translated by James Moffatt, in R. H. Charles's Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (1913)

2 Maccabees is not a continuation of 1 Maccabees but an independent, shorter account of much the same span of the Hasmonean revolt — an epitome, made by an unknown editor, of a longer five-volume history written by a certain Jason of Cyrene. Where 1 Maccabees reads as sober military chronicle, 2 Maccabees is frankly homiletic: it dwells on atrocity and vindication, on angels and portents, and above all on the meaning of martyrdom. Its two best-known episodes — the death of the aged scribe Eleazar and the torture of a mother and her seven sons rather than eat forbidden meat — became touchstones for later Jewish and Christian writers alike. The book also contains some of the clearest statements in all of Second Temple Jewish literature that the righteous dead will rise bodily to life, and that prayer and sacrifice offered for the dead can avail them — ideas that would echo for centuries afterward.

Introductory Note (1913, James Moffatt)

Contents and Characteristics

2 Maccabees is the anonymous epitome, or digest (ii. 26, 28), of an earlier Maccabaean history composed by a Hellenistic Jew named Jason of Cyrene, who had written five books; the epitomist condensed these into one. It is unnecessary to treat his statements about this method as a mere literary device, as though he were a kind of Jewish Defoe manufacturing the fictitious authority of age for his own composition. Had that been the case, the contents would show more unity than they do, and the gaps in the narrative would be fewer. More than once, too, the style — as in xiii. 22 f. — suddenly matches that of a historian hurriedly compressing and popularizing an earlier source. On the whole, the materials, contents, and style of the book answer fairly to the writer's own account of his method and aims (ii. 19-32, vi. 12-17, xv. 37-9). His work is an abridgement, and at the same time more than an abridgement: he must have omitted large sections of Jason's treatise and summarized even what he retained, but instead of always preserving the language or shape of his source, he embellished it to suit popular taste and enlarged it, for edification's sake, with pious amplification of the miraculous.

The outline of the epitome is marked by a unity of religious feeling rather than by historical sequence. The introductory letters of i. 1–ii. 18 are followed by a naive preface (ii. 19-32), after which the epitome proper unfolds in five movements, each ending in a formal pause (iii. 40, vii. 42, x. 9, xiii. 26, xv. 37), probably following the divisions of Jason's own work. The only real interruption is a short excursus on the doctrine of retribution as the key to Jewish history (vi. 12-17). Judas Maccabaeus enters the story at v. 27, and from viii. 1 onward his story runs unbroken to the end, apart from the lurid digression on the death of Antiochus (ix. 1-29; x. 1-8 resumes the narrative dropped at viii. 33). The epilogue (xv. 37-9) echoes the prologue. Even the prefixed letters serve the book's general purpose: to magnify the two festivals of Hanukkah and Nicanor's Day as commemorations of the heroism of Judas Maccabaeus.

2 Maccabees is not a sequel to 1 Maccabees. It is, in Luther's phrase, a second book on the Maccabaean struggle, not the second book. Since its narrative (175–161 B.C.) overlaps a large part of 1 Maccabees, a comparison of the two might be expected to settle the question of their relative historical value — and to some extent it does, though critical opinion has swung between undervaluing 2 Maccabees as a historical source and overvaluing it. Niese in particular has argued that 2 Maccabees is in places older and more reliable than 1 Maccabees, an argument that has not carried general conviction. (Rather than reproduce here the full two-column comparison of parallel passages in the two books that Moffatt sets out at this point — a working chart of citations, not continuous prose — this transcription simply notes that such a systematic comparison exists in the original introduction.)

A broad survey of the two books puts it beyond reasonable doubt that on questions like the resurrection of the body (vii. 11, xiv. 46) and the prohibition of warfare on the sabbath (viii. 27, xv. 1 f.), 1 Maccabees is decidedly the more primitive of the two. This is probably one reason the anti-Hasmonean epitomist omits Mattathias altogether — an omission that tells against, not for, the reliability of 2 Maccabees, since independent Rabbinic tradition confirms Mattathias's central role in the revolt. The chronological disorder of 2 Maccabees — closing its first half with the purification of the temple and only later, out of sequence, narrating the death of Antiochus Epiphanes — likewise tells against its priority. The correspondence attributed to Rome in xi. 34 f. may reflect some genuine historical nucleus, but in its present form is almost certainly a manufactured document, like the letters of i–ii.

Niese's researches do show that the sources behind the epitome — Jason above all — possessed real and detailed knowledge of the period, with vivid, independent touches suggesting eyewitness testimony behind parts of the narrative. But 2 Maccabees also exaggerates numbers and horrors, contains confused and contradictory notices, is repeatedly unhistorical, and includes ideas — such as vicarious suffering in the martyrdoms (vi. 28) and sacrifice for the dead (xii. 43) — that mark it as less primitive than 1 Maccabees. The epitomist has the artistic temperament and the pious aim of edification; on both counts he is naturally less careful of exact accuracy than a historian, and content if his effects land picturesquely. As Wellhausen put it, Niese's criticism has taught much, but has not shown that the second book is older than the first or deserves preference over it; we need not look at everything through the lens of 1 Maccabees, but we have no alternative except to make it our basis.

MSS. and Versions

2 Maccabees, like 1 Maccabees, is preserved in the great uncials A and V and in a number of minuscules; it was apparently omitted from the Ethiopic version, probably owing to Athanasius's objection to the Maccabaean books. The Syriac version is paraphrastic and less valuable than its counterpart for 1 Maccabees. There is, besides the pre-Hieronymian Old Latin, a version preserved in Codex Ambrosianus and another in Codex Complutensis, along with several fragmentary Latin witnesses published in the early twentieth century. It is chiefly from these Latin versions, representing varied textual types, that help can be gained in settling the text — for the extant Greek has been so badly preserved at points that neither the versions nor conjecture can restore full confidence that we possess a text close to the original.

