1 Maccabees 2

In those days Mattathias, the son of John, the son of Simeon, rose up. He was a priest of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem, and he lived in Modin.

1In those days arose Mattathias the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem, and dwelt in Modin.

NotePriests were organized into twenty-four family divisions that took turns serving at the temple; Joarib's is the first named in the list at 1 Chronicles 24. So Mattathias belongs to the priestly class but lives out in the country: Modin was a village in the foothills roughly seventeen miles northwest of Jerusalem, on the edge of the coastal plain.

2He had five sons. The first was John, who was called Gaddis.

2And he had five sons, Joannan, called Caddis:

NoteEach of the five sons carries a second name, a family nickname rather than a surname in our sense. The Greek forms are obscure and their meanings are disputed: Gaddis has been read as 'fortunate,' Thassi as 'zealous' or 'burning,' Avaran as 'the piercer,' Apphus as 'the favored.' None of these is certain.

3The second was Simon, who was called Thassi.

3Simon; called Thassi:

4The third was Judas, who was called Maccabeus.

4Judas, who was called Maccabeus:

NoteMaccabeus began as Judas's personal byname and is usually traced to the Semitic word for hammer, though other derivations have been proposed. It later spread to the whole family and gave this book its title. The dynasty they founded is more properly called the Hasmoneans.

5The fourth was Eleazar, who was called Avaran, and the fifth was Jonathan, who was called Apphus.

5Eleazar, called Avaran: and Jonathan, whose surname was Apphus.

6He saw the insults against God that were being carried out in Judah and in Jerusalem,

6And when he saw the blasphemies that were committed in Juda and Jerusalem,

NoteThe 'blasphemies' are the measures set out in chapter 1. Antiochus IV, the Greek king ruling Syria and Judea, outlawed the practice of the Jewish law, stopped the daily temple sacrifices, and had a pagan altar erected in the temple itself.

7and he said, "How terrible for me! Why was I born to see the ruin of my people and the ruin of the holy city, and to live there when it was handed over to the enemy, and the sanctuary handed over to foreigners?

7He said, Woe is me! wherefore was I born to see this misery of my people, and of the holy city, and to dwell there, when it was delivered into the hand of the enemy, and the sanctuary into the hand of strangers?

NoteThe sanctuary is the temple building and its enclosure in Jerusalem, the single place where sacrifice to the God of Israel could lawfully be offered. Losing control of it was not just the loss of a building but the stopping of the whole system of worship.

8Her temple has become like a man with no honor left.

8Her temple is become as a man without glory.

NoteThe Greek of this line is damaged or garbled and no one is sure what it originally said. 'As a man without glory' is one attempt at it: the temple is compared to a man who was once honored and has been stripped of his standing. Others read it as 'like a man of no reputation.'

9Her splendid vessels have been carried off as prisoners are carried off. Her babies have been killed in her streets, her young men by the enemy's sword.

9Her glorious vessels are carried away into captivity, her infants are slain in the streets, her young men with the sword of the enemy.

NoteThe 'glorious vessels' are the gold and silver furnishings and utensils of the temple, which Antiochus had stripped out and carried off to his own capital. The verse pictures them being led away like human captives.

10What nation has not taken a share of her palaces and carried away her goods?

10What nation hath not had a part in her kingdom and gotten of her spoils?

NoteThe picture is of every surrounding nation helping itself to Jerusalem's royal buildings and property, taking an inheritance that was not theirs.

11All her fine things have been taken away. She was a free woman, and she has become a slave.

11All her ornaments are taken away; of a free woman she is become a bondslave.

NoteThrough this whole lament Jerusalem is spoken of as a woman: her children, her ornaments, her freedom, her enslavement. This is the conventional poetic manner of the book of Lamentations, which the passage deliberately echoes.

12Look at it: our holy place, our beauty and our glory, has been left in ruins, and the Gentiles have made it unclean.

12And, behold, our sanctuary, even our beauty and our glory, is laid waste, and the Gentiles have profaned it.

NoteGentiles is the ordinary term for non-Jews, the nations other than Israel. To profane a holy place means to render it ritually unfit for worship, whether by pagan sacrifice, by unclean animals, or by the entry of people not permitted inside.

13So why should we go on living?"

13To what end therefore shall we live any longer?

14Then Mattathias and his sons tore their clothes, put on rough cloth worn by mourners, and grieved deeply.

