured out as an offering; "vials" are bowls; "censers" are dishes for burning incense. The veil was the heavy curtain screening the innermost room. "Pulled off" describes stripping the gold plating from the temple front.

23He took the silver and the gold and the costly vessels as well, and he took the hidden treasures that he found.

23He took also the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels: also he took the hidden treasures which he found.

24When he had taken it all away, he went back to his own land. He had made a great slaughter, and he spoke very arrogantly.

24And when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having made a great massacre, and spoken very proudly.

Note"Spoken very proudly" refers to boastful, contemptuous speech, the standard biblical way of describing a conqueror who thinks himself above any god or law.

25So there was great mourning in Israel, in every place where they were.

25Therefore there was a great mourning in Israel, in every place where they were;

26Rulers and elders mourned. The virgins and the young men grew weak. The beauty of the women was changed.

26So that the princes and elders mourned, the virgins and young men were made feeble, and the beauty of women was changed.

NoteThe list is a conventional picture of national mourning. "The beauty of women was changed" means they left off ornament and their faces were altered by grief.

27Every bridegroom took up a song of grief, and the woman who sat in the wedding room was heavy with sorrow.

27Every bridegroom took up lamentation, and she that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness,

NoteThe marriage chamber is the room prepared for a bride. A wedding was the high point of public joy, so wedding songs turning into laments is the usual way of saying that all celebration had stopped.

28The land itself was shaken for the people who lived in it, and the whole house of Jacob was covered with shame.

28The land also was moved for the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was covered with confusion.

Note"The house of Jacob" is the people of Israel spoken of as one family descended from the patriarch Jacob.

29After two full years had gone by, the king sent his chief collector of tribute to the cities of Judah, and he came to Jerusalem with a great multitude.

29And after two years fully expired the king sent his chief collector of tribute unto the cities of Juda, who came unto Jerusalem with a great multitude,

NoteThe Greek title is literally "chief of the Mysians," probably the commander of mercenary troops from Mysia in Asia Minor; ancient copyists and the KJV read it instead as chief collector of tribute. The account in 2 Maccabees names the officer Apollonius.

30He spoke peaceful words to them, but it was all a trick. For when they had believed him, he fell on the city suddenly, struck it very hard, and destroyed many of the people of Israel.

30And spake peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city, and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people of Israel.

31When he had taken the plunder of the city, he set it on fire and pulled down its houses and its walls on every side.

31And when he had taken the spoils of the city, he set it on fire, and pulled down the houses and walls thereof on every side.

32But the women and the children they took captive, and they seized the livestock.

32But the women and children took they captive, and possessed the cattle.

33Then they built up the city of David with a great, strong wall and with mighty towers, and made it a fortress for themselves.

33Then builded they the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with mighty towers, and made it a strong hold for them.

NoteThe city of David is the older southern ridge of Jerusalem, overlooking the temple from close by. The fortress built there, known as the Akra, held a foreign garrison for more than twenty years and dominated the temple courts.

34They put there a sinful nation, men who broke the law, and they made themselves strong inside it.

34And they put therein a sinful nation, wicked men, and fortified themselves therein.

Note"A sinful nation, wicked men" describes the garrison: foreign soldiers together with Jews who had abandoned the law.

35They also stocked it with weapons and food, and when they had gathered together the plunder of Jerusalem, they stored it there. So they became a bitter trap.

35They stored it also with armour and victuals, and when they had gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem, they laid them up there, and so they became a sore snare:

Note"Victuals" is food stores. "A sore snare" means a grievous trap, something that lay waiting to catch them.

36For it was a place to lie in wait against the sanctuary, and an evil enemy to Israel.

36For it was a place to lie in wait against the sanctuary, and an evil adversary to Israel.

37So they shed innocent blood all around the sanctuary, and made it unclean.

37Thus they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary, and defiled it:

NoteBloodshed made a holy place ritually unclean in Jewish law, so killing around the temple did not merely horrify, it put the building out of use for worship until it could be cleansed.

38Because of them the people who lived in Jerusalem fled. The city became a home for foreigners, and became foreign to those who were born in her, and her own children left her.

38Insomuch that the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them: whereupon the city was made an habitation of strangers, and became strange to those that were born in her; and her own children left her.

39Her sanctuary was left empty like a desert, her feasts were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into disgrace, her honor into contempt.

39Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach her honour into contempt.

NoteThe sabbath is the seventh day, kept free of work. Feasts are the fixed annual festivals with their pilgrimages and sacrifices.

40As great as her glory had been, so great was her dishonor now, and her high standing was turned into mourning.

40As had been her glory, so was her dishonour increased, and her excellency was turned into mourning.

41What is more, king Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom that they should all be one people,

41Moreover king Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people,

NoteAncient empires normally let subject peoples keep their own laws and gods, which is why a decree that everyone adopt one set of customs is presented here as something extraordinary.

42and that each one should give up his own laws. So all the nations agreed to the king's command.

42And every one should leave his laws: so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king.

43Many of the Israelites too went along with his way of worship, sacrificed to idols, and treated the sabbath as an ordinary day.

43Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the sabbath.

NoteTo profane something is to treat as ordinary what has been set apart, in this case working and trading on the sabbath as on any other day.