Date

The date of the epitome, and by inference of Jason's work, cannot be fixed except within rough limits. Some have argued that the introductory letters (i. 1–ii. 18) date the whole epitome to 125–124 B.C., but the integrity of that introductory section cannot be assumed, and even on the most favorable reading the dates only fix the individual letters, not the epitome that follows them. What can be said with more confidence is that 2 Maccabees was already being used by Fourth Maccabees, by the Epistle to the Hebrews, and by Philo — which fixes a terminus ad quem — while the terminus a quo for its underlying source is 161 B.C., the date of Nicanor's defeat, and, if the allusion to the book of Esther in ix. 21 is original, the source can hardly be earlier than about 130 B.C. Jason's work, then, may be dated roughly after 130 B.C., and the epitome itself probably falls not later than the first half of the first century B.C. The epitomist was in all likelihood an Alexandrian Jew of Pharisaic sympathies, writing some three or four generations after the events, in order to foster reverence for the Jerusalem temple and strict observance of the Maccabaean festivals as a bond between the Jews of Palestine and of Egypt.

Integrity and Composite Nature of the Text

"2 Maccabees," said Luther in his brief preface, appears to be "patched together out of many books." This composite character shows up first in i. 1–ii. 18, where the majority of critics rightly distinguish two separate letters — one running roughly i. 1–10a, the other i. 10b–ii. 18 — though opinion is still divided on their precise extent, date, and reliability. The first letter's date is placed, awkwardly, at its own end (i. 10a); an earlier date embedded within it (144–143 B.C.) refers back to a prior communication, invoked to lend the present letter verisimilitude as one item in an ongoing Jewish-Egyptian correspondence. The second letter comes from a different source, is undated except in general terms, and reverses the normal order of sender and addressee — but shares the same object as the first: to press home the religious significance of the feast of Hanukkah. Both letters are specimens of the kind of edifying epistolography that Alexandrian Judaism produced freely. Within the second letter, the long legendary passage on the hidden altar-fire and on Jeremiah's concealment of the tabernacle and ark (i. 18b–ii. 15) reads as an inserted unit, built out of older tradition, and its allusion to Judas (ii. 14) sits awkwardly with the position assigned him earlier in the letter — evidence that it, too, has been stitched in rather than composed at a stroke. Whether authentic or not, neither letter belonged to Jason's original narrative; both were apparently found by the epitomist in some other source and prefixed to his own abridgement, rather than placed where they belonged chronologically.

Behind the body of the epitome itself lies the intricate question of sources. Along with Jason, the epitomist may occasionally have drawn on other traditions and even documents — perhaps, in i. 10, on the Alexandrian Jew Aristobulus. Some critics have tried to work out in detail exactly where Jason's narrative gives way to a second source or to the epitomist's own interpolation, especially in chapters iii–v and viii, but the evidence is too thin, and the possibility that Jason's own five-volume work already absorbed a variety of oral tradition, to allow such literary analysis to be pressed into any confident scheme. Jason's original work has not survived, and even his own identity is uncertain; efforts to identify him with named figures elsewhere have not carried conviction. His connection with Cyrene would lead us to expect more accurate knowledge of Palestinian geography and affairs than the epitome in fact shows, whose references to Judaea are markedly less reliable than its references to the Syrian court.

Authorship

The relation of 2 Maccabees to 1 Maccabees broadly resembles that of Chronicles to Kings, in that a definitely religious pragmatism controls the later writer, whose sympathies lie with the Pharisaic strand of Jewish piety. He lays weight on legal observance, divine providence and recompense, the temple cult, the sabbath, angels, and the resurrection. This last theme is bound up above all with the martyr-stories of chapters vi–vii, which carried the book into wide popularity throughout both Judaism and Christianity. They are told with a graphic, sometimes repellent, attention to physical horror that jars on modern taste; yet, as E. Bevan wrote, if one can see past the overwrought rhetoric of a third-rate Hellenistic stylist, one can still feel "an anguish that was once real and quivering." The anonymous author belongs to Alexandrian rather than Palestinian Judaism, though beyond that general inference little can be said with confidence about his precise identity or circumstances.

Influence on Later Literature

The use of 2 Maccabees by Philo and by Fourth Maccabees is clearer than any direct dependence by Josephus, though there is a stronger case that it is echoed in the Assumption of Moses. Its narratives of the martyrs, above all, fed into later Jewish haggadic literature and, in early Christianity, into the eventual canonization of the Maccabaean martyrs and their yearly festival (August 1st) in the Greek and Latin churches. This reflects the book's early and wide diffusion, traceable from the Epistle to the Hebrews down through Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus, Origen, Chrysostom, and Jerome; portions of it are read in the Roman Breviary in October.

Theology

The later popularity of 2 Maccabees owes as much to its support for doctrines such as prayer for the dead (xii. 43, 45) and the intercession of the saints (xv. 11-16) as to its martyr-stories or its miraculous "manifestations" (epiphaneiai). Otherwise its theology closely resembles that of the Pharisaic school in the latter half of the second century B.C. The doctrine of divine chastening receives careful treatment (vi. 12-17): the worst fate is to be left alone by God, as the pagan nations are; the Jews, by contrast, are chastened precisely so that they are kept from the excesses that draw down catastrophic judgment even in this life. The martyrs' sufferings, though occasioned by the nation's own sins, are held to avail to turn aside God's anger from their fellow Jews (vii. 33-8). After death, the righteous alone rise, and rise bodily (vii. 11, 22 f., xiv. 46), to share in an earthly messianic kingdom. This conception — resurrection into an earthly rather than transcendent future — links 2 Maccabees, in its eschatology, to the same broad current found in parts of 1 Enoch, and marks it as a genuinely second-century document in outlook, without the fuller "catholic hope" of the great prophetic literature.