14Then Mattathias and his sons rent their clothes, and put on sackcloth, and mourned very sore.

NoteTearing one's own clothing and putting on sackcloth, a coarse dark cloth woven from goat hair, were the recognized public signals of grief in this world, worn and done where others could see them. Mourning was a visible act, not a private feeling.

15Meanwhile the king's officers, the ones who were forcing people to abandon their religion, came into the city of Modin to make them offer sacrifices.

15In the mean while the king’s officers, such as compelled the people to revolt, came into the city Modin, to make them sacrifice.

NoteThe King James phrase 'compelled the people to revolt' does not mean political rebellion against the king. The Greek word is apostasy, abandoning one's own religion. These officers went from town to town requiring a public pagan sacrifice as a test of compliance.

16Many people of Israel came out to them, and Mattathias and his sons gathered there as well.

16And when many of Israel came unto them, Mattathias also and his sons came together.

17Then the king's officers spoke to Mattathias like this: "You are a leader, an honored and important man in this city, and you are supported by sons and brothers.

17Then answered the king’s officers, and said to Mattathias on this wise, Thou art a ruler, and an honourable and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons and brethren:

18So come forward first and carry out the king's command, as all the nations have done, and the men of Judah too, and those who are left in Jerusalem. Then you and your household will be counted among the king's friends, and you and your children will be honored with silver and gold and many rewards."

18Now therefore come thou first, and fulfil the king’s commandment, like as all the heathen have done, yea, and the men of Juda also, and such as remain at Jerusalem: so shalt thou and thy house be in the number of the king’s friends, and thou and thy children shall be honoured with silver and gold, and many rewards.

Note'The king's friends' was a formal grade at a Hellenistic royal court, an official rank of courtier carrying privileges, income and access to the king. It is a job offer, not a statement about personal affection. The King James 'the heathen' means simply the other nations.

19Mattathias answered in a loud voice, "Even if all the nations under the king's rule obey him, and every one of them turns away from the religion of his fathers and agrees to follow his commands,

19Then Mattathias answered and spake with a loud voice, Though all the nations that are under the king’s dominion obey him, and fall away every one from the religion of their fathers, and give consent to his commandments:

20I and my sons and my brothers will still walk in the covenant of our fathers.

20Yet will I and my sons and my brethren walk in the covenant of our fathers.

NoteA covenant is a binding sworn agreement between two parties. 'The covenant of our fathers' is the one made between God and Israel at Sinai, with the law of Moses as its terms; to walk in it is to live by those terms.

21Far be it from us to abandon the law and its rules.

21God forbid that we should forsake the law and the ordinances.

22We will not listen to the king's words and turn away from our religion, either to the right or to the left."

22We will not hearken to the king’s words, to go from our religion, either on the right hand, or the left.

Note'On the right hand, or the left' is a stock phrase from the law of Moses for keeping exactly to a command without deviating in any direction at all.

23When he had finished saying these words, one of the Jews came forward where everyone could see, to sacrifice on the altar at Modin, as the king had commanded.

23Now when he had left speaking these words, there came one of the Jews in the sight of all to sacrifice on the altar which was at Modin, according to the king’s commandment.

NoteThe altar at Modin was a new one, set up by the king's men for this purpose. Offering on it publicly, where witnesses could see, was precisely the act of compliance being demanded.

24When Mattathias saw it, his zeal blazed up and his insides shook, and he did not hold back his anger, as judgment called for. He ran and killed the man on the altar.

24Which thing when Mattathias saw, he was inflamed with zeal, and his reins trembled, neither could he forbear to shew his anger according to judgment: wherefore he ran, and slew him upon the altar.

NoteThe King James 'his reins trembled' uses 'reins' in its old sense of the kidneys, which Hebrew idiom treats as the seat of the deepest feeling; the modern equivalent is that his insides turned over. 'According to judgment' means his anger tracked the sentence the law itself prescribed rather than being simple personal rage.

25At the same time he killed the king's officer who was forcing men to sacrifice, and he pulled the altar down.

25Also the king’s commissioner, who compelled men to sacrifice, he killed at that time, and the altar he pulled down.

26So he showed his zeal for the law of God, just as Phinehas did to Zimri the son of Salu.

26Thus dealt he zealously for the law of God like as Phinees did unto Zambri the son of Salom.