44For the king had sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, telling them to follow laws foreign to the land,

44For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda that they should follow the strange laws of the land,

45and to stop burnt offerings, sacrifices, and drink offerings in the temple, and to treat the sabbaths and festival days as common days,

45And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the sabbaths and festival days:

NoteA burnt offering was an animal burned whole on the altar; a drink offering was wine poured out. Sacrifice every morning and evening was the fixed core of temple worship, so forbidding it shut the temple down as a working institution.

46and to make the sanctuary and the holy people unclean,

46And pollute the sanctuary and holy people:

NoteThe Greek can mean the priests, who were consecrated for temple service, or the people of Israel as a whole, who were also called holy; the wording leaves it open.

47to set up altars, temples, and shrines for idols, and to sacrifice the meat of pigs and other unclean animals,

47Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine’s flesh, and unclean beasts:

Note"Groves" here renders a word for pagan sacred enclosures or temples. Pigs were among the animals Jewish law forbids as food, so forcing pig sacrifice was a deliberate test of loyalty. "Unclean beasts" means the animals the law rules out of the diet, not animals that are dirty.

48and to leave their sons uncircumcised, and to make their own souls disgusting with every kind of uncleanness and misuse of holy things,

48That they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation:

NoteJewish boys were circumcised on the eighth day after birth. Stopping the practice would end the covenant sign within a single generation.

49so that they might forget the law and change all its rules.

49To the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances.

50And whoever would not do what the king commanded, he said, should die.

50And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, he said, he should die.

51He wrote in just this way to his whole kingdom. He appointed overseers over all the people, and he ordered the cities of Judah to offer sacrifice, city by city.

51In the selfsame manner wrote he to his whole kingdom, and appointed overseers over all the people, commanding the cities of Juda to sacrifice, city by city.

NoteThe overseers were royal inspectors appointed to see the decree carried out locally, town by town.

52Then many of the people joined them, that is, everyone who abandoned the law, and they did evil things in the land.

52Then many of the people were gathered unto them, to wit every one that forsook the law; and so they committed evils in the land;

53They drove the Israelites into hiding places, wherever they could run for safety.

53And drove the Israelites into secret places, even wheresoever they could flee for succour.

54Now on the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the one hundred forty-fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation on the altar, and they built idol altars in the towns of Judah all around.

54Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;

NoteCasleu, usually spelled Chislev, is the ninth month of the Jewish year, falling in late November and December; the hundred forty-fifth year is December 167 BC. "The abomination of desolation" is a phrase borrowed from the book of Daniel. The Greek words mean a detestable thing that leaves a place ruined and deserted, and the phrase may play on the name of a foreign god, "lord of heaven." In practice it was a pagan altar or cult object erected on top of the great altar of sacrifice.

55They burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets.

55And burnt incense at the doors of their houses, and in the streets.

NoteBurning incense at house doors and in the streets brought the new worship out of the temple and into every household, so that conformity could be seen by the neighbors.

56When they had torn to pieces the books of the law that they found, they burned them with fire.

56And when they had rent in pieces the books of the law which they found, they burnt them with fire.

NoteThe books of the law were handwritten scrolls of the first five books of the Bible. Each one was expensive and slow to produce, so destroying them struck at a community's whole supply of its own text.

57And if anyone was found with a book of the covenant, or if anyone held to the law, the king's order was that he should be put to death.

57And whosoever was found with any the book of the testament, or if any committed to the law, the king’s commandment was, that they should put him to death.

Note"The book of the testament" is the KJV's phrase for the book of the covenant, meaning a scroll of the law. Simply possessing one carried the death penalty.

58This is what they did by their power to the Israelites, month after month, to all who were found in the cities.

58Thus did they by their authority unto the Israelites every month, to as many as were found in the cities.

Note"By their authority" means by armed force under royal warrant, and "every month" points to regular sweeps through the towns rather than a single raid.

59On the twenty-fifth day of the month they offered sacrifice on the idol altar, which stood on top of the altar of God.

59Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God.

NoteThe twenty-fifth of Chislev. Exactly three years later Judas Maccabeus cleansed the temple and dedicated a new altar on the same date, which is the origin of the festival of Hanukkah.

60At that time, following the king's command, they put to death certain women who had had their children circumcised.

60At which time according to the commandment they put to death certain women, that had caused their children to be circumcised.

61They hung the babies around their necks, and plundered their houses, and killed the ones who had circumcised them.

61And they hanged the infants about their necks, and rifled their houses, and slew them that had circumcised them.

NoteThe dead infants were hung from their mothers' necks as the women were led out to die. "Rifled" means ransacked and stripped of everything of value.

62Yet many in Israel made up their minds firmly and settled it within themselves not to eat anything unclean.

62Howbeit many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing.

Note"Unclean" means food that the law forbids, pork above all. Under the decree, eating it was the public act by which conformity was demonstrated, so refusing it became the plain test of loyalty.

63They chose rather to die, so that they would not be made unclean by food and would not treat the holy covenant as common. And so they died.

63Wherefore the rather to die, that they might not be defiled with meats, and that they might not profane the holy covenant: so then they died.

64And very great wrath came upon Israel.

64And there was very great wrath upon Israel.

NoteIn biblical usage "wrath" often names the disaster itself rather than an emotion; the sentence says that a catastrophe of the first order had fallen on the nation.