(This transcription omits Moffatt's closing bibliographical section, § 8, "Special Literature" — a list of critical editions, commentaries, and secondary studies with no continuous argument of its own.)

Chapter 1

1 To the brethren, the Jews in Egypt, greeting. The brethren, the Jews in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judaea, wish you perfect peace; 2 yea, may God do good unto you, and remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants; 3 may he give you all a heart to worship him and do his pleasure with hearty courage and a willing soul; 4 may he give you an open heart for his law and for his statutes, and make peace, 5 and hearken to your supplications; may he be reconciled to you, and not forsake you in time of evil. 6 Such, then, are our prayers for you in this place. 7 In the reign of Demetrius, in the hundred threescore and ninth year, we the Jews have already written unto you in the extreme tribulation that came upon us during these years, from the time that Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom, 8 setting the porch on fire and shedding innocent blood: but we besought the Lord, and were heard; we offered sacrifice and made the meal offering, we lighted the lamps, and set forth the shewbread. 9,10a See that ye keep the days of the feast of tabernacles in the month Chislev. Written in the hundred fourscore and eighth year.

10b They that are in Jerusalem and they that are in Judaea and the senate and Judas, unto Aristobulus, king Ptolemy's teacher, who is also of the stock of the anointed priests, and unto the 11 Jews that are in Egypt, send greeting and health. Having been saved by God out of great perils, 12 we render great thanks, as befits us to thank One who arrayeth himself against a king. For He 13 flung away into Persia those who had arrayed themselves against the holy city. For when the leader arrived, with a force that seemed irresistible, they were cut to pieces in the temple of Nanaea by 14 the treachery of Nanaea's priests. Antiochus, on the pretext of marrying her, came into the place, he and his Friends who were with him, that they might take a great part of the treasures by way 15 of dowry; but when the priests of the Nanaeon had set the treasures forth, and he had passed with a small company inside the wall of the precincts, they shut to the temple when Antiochus had 16 entered: then opening the secret door in the panelled ceiling, they threw stones and struck down 17 the leader, and hewing the company in pieces threw their heads to those who were outside. 18 Blessed for all things be our God who gave the impious doers for a prey. Whereas we are now about to celebrate the purification of the temple in the month Chislev, on the five and twentieth day, we deem it our duty to inform you, that you too may keep the feast of tabernacles.

19 Now (concerning) the fire: on the occasion of Nehemiah offering sacrifices, after he had built both the temple and the altar, you must know that when our fathers were to be led into the land of Persia, the godly priests of that time took some of the fire of the altar, and hid it secretly in the hollow of a sort of empty cistern, wherein they made it sure, so that the place was unknown to all men. 20 Well, after many years, when it pleased God, Nehemiah was sent on a mission by the king of Persia, and he sent in quest of the fire the descendants of the priests who had hid it. When they announced that they had found no fire, but thick liquid, he commanded them to draw out some and bring it to him: 21 and when the sacrifices had been duly placed on the altar, Nehemiah commanded the priests to sprinkle the liquid both on the wood and on the sacrifices. When this was done, after some time had elapsed and the sun, formerly hidden in clouds, had shone out, there was kindled a great blaze, so that all men marvelled. 22 And the priests offered prayer, while the sacrifice was being consumed — priests and all, Jonathan leading and the rest saying it after him, as did Nehemiah. 23 The following was the prayer: O Lord, Lord God, the creator of all things, who art terrible and strong and righteous and merciful, who alone art King and gracious, 24 who alone suppliest every need, who alone art righteous and almighty and eternal, thou that savest Israel out of all evil, who madest the fathers thine elect, and didst sanctify them: 25 accept this sacrifice for all thy people Israel, guard thine own Portion, and consecrate it. 26 Gather together our dispersion, set at liberty them that are in bondage among the heathen, look upon them that are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that thou art our God. 27 Torment them that oppress us and in arrogancy shamefully treat us. 28 Plant thy people in thy holy place, even as Moses said. 29 Then the priests sang the hymns.

30 Now as soon as the sacrifice was consumed, Nehemiah ordered the rest of the liquid to be poured on large stones. 31 And when this was done, a flame was kindled; but, when the light from the altar shone over against it, it was extinguished. 32 And when the matter became known, and it was told the king of the Persians, that, in the place where the captive priests had hid the fire, there had appeared the liquid with which Nehemiah and his company purified the sacrifice, 33 then the king, after verifying the matter, had the place made a sacred enclosure. 35 And the king exchanged gifts with those in his favour. 36 Nehemiah and his company called this thing Nephthar, which is by interpretation, Cleansing; but most people call it Nephthai.

Chapter 2

1 It is also found in the records, that Jeremiah the prophet commanded them that were carried away to take some of the fire, as has been already noted: and how that the prophet charged them that were carried away, after giving them the law, that they should not forget the statutes of the Lord, neither be led astray in their minds, when they saw images of gold and silver, and the adornment thereof. 3 And with other such words exhorted he them, that the law should not depart from their heart. 4 This also was in the writing, that the prophet, being warned by God, commanded the tabernacle and ark to accompany him, and that he went away to the mountain which Moses had climbed to view the inheritance of God. 5 On reaching it Jeremiah found a cavernous chamber, in which he placed the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense; and he made fast the door. 6,7 And some of his followers drew near in order to mark the road, but they could not find it. Now when Jeremiah came to know this, he blamed them, saying, Unknown shall the spot be until God gather the people again together, and mercy come; 8 then indeed shall the Lord disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord shall be seen, even the Cloud, as in the days of Moses it was visible, 9 and as when Solomon prayed that the Place might be consecrated with solemn splendour. 10 It was also narrated how he, in his wisdom, sacrificed at the consecration and completion of the temple; as Moses prayed to the Lord, and fire descended from heaven to consume the sacrifice, so Solomon also 11 prayed, and the fire descended and burned up the holocaust; and Moses said, Because the sin offering had not been eaten, it was consumed in like manner with the rest; 12 and Solomon kept the eight days.

