First Book of Maccabees 10

¹ In the year one hundred and sixty Alexander styled Epiphanes, son of Antiochus, landed at Ptolemais and occupied it. He was well received, and held court there.

² On hearing this, King Demetrius assembled a very large army and marched out to meet him in battle.

³ Demetrius furthermore sent Jonathan a conciliatory letter designed to enhance his dignity,

⁴ for, as he said, ‘We had better move first to come to terms with these people before he makes common cause with Alexander against us;

⁵ he will not have forgotten all the wrongs we inflicted on him and his brothers, and on his nation’.

⁶ He therefore authorised him to raise an army and manufacture arms, and to describe himself as his ally, and ordered the hostages in the Citadel to be surrendered to him.

⁷ Jonathan went straight to Jerusalem and read the letter in the hearing of the whole people and of the men in the Citadel.

⁸ Everyone was awestruck when they heard that the king had given him authority to raise an army.

⁹ The men in the Citadel surrendered the hostages to Jonathan, who handed them back to their parents.

¹⁰ Jonathan then took up residence in Jerusalem and began the rebuilding and restoration of the city.

¹¹ He ordered those responsible for the work to build the walls and the defences round Mount Zion in square hewn stones to make them stronger, and this was done.

¹² The foreigners in the fortresses built by Bacchides abandoned them,

¹³ one after another leaving his post to go back to his own country.

¹⁴ Only at Bethzur were a few left of those who had forsaken the Law and the commandments, since this served them as a place of refuge.

¹⁵ King Alexander heard of all the promises Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and he was also given an account of the battles and exploits of this man and his brothers and the trials they had endured.

¹⁶ ‘Shall we ever find another man like him?’ he exclaimed. ‘Let us be quick to make a friend and ally of him!’

¹⁷ He therefore wrote him a letter, addressing him in these terms,

¹⁸ ‘King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greetings.

¹⁹ You have been brought to our notice as a strong man of action, and one disposed to be our friend.

²⁰ Accordingly we have today appointed you high priest of your nation, with the title of Friend of the King’-he also sent him a purple robe and a golden crown-‘and you are to study our interests and maintain friendly relations with us.’

²¹ Jonathan put on the sacred vestments in the seventh month of the year one hundred and sixty, on the feast of Tabernacles; he then set about raising troops and manufacturing arms in quantity.

²² Demetrius was displeased when he heard what had happened.

²³ ‘What have we done’ he said ‘that Alexander should have forestalled us in gaining the friendship of the Jews to strengthen his position?

²⁴ I will address an appeal to them too offering them advancement and riches as an inducement to support me.’

²⁵ And he wrote to them as follows: ‘King Demetrius to the Jewish nation, greetings.

²⁶ We have heard how you have kept your agreement with us and have maintained friendly relations with us and have not gone over to our enemies, and it has given us great satisfaction.

²⁷ If you now continue to keep faith with us, we will make you a handsome return for what you do on our behalf.

²⁸ We will accord you many exemptions and grant you privileges.

²⁹ Henceforth I release you and exempt all the Jews from the tribute, the salt dues and the crown levies,

³⁰ and whereas I am entitled to levy the equivalent of one third of the sowing and one half of the fruit of the trees, I release from this levy, from today and for the future, the land of Judah and the three districts annexed to it from Samaria-Galilee, from this day in perpetuity.

³¹ Jerusalem shall be sacred and exempt, with its territory, tithes and dues.

³² I relinquish control of the Citadel in Jerusalem and make it over to the high priest, so that he may man it with a garrison of his own choosing.

³³ Every Jewish person taken from the land of Judah into captivity in any part of my kingdom I set free without ransom, and decree that all shall be exempt from taxes, even on their livestock.

³⁴ All festivals, sabbaths, new moons and days of special observance, and the three days before and three days after a festival, shall all be days of exemption and quittance for all the Jews in my kingdom,

³⁵ and no one shall have the right to pursue or molest any of them for any matter whatsoever.

³⁶ Jews shall be enrolled in the king’s forces to the number of thirty thousand men, and receive maintenance on the same scale as the rest of the king’s forces.

³⁷ Some of them shall be stationed in the king’s major fortresses, and from among others appointments shall be made to positions of trust in the kingdom. Their officers and commanders shall be appointed from their own number, and shall live under their own laws, as the king has prescribed for the land of Judah.

³⁸ As regards the three districts annexed to Judaea from the province of Samaria, they shall be integrated into Judaea and considered as coming under one governor, obeying the high priest’s authority and no other.

³⁹ I have made over Ptolemais and its environs as a free gift to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, to meet the necessary expenses of public worship.

⁴⁰ And I make a personal grant of fifteen thousand silver shekels annually chargeable to the royal revenue from appropriate places.

⁴¹ And the entire surplus, which has not been paid in by the officials as in previous years, shall henceforth be paid over by them for work on the Temple.

⁴² In addition, the sum of five thousand silver shekels, levied annually on the profits of the sanctuary, as shown in the annual accounts, is also relinquished as the perquisite of the priests who perform the liturgy.

⁴³ Anyone who takes refuge in the Temple in Jerusalem or any of its precincts, when in debt to the royal exchequer or otherwise, shall be discharged in full possession of all the goods he owns in my kingdom.

⁴⁴ As regards the building and restoration of the sanctuary, the expense of the work shall be met from the royal exchequer.

⁴⁵ The reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem and the fortification of the perimeter shall also be a charge on the royal exchequer, and so also the reconstruction of other city walls in Judaea.’