NoteNumbers 25 tells how the priest Phinehas ran a spear through an Israelite named Zimri and the Midianite woman he had brought into the camp, at a moment when Israel was being drawn into foreign worship. He was commended for it, and his act became the standard example of zeal for the law enforced by an individual's own hand.

27Then Mattathias shouted through the city in a loud voice, "Whoever is zealous for the law and holds to the covenant, follow me!"

27And Mattathias cried throughout the city with a loud voice, saying, Whosoever is zealous of the law, and maintaineth the covenant, let him follow me.

28He and his sons fled into the mountains and left behind everything they owned in the city.

28So he and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all that ever they had in the city.

29Then many who were looking for what was just and right went down into the wilderness to live there.

29Then many that sought after justice and judgment went down into the wilderness, to dwell there:

NoteThe wilderness is the dry, broken, largely uninhabited country falling away east and south of the Judean hills, full of caves and ravines and the usual refuge for anyone escaping a government.

30They went down with their children, their wives, and their livestock, because the troubles pressing on them had grown very heavy.

30Both they, and their children, and their wives; and their cattle; because afflictions increased sore upon them.

31Word reached the king's men and the troops in Jerusalem, in the city of David, that certain men who had broken the king's command had gone down to the hidden places in the wilderness.

31Now when it was told the king’s servants, and the host that was at Jerusalem, in the city of David, that certain men, who had broken the king’s commandment, were gone down into the secret places in the wilderness,

Note'The city of David' here does not mean Jerusalem as a whole. It refers to the citadel, the fortress the Seleucid king had built and garrisoned with his own troops on the high ground by the temple.

32A large force chased after them, caught up with them, camped facing them, and drew up for battle against them on the Sabbath day.

32They pursued after them a great number, and having overtaken them, they camped against them, and made war against them on the sabbath day.

NoteThe Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, from Friday evening to Saturday evening, on which the law of Moses forbids work of any kind. The pursuing force drew up for battle on that particular day.

33They said to them, "Enough of what you have done so far. Come out, do what the king commands, and you will live."

33And they said unto them, Let that which ye have done hitherto suffice; come forth, and do according to the commandment of the king, and ye shall live.

34But they said, "We will not come out, and we will not do what the king commands, because that would make the Sabbath day unclean."

34But they said, We will not come forth, neither will we do the king’s commandment, to profane the sabbath day.

NoteFighting, even in self defense, counted for these men as work forbidden on the Sabbath, and doing it would make the day unclean. That is the whole of their refusal: not a refusal to resist in principle, but a refusal to break that day.

35So the enemy attacked them right away.

35So then they gave them the battle with all speed.

36But they gave no answer, and did not throw a single stone at them, and did not block up the places where they were hiding.

36Howbeit they answered them not, neither cast they a stone at them, nor stopped the places where they lay hid;

NoteBlocking the mouths of their hiding places would itself have been both labor and a defensive act. They would not do even that much on the Sabbath.

37They said, "Let us all die still innocent. Heaven and earth are our witnesses that you are putting us to death unjustly."

37But said, Let us die all in our innocency: heaven and earth will testify for us, that ye put us to death wrongfully.

NoteCalling heaven and earth to witness is formal legal language in Israelite usage, summoning the whole created order as a jury to a wrong that no human court will hear.

38So the enemy rose against them in battle on the Sabbath, and killed them, along with their wives and children and livestock, a thousand people in all.

38So they rose up against them in battle on the sabbath, and they slew them, with their wives and children and their cattle, to the number of a thousand people.

39When Mattathias and his friends learned about this, they grieved deeply for them.

39Now when Mattathias and his friends understood hereof, they mourned for them right sore.

40One said to another, "If we all do what our brothers did, and do not fight the Gentiles for our lives and our laws, they will soon wipe us off the earth."

40And one of them said to another, If we all do as our brethren have done, and fight not for our lives and laws against the heathen, they will now quickly root us out of the earth.

41So that day they made this decision: "If anyone comes to fight us on the Sabbath day, we will fight back, and we will not all die the way our brothers died in the hidden places."

41At that time therefore they decreed, saying, Whosoever shall come to make battle with us on the sabbath day, we will fight against him; neither will we die all, as our brethren that were murdered im the secret places.