13 These things were narrated also in the archives or memoirs of Nehemiah; as well as how he founded a library and collected the books about the kings and the prophets, and the books of David, and letters of kings about sacred gifts. 14 Even so did Judas collect for us all the writings which had been scattered owing to the outbreak of war. They are still with us. 15 So, if you need them, send some messengers to fetch them for you.

16 Seeing therefore that we are about to keep the purification, we write thus to you. 17 You will do well, then, to keep the days of the festival. Now God, who saved all his people, and restored to all the 18 heritage, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, and the hallowing, even as he promised through the law — in God have we hope, that he will speedily have mercy upon us, and gather us together from under the wide heaven to the holy place: for he did deliver us out of great evils, and did purify the place.

19 Now the things concerning Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers, and the purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the altar, 20 and further the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes and Eupator his son, 21 and the heavenly apparitions vouchsafed to those that vied with one another in manful deeds for the religion of the Jews — so that, in spite of their small numbers, they plundered the whole country, and routed the barbarian hordes, 22 and regained the temple renowned all the world over, and freed the city, and restored the laws which were on the verge of abolition, since the Lord showed favour graciously to them — 23 all this, recounted by Jason in five books, we will try to compress into a single volume. 24 For, in view of the flood of statistics and the difficulties presented by the mass of material to those who desire to go into the narratives of the history, 25 we have aimed at attracting those who are fond of reading, at smoothing the path for those who like to memorize their facts, and at being of some service to our readers in general. 26 As for ourselves, we have not found this self-imposed task of abridging to be a light business. On the contrary, we have sweated and sat up late over it — 27 just as there is no lack of work for any one who has to superintend a banquet and look after the interests of others. Still, to reap the gratitude of many, we will cheerfully undertake this 28 toilsome labour; leaving the historian to investigate details, we will exert ourselves to prepare an epitome upon the usual lines. 29 For as the master-builder of a new house has to look after the entire edifice, while the decorator who undertakes to inlay and paint it has only to look out what is suitable for embellishing the house, so, methinks, is it with us. 30 To enter into details and general discussions and elaborate researches is the business of the original historian; 31 on the other hand, any one who simply recasts the material must be allowed to aim at conciseness of expression and to eschew any thoroughgoing treatment of the subject. 32 Well now, let us begin the story. We have no more to add, by way of preface; for it is truly stupid to expatiate in introducing a history and then cut short the history itself.

Chapter 3

1 When the holy city was inhabited in unbroken peace, and the laws were kept right strictly, owing to the godliness of Onias the high-priest and his hatred of wickedness, 2 it came to pass that even kings themselves did honour the Place and glorify the temple with the noblest presents; 3 so much so that Seleucus the king of Asia actually defrayed, out of his own revenues, all the expenses connected with the ritual of the sacrifices. 4 But a certain Benjamite, Simon, who had been appointed warden of the temple, fell out with the high-priest over the management of the city-market. 5 Unable to get the better of Onias, he betook himself to Apollonius of Tarsus, then governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, 6 and informed him that the treasury in Jerusalem was full of such untold sums of money that the wealth of the funds was past counting; they did not belong, he said, to the accounts of the sacrifices, and they could be got into the hands of the king. 7 So when Apollonius met the king, he informed him of the money which had been mentioned to him, and the king chose his chancellor, Heliodorus, and dispatched him with orders to carry out the removal of the aforesaid money. 8 Heliodorus at once started on his journey, giving out that he intended to visit the cities of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, though his real object was to execute the king's design. 9 On reaching Jerusalem, where he was courteously welcomed by the high-priest and the city, he submitted the information which had been given him, and explained why he had come, inquiring further if this information was really true.

10 The high-priest pointed out to him that there were deposits belonging to widows and orphans, 11 besides monies belonging to Hyrcanus, the son of Tobias, a man of extremely high position (by no means what that impious Simon had alleged), and that in all there were four hundred talents of silver and two hundred of gold; 12 it was utterly impossible, he added, that injury should be inflicted on those who had put their trust in the sacredness of the Place and in the majesty and inviolable sanctity of the temple, honoured over all the world. 13 Heliodorus had his orders from the king, however, and he replied that in any case these monies must be confiscated for the king's treasury.

14 So, having appointed a day, he went in to superintend the investigation of the treasure. And there was no small distress throughout the whole city. 15 The priests, arrayed in their priestly robes, flung themselves before the altar, and called to heaven on him who had appointed the law regarding deposits, beseeching him to preserve these treasures safe for the depositors. 16 And no one could look at the mien of the high-priest without feeling a pang of heart. His countenance and changed colour betrayed the anguish of his soul. 17 For terror and a shuddering of the body had come over the man, which plainly showed to the onlookers the grief that was at his heart. 18 As for the people in the houses, they flocked out with a rush to join in common supplication that the Place should not be dishonoured. 19 The married women, girt under their breasts with sackcloth, thronged the streets, while the maidens who were kept in ward ran together, some to the porticoes, others to the walls, and others to look out at the windows; 20 but all, stretching forth their hands toward heaven, made their solemn supplication. 21 One could not but pity the populace all prostrate with one accord, and the anxiety of the high-priest in his sore distress.