⁴⁶ When Jonathan and the people heard these proposals they put no faith in them and refused to accept them, because they remembered the great wrongs Demetrius had done in Israel and how cruelly he had oppressed them.

⁴⁷ They decided in favour of Alexander, since they regarded him as their outstanding benefactor, and they became his constant allies.

⁴⁸ King Alexander now mustered large forces and took up a position confronting Demetrius,

⁴⁹ and the two kings met in battle. Alexander’s army was routed, and Demetrius pursued him and defeated his troops.

⁵⁰ He continued the battle with vigour until sunset, but Demetrius himself was killed that day.

⁵¹ Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy king of Egypt, with this message,

⁵² ‘Now that I have returned to my kingdom and ascended the throne of my ancestors, and have established my authority by crushing Demetrius, so gaining control of our country-

⁵³ for I fought him and we destroyed both him and his army and now occupy the throne of his kingdom-

⁵⁴ now, therefore, let us make a treaty of mutual friendship. Give me your daughter in marriage, and I will become your son-in-law and give you, and her, presents which are worthy of you.’

⁵⁵ King Ptolemy replied as follows, ‘Happy the day when you returned to the land of your ancestors and ascended their royal throne!

⁵⁶ I will do at once for you what your letter proposes; but meet me at Ptolemais, so that we can see one another, and I will become your father-in-law, as you have asked.’

⁵⁷ Ptolemy[*a] left Egypt with his daughter Cleopatra, and reached Ptolemais in the year one hundred and sixty-two.

⁵⁸ King Alexander went to meet him, and Ptolemy gave him the hand of his daughter Cleopatra and celebrated her wedding in Ptolemais with great magnificence, as kings do.

⁵⁹ King Alexander then wrote to Jonathan to come and meet him.

⁶⁰ Jonathan made his way in state to Ptolemais, and met the two kings; he gave them and their friends silver and gold, and many gifts, and made a favourable impression on them.

⁶¹ A number of scoundrels from Israel[*b] combined to denounce him, but the king paid no attention to them.

⁶² In fact the king commanded that Jonathan should be divested of his own garments and clothed in the purple, which was done.

⁶³ The king then seated him by his side and said to his officers, ‘Escort him into the centre of the city and proclaim that no one is to bring charges against him on any count; no one is to molest him for any reason.’

⁶⁴ And so, when his accusers saw the honour done him by this proclamation, and Jonathan himself invested in the purple, they all fled.

⁶⁵ The king did him the honour of enrolling him among the First Friends, and appointed him military commissioner and governor-general.

⁶⁶ Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem in peace and gladness.

⁶⁷ In the year one hundred and sixty-five,[*c] Demetrius son of Demetrius came from Crete to the land of his ancestors.

⁶⁸ When King Alexander heard of it he was plunged in gloom and retired to Antioch.

⁶⁹ Demetrius appointed Apollonius as governor of Coele-Syria; the latter assembled a large force, and from his camp at Jamnia sent the following message to Jonathan the high priest:

⁷⁰ ‘You are entirely alone in rising against us, and now I find myself ridiculed and reproached on your account. Why do you use your authority to our disadvantage in the mountains?

⁷¹ If you are so confident in your forces, come down now to meet us on the plain and let us take each other’s measure there; on my side I have the strength of the towns.

⁷² Ask and learn who I am and who are the others supporting us. Men will tell you that you cannot stand up to us, because your ancestors were twice routed on their own ground,[*d]

⁷³ nor will you now be able to withstand the cavalry or so great an army on the plain, where there is neither stone nor outcrop nor cover of any kind.’

⁷⁴ When Jonathan heard the message of Apollonius his spirit was roused; he picked ten thousand men and left Jerusalem, and his brother Simon joined him with reinforcements.

⁷⁵ He drew up his forces before Joppa; the citizens had shut him out as Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa. When they began the attack,

⁷⁶ the citizens took fright and opened the gates, and Jonathan occupied Joppa.

⁷⁷ Hearing this, Apollonius marshalled three thousand cavalry and a large army and made his way to Azotus as though intending to march through, while in fact pressing on into the plain, since he had a great number of cavalry on which he was relying.

⁷⁸ Jonathan pursued him as far as Azotus, where the armies joined battle.

⁷⁹ Now Apollonius had left a thousand horsemen in concealment behind them.

⁸⁰ Jonathan knew of this ambush behind him; the horsemen surrounded his army and shot their arrows into the people from morning till evening.

⁸¹ But the people stood firm, as Jonathan had ordered, while the enemy’s horses tired.

⁸² So Simon was able to throw in his force and close with the phalanx, which he cut to pieces and routed.

⁸³ The cavalry scattered over the plain and fled to Azotus, where they entered Beth-dagon, the temple of their idol, to take shelter there.

⁸⁴ But Jonathan set fire to Azotus and the surrounding towns, plundered them, and burned down the temple of Dagon, with all the fugitives who had crowded into it.

⁸⁵ The enemy losses, counting those who fell by the sword and those burnt to death, totalled about eight thousand men.

⁸⁶ Then Jonathan left there and encamped opposite Askalon, whose citizens came out to meet him with great ceremony.

⁸⁷ Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem with his followers, laden with booty.

⁸⁸ In the event, when King Alexander heard what had happened, he awarded Jonathan fresh honours:

⁸⁹ he sent him a golden brooch, of the kind customarily presented to the Cousins of the King, and gave him proprietary rights over Ekron with all its lands.