NoteThis is a ruling on how the law is to be applied, and it became settled practice afterward: fighting is permitted on the Sabbath when one is attacked. It did not permit starting a fight or conducting a siege on that day.

42Then a company of the Hasideans came to him. They were strong fighting men of Israel, and every one of them had offered himself willingly for the law.

42Then came there unto him a company of Assideans who were mighty men of Israel, even all such as were voluntarily devoted unto the law.

NoteThe Hasideans, from the Hebrew hasidim, 'the loyal' or 'the pious,' were an organized religious group committed to strict observance of the law. They appear again later in this book and act as a body with their own judgment, allied with the Maccabees rather than under them.

43All those who were fleeing from the troubles joined them too, and gave them support.

43Also all they that fled for persecution joined themselves unto them, and were a stay unto them.

44So they gathered their forces, and in their anger they struck down sinners, and in their fury lawless men. The rest fled to the Gentiles for safety.

44So they joined their forces, and smote sinful men in their anger, and wicked men in their wrath: but the rest fled to the heathen for succour.

NoteThe 'sinful men' and 'lawless men' struck down here are fellow Jews who had accepted the king's terms and adopted Greek practice, not foreign soldiers. The fighting in this stage of the revolt is largely between Jews.

45Then Mattathias and his friends went from place to place and pulled down the altars.

45Then Mattathias and his friends went round about, and pulled down the altars:

NoteThese are the pagan altars the king's officers had set up in the towns of Judea, of the kind just described at Modin.

46Any boys they found uncircumcised inside the borders of Israel, they circumcised by force.

46And what children soever they found within the coast of Israel uncircumcised, those they circumcised valiantly.

NoteCircumcision, the cutting away of the foreskin of a male infant on the eighth day, was the physical sign of the covenant made with Abraham, marking a boy as a member of the people. Antiochus had banned it on pain of death, so a generation of boys had been left uncircumcised. The King James 'within the coast of Israel' uses 'coast' in its older sense of border or territory, nothing to do with the sea.

47They also chased down the arrogant men, and the work went well in their hands.

47They pursued also after the proud men, and the work prospered in their hand.

48They rescued the law out of the hand of the Gentiles and out of the hand of the kings, and they did not allow the sinner to win.

48So they recovered the law out of the hand of the Gentiles, and out of the hand of kings, neither suffered they the sinner to triumph.

49When the time came near for Mattathias to die, he said to his sons, "Now pride and scorn have grown strong. This is a time of destruction and burning anger.

49Now when the time drew near that Mattathias should die, he said unto his sons, Now hath pride and rebuke gotten strength, and the time of destruction, and the wrath of indignation:

NoteThe King James 'rebuke' here means contempt or insult suffered, not a reprimand given. Mattathias is describing the times, not scolding his sons.

50So now, my sons, be zealous for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of your fathers.

50Now therefore, my sons, be ye zealous for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of your fathers.

51Remember the deeds our fathers did in their own times, and you will receive great honor and a name that lasts forever.

51Call to remembrance what acts our fathers did in their time; so shall ye receive great honour and an everlasting name.

52Was not Abraham found faithful when he was tested, and was it not counted to him as righteousness?

52Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness?

NoteTwo episodes are compressed. The testing is Genesis 22, where Abraham is told to offer up his son Isaac; the phrase about righteousness quotes Genesis 15:6, where Abraham's trust in a promise is reckoned to his account as putting him in the right.

53Joseph, in his time of trouble, kept the commandment, and he was made lord of Egypt.

53Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment and was made lord of Egypt.

NoteJoseph, sold into Egypt as a slave, refused the advances of his master's wife and was imprisoned for it before rising to govern the country (Genesis 39 to 41). 'Kept the commandment' points to that refusal.

54Phinehas our father, because he was full of zeal, received the covenant of a priesthood that lasts forever.

54Phinees our father in being zealous and fervent obtained the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.

NoteNumbers 25:13 grants Phinehas and his descendants a perpetual priesthood as the reward for the act mentioned in verse 26. Mattathias, himself a priest, calls Phinehas 'our father' as the ancestor of his own priestly line.

55Joshua, because he carried out the word given to him, was made a judge in Israel.

55Jesus for fulfilling the word was made a judge in Israel.

NoteThe King James 'Jesus' is simply the Greek spelling of the name Joshua; the man meant is Moses' successor, who led Israel into Canaan. 'Judge' here has its older sense of ruler or leader of the people, not someone presiding over trials.