22 Meantime, however, as they were invoking the all-powerful Lord to keep the deposits safe and sure for the depositors, Heliodorus proceeded to execute his orders. 23,24 But when he and his guards had got as far as the front of the treasury, the Sovereign of spirits and of all authority prepared a great apparition, so that all who had presumed to enter were stricken with dismay at the power of God and fainted with sheer terror. 25 For there appeared to them a horse with a terrible rider, and it was decked in magnificent trappings, and rushing fiercely forward it struck at Heliodorus with its forefeet. 26 And the rider seemed to be armed with a golden panoply. Two youths also appeared before Heliodorus, remarkable for their strength, gloriously handsome, and splendidly arrayed, who stood by him on either side, and scourged him unceasingly, inflicting on him many sore stripes. 27 He dropped suddenly to the ground, and thick darkness wrapped him round, but his guards caught him up and put him into a litter, 28 and carried him away — carried him who had just entered the aforesaid treasury with a large retinue and all his guard, but who was now absolutely helpless — recognizing clearly the sovereign might of God. 29 And so he had been laid prostrate, deprived of speech owing to God's strong hand, bereft of all hope and succour. 30 But the Jews blessed the Lord who had done marvellous honour to his own place; and the temple, which a little before had been full of terror and alarm, was filled with joy and gladness, thanks to the manifestation of the all-powerful Lord.

31 Now some of Heliodorus' intimate friends at once besought Onias to call upon the Most High, and so grant life to him, as he lay quite at the last gasp. 32 The high-priest suspected that the king might imagine the Jews had perpetrated some foul play against Heliodorus, and he offered a sacrifice for the recovery of the man. 33 But as the high-priest was offering the sacrifice of propitiation, the same young men appeared again to Heliodorus, arrayed in the same robes; and they stood and said, Give Onias the high-priest hearty thanks, since it is for his sake that the Lord has granted thee thy life; 34 and do thou, since thou hast been scourged from heaven, publish abroad to all men the sovereign majesty of God. And when they had spoken these words, they vanished out of sight. 35 So Heliodorus offered sacrifice to the Lord and vowed very great vows to him who had preserved his life, and, after taking a friendly farewell of Onias, he returned with his army to the king, 36 testifying to all men the deeds of the supreme God which he had witnessed with his own eyes. 37 And when the king asked Heliodorus what sort of person would be suitable for another mission to Jerusalem, he said, 38 If thou hast any enemy or conspirator against the state, send him thither, and thou shalt get him back well scourged — supposing he escapes with his life; for the Place is really haunted by some power of God. 39 He who dwells in heaven above has his eye upon that Place and defends it, smiting and destroying those who approach it for ill ends.

40 Such was the history of Heliodorus and the preservation of the treasury.

Chapter 4

1 But the aforesaid Simon, who had informed about the money and betrayed his country, proceeded to slander Onias, alleging that it was he who had maltreated Heliodorus and who had contrived the whole mischief. 2 He dared to accuse of conspiracy the very man who had proved the benefactor of the city, and the guardian of his fellow-countrymen, and a zealot for the laws! 3 And when the feud between them went to such a pitch that one of Simon's trusted followers actually committed several murders, 4 Onias, recognizing the danger of the contention, and observing that Apollonius, the son of Menestheus, as governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was fanning Simon's malice, betook himself to the king — not that he went about to accuse his fellow-citizens, but simply with a view to the good of all the people, both public and private; 5 for he saw that, unless the king intervened and interested himself, it was impossible for the State to be at peace, nor would Simon abandon his insensate attempt.

6 But when Seleucus died, and Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, succeeded to the kingdom, 7 Jason the brother of Onias supplanted his brother in the high-priesthood, promising in a petition to the king three hundred and threescore talents of silver, besides eighty talents from another fund; 8 in addition to which he undertook to pay a hundred and fifty more, if he was commissioned to set up a gymnasium and ephebeum and to register the Jerusalemites as citizens of Antioch. 9 And when the king had given his assent, Jason at once exercised his influence in order to bring over his fellow-countrymen to Greek ways of life. 10 Setting aside the royal ordinances of special favour to the Jews, obtained by John the father of Eupolemus who had gone as envoy to the Romans to secure their friendship and alliance, and seeking to overthrow the lawful modes of life, he introduced new customs forbidden by the law: 11 he deliberately established a gymnasium under the citadel itself, and made 12 the noblest of the young men wear the petasus. 13 And to such a height did the passion for Greek fashions rise, and the influx of foreign customs, thanks to the surpassing impiety of that godless Jason — no high-priest he! — 14 that the priests were no longer interested in the services of the altar, but despising the sanctuary, and neglecting the sacrifices, they hurried to take part in the unlawful displays held in the palaestra after the quoit-throwing had been announced — 15 thus setting at naught what their fathers honoured and esteeming the glories of the Greeks above all else. 16 Hence sore distress befell them; the very men for whose customs they were so keen and whom they desired to be like in every detail, became their foes and punished them. 17 For it is no light matter to act impiously against the laws of God; time will show that.

18 Now games, held every five years, were being celebrated at Tyre, in the presence of the king, 19 and the vile Jason sent sacred envoys who were citizens of Antioch to represent Jerusalem, with three hundred drachmas of silver for the sacrifice of Heracles. The very bearers, however, judged 20 that the money ought not to be spent on a sacrifice, but devoted to some other purpose, and, thanks to them, it went to fit out the triremes. 21 Now when Apollonius the son of Menestheus was sent to Egypt to attend the enthronement of king Ptolemy Philometor, Antiochus, on learning that the latter was ill-disposed to him, proceeded to take precautions for the security of his realm. 22 Thus he visited Joppa, and travelled on to Jerusalem, where he had a splendid reception from Jason and the city, and was brought in with blazing torches and acclamation. Thereafter, he and his army marched down into Phoenicia.

23 Now after a space of three years Jason sent Menelaus, the aforesaid Simon's brother, to convey the money to the king and to remind him of some matters which required attention. 24 But Menelaus got into favour with the king, whom he extolled with an air of impressive authority, and secured the high-priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. 25 On receiving the royal mandate, he appeared in Jerusalem, possessed of no quality which entitled him to the high-priesthood, but with the passions of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a wild beast. 26 So Jason, who had supplanted his brother, was in turn supplanted by another man, and driven as a fugitive into the country of the Ammonites. 27 Menelaus secured the position, but he failed to pay any of the money which he had promised to the king, although Sostratus the governor of the citadel demanded it. 28 As the latter was responsible for collecting the revenue, the king summoned both men before him; Menelaus left his brother Lysimachus to act as his deputy in the high-priesthood, while Sostratus left, as his deputy, Crates, the viceroy of Cyprus.

30 At this juncture, it came to pass that the citizens of Tarsus and Mallus raised an insurrection, because they were to be assigned as a present to Antiochis, the king's mistress; 31 so the king went off hurriedly to Cilicia to settle matters, leaving Andronicus, a man of high rank, to act as his deputy. 32 Then Menelaus supposed he had got a favourable opportunity, so he presented Andronicus with some golden vessels which he had stolen from the temple — others he had already sold to Tyre and the surrounding cities. 33 On ascertaining the truth of this, Onias sharply censured him, withdrawing for safety into the sanctuary of Daphne, close to Antioch. 34 Whereupon Menelaus took Andronicus aside and exhorted him to kill Onias. So Andronicus went to Onias, gave him pledges by guile and also his right hand with oaths of friendship, and persuaded him, despite his suspicions, to come out of the sanctuary. He then killed him at once, regardless of justice.

35 This made not only the Jews but many people of other nationalities indignant and angry over the unjust murder of the man. 36 So when the king returned from the regions of Cilicia, the Jews of the capital, with the support of the Greeks who also detested the crime, complained to him about the illegal murder of Onias. 37 Antiochus was heartily sorry about it, and was moved to pity and tears for the dead man's sober and well-ordered life; 38 inflamed with passion, he at once had Andronicus stripped of his purple robe, and led, with rent under-garments, all round the city to the very spot where he had committed the outrage upon Onias; there he had the murderer dispatched, the Lord rendering to him the punishment he had deserved.

39 Now when many acts of sacrilege had been committed in the city by Lysimachus, with the connivance of Menelaus, the report of these spread abroad throughout the country, till the people rose against Lysimachus; for by this time a large number of gold vessels had been sold in all directions. 40 But when the people rose in a frenzy of rage, Lysimachus armed about three thousand men and took the offensive with a bold charge, led by a certain Auranus, a man well up in mad folly no less than in years. 41 On realizing that Lysimachus was attacking them, however, some of the people caught up stones, others logs of wood, and some snatched handfuls of ashes that lay near, flinging them all pell-mell upon Lysimachus and his troops. 42 In this way they wounded many, felled some to the ground, and routed the whole band, slaying the sacrilegious robber himself beside the treasury.

43,44 In connexion with this affair, proceedings were taken against Menelaus, and when the king reached Tyre, three men sent by the senate laid their accusation before him. 45 Menelaus felt that all was now over with him, but he promised a large sum of money to Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, in order to get the king talked over. 46 So Ptolemy took the king aside into a gallery, as though to get some fresh air, and induced him to change his mind, 47 the result being that he acquitted Menelaus, who was responsible for all the trouble, and condemned to death the hapless trio, who would have been discharged as innocent, even had they pled before Scythians. 48 This unjust punishment was inflicted instantly upon these spokesmen for Israel's city and folk and sacred vessels; 49 which moved some Tyrians, who hated the crime, to provide magnificent obsequies for them. 50 Menelaus, however, still remained in power, thanks to the covetousness of the authorities, and, waxing more and more vicious, he proved a great plotter against his fellow-citizens.

Chapter 5

1 Now about this time Antiochus made his second inroad into Egypt. 2 And it so befell that throughout all the city of Jerusalem for almost forty days horsemen were seen charging in mid-air, 3 wearing robes inwrought with gold, armed with lances, and arrayed in troops: swords flashing, squadrons of horse in array, assaults and charges repeated from one side and another, shields shaken, spears massed together, darts hurtling to and fro, the sheen of golden trappings, and corselets of all kinds. 4 Which made all men pray that the apparition might betoken good.

5 Now a false rumour got abroad that Antiochus had died. Whereupon Jason took not less than a thousand men, and made a sudden attack on the city; the troops stationed on the walls were routed, 6 and, as the city was now practically captured, Menelaus took refuge in the citadel, while Jason proceeded to slaughter his fellow-citizens without mercy, reckless of the fact that to get any advantage over kinsfolk is the worst kind of disadvantage, and imagining to himself that he was winning trophies from foes and not from fellow-countrymen. 7 He failed to secure the place of power, however; and in the end he reaped only shame from his conspiracy, and had to pass over again as a fugitive into the country of the Ammonites. 8 As for the end of his wretched career — imprisoned under Aretas the Arabian prince, flying from city to city, pursued by all men, hated as an apostate from the laws, and loathed as a butcher of his country and his fellow-citizens, he was expelled into Egypt. 9 He who had driven so many into exile, died himself in exile, crossing over to the Lacedaemonians, with the idea of finding shelter there among kinsfolk. 10 He who had flung out many a corpse to lie unburied had none to mourn for him, nor had he a funeral of any kind or place in the sepulchre of his fathers.

11 Now when tidings of what had happened reached the king, he thought Judaea was in revolt. He therefore started from Egypt in a fury, stormed the city, 12 and commanded his soldiers to cut down without mercy any one they met, and to slay those who sheltered in their houses. 13 So there was a massacre of young and old, an extermination of boys, women, and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. 14 In the short space of three days eighty thousand were destroyed, forty thousand of them in close combat, and as many again were sold into slavery. 15 Not content with this, he dared to enter the most holy temple on earth, under the guidance of Menelaus, who proved himself a traitor both to the laws and to his country; 16 he laid polluted hands on the sacred vessels, and swept off with his profane hands what other kings had dedicated to enhance the glory and honour of the Place.