56Caleb, because he spoke out before the assembly, received a share of the land.

56Caleb for bearing witness before the congregation received the heritage of the land.

NoteCaleb was one of the twelve scouts sent ahead into Canaan. Ten reported the land could not be taken; Caleb and Joshua contradicted them in front of the whole assembled people and nearly got stoned for it. He was promised a portion of the land for it (Numbers 13 and 14).

57David, because he was merciful, was given the throne of a kingdom that lasts forever.

57David for being merciful possessed the throne of an everlasting kingdom.

NoteThe word behind 'merciful' means loyal, devoted faithfulness rather than leniency. The promise of a lasting throne to David is in 2 Samuel 7.

58Elijah, because he was full of zeal for the law, was taken up into heaven.

58Elias for being zealous and fervent for the law was taken up into heaven.

Note'Elias' is the Greek spelling of Elijah, the prophet who opposed the worship of Baal under King Ahab and was carried off in a whirlwind rather than dying (1 Kings 18 and 2 Kings 2).

59Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, because they believed, were saved from the flames.

59Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, by believing were saved out of the flame.

NoteThese three young Judeans in exile were thrown into a burning furnace for refusing to bow to a golden image, and came out unharmed (Daniel 3). The King James gives Greek spellings of their Hebrew names; in the story itself they are better known by the Babylonian names imposed on them, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

60Daniel, because he was innocent, was rescued from the mouth of lions.

60Daniel for his innocency was delivered from the mouth of lions.

NoteDaniel was thrown into a pit of lions for continuing to pray to his own God against a royal decree, and was found alive the next morning (Daniel 6).

61So think it over, age after age: no one who puts his trust in him will be overcome.

61And thus consider ye throughout all ages, that none that put their trust in him shall be overcome.

62Do not be afraid of the words of a sinful man, for his glory will end as dung and worms.

62Fear not then the words of a sinful man: for his glory shall be dung and worms.

NoteDung and worms is the conventional picture of a tyrant's end: the body left to rot like refuse instead of receiving an honorable burial. It is a set image, applied to more than one ruler in the literature of the period.

63Today he is lifted high, and tomorrow he is nowhere to be found, because he has gone back to his dust and his plans have come to nothing.

63To day he shall be lifted up and to morrow he shall not be found, because he is returned into his dust, and his thought is come to nothing.

64So you, my sons, be brave and act like men for the sake of the law, for through it you will gain honor.

64Wherefore, ye my sons, be valiant and shew yourselves men in the behalf of the law; for by it shall ye obtain glory.

Note'Shew yourselves men' is a fixed idiom of the Greek Old Testament meaning act with courage, hold your ground. It is a soldier's phrase.

65Look, I know that your brother Simon is a man of good counsel. Always listen to him. He will be a father to you.

65And behold, I know that your brother Simon is a man of counsel, give ear unto him alway: he shall be a father unto you.

Note'He shall be a father unto you' assigns Simon the role of head of the household, the one whose counsel settles family decisions, while military command goes separately to Judas in the next verse.

66As for Judas Maccabeus, he has been mighty and strong from the time he was young. Let him be your commander and fight the people's battle.

66As for Judas Maccabeus, he hath been mighty and strong, even from his youth up: let him be your captain, and fight the battle of the people.

67Gather to yourselves all who keep the law, and pay back the wrong done to your people.

67Take also unto you all those that observe the law, and avenge ye the wrong of your people.

68Repay the Gentiles in full, and pay careful attention to the commands of the law."

68Recompense fully the heathen, and take heed to the commandments of the law.

69Then he blessed them, and he was gathered to his fathers.

69So he blessed them, and was gathered to his fathers.

Note'Gathered to his fathers' is the standard Hebrew idiom for dying and joining one's ancestors, tied to the practice of burying generations of a family in the same tomb.

70He died in the one hundred forty-sixth year, and his sons buried him in the tombs of his fathers at Modin, and all Israel mourned loudly for him.

70And he died in the hundred forty and sixth year, and his sons buried him in the sepulchres of his fathers at Modin, and all Israel made great lamentation for him.

NoteDates in this book are counted in the Seleucid era, from the founding of the Greek dynasty that ruled Syria, whose year one began in 312 or 311 BC. The one hundred forty sixth year is about 166 BC.