17 Uplifted in spirit, Antiochus did not consider that it was on account of the sins of those who dwelt in the city that the Sovereign Lord was provoked to anger for a little while; hence 18 his indifference to the Place. Had they not been involved in so many sins, this fellow would have fared like Heliodorus, who was sent by king Seleucus to pry into the treasury — he would have been scourged as soon as he pressed forward, and turned back from his presumption. 19 But the Lord did not choose the nation for the sake of the Place; he chose the Place for the sake of the nation. 20 And so the Place, after partaking in the calamities that befell the nation, shared afterwards in its prosperity; forsaken in the wrath of the Almighty, it was restored again in full glory when the great Sovereign became reconciled.

21 Antiochus, then, carried off from the temple eighteen hundred talents and hurried away to Antioch, thinking in his arrogance to make the land navigable and the sea passable by foot — so uplifted was he in heart. 22 He also left governors behind him to ill-treat the Jewish people: at Jerusalem, Philip, a Phrygian by race, whose disposition was more barbarous than that of his master; 23 at Gerizim, Andronicus; and, besides these, Menelaus, who lorded it worst of them all over the citizens. 24 And in malice against the Jews he sent the Mysian commander Apollonius with an army of two and twenty thousand, under orders to slay all those that were of full age and to sell the women and the younger men. 25 This fellow, on reaching Jerusalem, played the rôle of a man of peace, waiting till the holy day of the sabbath; then, finding the Jews at rest from work, he commanded his men to parade in arms, 26 put to the sword all who came to see what was going on, and rushing into the city with the armed men killed great numbers. 27 Judas Maccabaeus, however, with about nine others got away, and kept himself and his companions alive in the mountains, as wild beasts do, feeding on herbs, in order that they might not be polluted like the rest.

Chapter 6

1 Shortly after this the king sent an old Athenian to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their fathers, and to cease living by the laws of God; 2 further, the sanctuary in Jerusalem was to be polluted and called after Zeus Olympius, while the sanctuary at Gerizim was also to be called after Zeus Xenius, in keeping with the hospitable character of the inhabitants. 3 Now this proved a sore and altogether crushing visitation of evil. 4 For the heathen filled the temple with riot and revelling, dallying with harlots and lying with women inside the sacred precincts, besides bringing in what was forbidden, 5 while the altar was filled with abominable sacrifices which the law prohibited. 6 And a man could neither keep the sabbath, nor celebrate the feasts of the fathers, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew. 7 On the king's birthday every month they were taken — bitter was the necessity — to share in the sacrifice, and when the festival of the Dionysia came round they were compelled to wear ivy wreaths for the procession in honour of Dionysus. 8 On the suggestion of Ptolemy, an edict was also issued to the neighbouring Greek cities, ordering them to treat the Jews in the same way 9 and force them to share in the sacrifices, slaying any who refused to adopt Greek ways. Thus any one could see the distressful state of affairs. 10 Two women, for example, were brought up for having circumcised their children; they were paraded round the city, with their babies hanging at their breasts, and then flung from the top of the wall. 11 Some others, who had taken refuge in the adjoining caves in order to keep the seventh day secretly, were betrayed to Philip and all burnt together, since they scrupled to defend themselves, out of regard to the honour of that most solemn day.

12 Now I beseech the readers of this book not to be discouraged by such calamities, but to reflect that our people were being punished by way of chastening and not for their destruction. 13 For indeed it is a mark of great kindness when the impious are not let alone for a long time, but punished at once. 14 In the case of other nations, the Sovereign Lord in his forbearance refrains from punishing them till they have filled up their sins to the full, 15 but in our case he has determined otherwise, that his vengeance may not fall on us in after-days when our sins have reached their height. 16 Wherefore he never withdraweth his mercy from us; and though he chasteneth his own people with calamity, he forsaketh them not. 17 So much by way of a reminder to ourselves; after these few words we must come back to our story.

18 Eleazar, one of the principal scribes, a man already well stricken in years and of a noble countenance, was compelled to eat swine's flesh. 19 But he, welcoming death with renown rather than life with pollution, advanced of his own accord to the instrument of torture, 20 affording an example of how men should come forward who have the courage to put from them food which, even for the natural love of life, they dare not taste. 21 Now those in charge of that forbidden sacrificial feast took the man aside, for the sake of old acquaintance, and privately urged him to bring some flesh of his own providing, such as he was lawfully allowed to use, and to pretend he was really eating of the sacrifice which the king had ordered, 22 so that in this way he might escape death and be kindly treated for the sake of their old friendship. 23 But he with a high resolve, worthy of his years and of the dignity of his descent and of his grey hair reached with honour and of his noble life from childhood — and, still more, of the holy laws divinely ordained — spoke his mind accordingly, telling them to dispatch him to Hades at once. 24 "It ill becomes our years to dissemble," said he, "and thus lead many younger persons to imagine that Eleazar in his ninetieth year has gone over to a heathenish religion. 25 I should lead them astray by my dissimulation, for the mere sake of enjoying this brief and momentary life, and I should bring stain and foul disgrace on my own old age. 26 Even were I for the moment to evade the punishment of men, I should not escape the hands of the Almighty in life or in death. 27 Wherefore, by manfully parting with my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age, 28 and leave behind me a noble example to the young of how to die willingly and nobly on behalf of our reverend and holy laws." 29 With these words he stepped forward at once to the instrument of torture, while those who a moment before had been friendly turned against him, deeming his language to be that of a sheer madman. 30 Now, just as he was expiring under the strokes of torture, he groaned out, The Lord, who hath holy knowledge, understandeth that, although I might have been freed from death, I endure cruel pains in my body from scourging and suffer this gladly in my soul, because I fear him. 31 Thus he too died, leaving his death as an example of nobility and a memorial of virtue, not only to the young but also to the great body of his nation.

Chapter 7

1 It also came to pass that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and shamefully lashed with whips and scourges, by the king's orders, that they might be forced to taste the abominable swine's flesh. 2 But one of them spoke up for the others and said, Why question us? What wouldst thou learn from us? We are prepared to die sooner than transgress the laws of our fathers. 3 Then the king, in his exasperation, ordered pans and cauldrons to be heated, 4 and, when they were heated immediately, ordered the tongue of the speaker to be torn out, had him scalped and mutilated before the eyes of his brothers and mother, 5 and then had him put on the fire, all maimed and crippled as he was, but still alive, and set to fry in the pan. And as the vapour from the pan spread abroad, 6 they and their mother exhorted one another to die nobly, uttering these words: The Lord God beholdeth this, and truly hath compassion on us, even as Moses declared in his Song which testifieth against them to their face, saying, And he shall have compassion on his servants.

7 And when the first had died after this manner, they brought the second to the shameful torture, tearing off the skin of his head with the hair and asking him, Wilt thou eat, before we punish thy body limb by limb? 8 But he answered in the language of his fathers and said to them, No. So he too underwent the rest of the torture, as the first had done. 9 And when he was at the last gasp, he said, Thou cursed miscreant! Thou dost dispatch us from this life, but the King of the world shall raise us up, who have died for his laws, and revive us to life everlasting.

10 And after him the third was made a mocking-stock. And when he was told to put out his tongue, he did so at once, stretching forth his hands courageously, 11 with the noble words, These I had from heaven; for His name's sake I count them naught; from Him I hope to get them back again. 12 So much so that the king himself and his company were astounded at the spirit of the youth, for he thought nothing of his sufferings. 13 And when he too was dead, they tortured the fourth in the same shameful fashion. 14 And when he was near his end, he said: 'Tis meet for those who perish at men's hands to cherish hope divine that they shall be raised up by God again; but thou — thou shalt have no resurrection to life.

15,16 Next they brought the fifth and handled him shamefully. But he looked at the king and said, Holding authority among men, thou doest what thou wilt, poor mortal; but dream not that God hath forsaken our race. 17 Go on, and thou shalt find how His sovereign power will torture thee and thy seed!

18 And after him they brought the sixth. And when he was at the point of death he said, Deceive not thyself in vain! We are suffering this on our own account, for sins against our own God. That is why these awful horrors have befallen us. 19 But think not thou shalt go unpunished for daring to fight against God!

20 The mother, however, was a perfect wonder; she deserves to be held in glorious memory, for, thanks to her hope in God, she bravely bore the sight of seven sons dying in a single day. 21 Full of noble spirit and nerving her weak woman's heart with the courage of a man, she exhorted each of them in the language of their fathers, saying, 22 How you were ever conceived in my womb, I cannot tell! 'Twas not I who gave you the breath of life or fashioned the elements of each! 23 'Twas the Creator of the world who fashioneth men and deviseth the generating of all things, and he it is who in mercy will restore to you the breath of life even as you now count yourselves naught for his laws' sake.

24 Now Antiochus felt that he was being humiliated, but, overlooking the taunt of her words, he made an appeal to the youngest brother, who still survived, and even promised on oath to make him rich and happy and a Friend and a trusted official of State, if he would give up his fathers' laws. 25 As the young man paid no attention to him, he summoned his mother and exhorted her to counsel the lad to save himself. 26 So, after he had exhorted her at length, she agreed to persuade her son. 27 She leant over to him and, befooling the cruel tyrant, spoke thus in her fathers' tongue: My son, have pity on me. Nine months I carried thee in my womb, three years I suckled thee; I reared thee and brought thee up to this age of thy life. 28 Child, I beseech thee, lift thine eyes to heaven and earth, look at all that is therein, and know that God did not make them out of the things that existed. So is the race of men created. 29 Fear not this butcher, but show thyself worthy of thy brothers, and accept thy death, that by God's mercy I may receive thee again together with thy brothers.

30 Ere she had finished, the young man cried, What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king's command, I will obey the command of the law given by Moses to our fathers. 31 But thou, who hast devised all manner of evil against the Hebrews, thou shalt not escape the hands of God. 32 We are suffering for our own sins, 33 and though our living Lord is angry for a little, in order to rebuke and chasten us, he will again be reconciled to his own servants. 34 But thou, thou impious wretch, vilest of all men, be not vainly uplifted with thy proud, uncertain hopes, raising thy hand against the heavenly children; 35 thou hast not yet escaped the judgement of the Almighty God who seeth all. 36 These our brothers, after enduring a brief pain, have now drunk of everflowing life, in terms of God's covenant, but thou shalt receive by God's judgement the just penalty of thine arrogance. 37 I, like my brothers, give up body and soul for our fathers' laws, calling on God to show favour to our nation soon, and to make thee acknowledge, in torment and plagues, that he alone is God, 38 and to let the Almighty's wrath, justly fallen on the whole of our nation, end in me and in my brothers.

39 Then the king fell into a passion and had him handled worse than the others, so exasperated was he at being mocked. 40 Thus he also died unpolluted, trusting absolutely in the Lord. 41 Finally after her sons the mother also perished. 42 Let this suffice for the enforced sacrifices and the excesses of barbarity.

Chapter 8

1 But Judas, who is also called Maccabaeus, together with his companions, went round the villages by stealth, summoning their kinsfolk and mustering those who had adhered to Judaism, till they collected as many as six thousand. 2 And they invoked the Lord to look upon the people whom all men oppressed, to have compassion on the sanctuary which the godless had profaned, 3 and also to pity the ruined city which was on the point of being levelled with the ground, to hearken to the blood that cried to him, 4 to remember the impious massacre of the innocent babes and the blasphemies committed against his name, and to manifest his hatred of evil. 5 Now as soon as Maccabaeus had got his company together, the heathen found him irresistible, for the Lord's anger was now turned into mercy. 6 He would surprise and burn both towns and villages, gaining possession of strategic positions and routing large numbers of the enemy. 7 He took special advantage of the night for such attacks. And the whole country echoed with the fame of his valour.

8 So when Philip saw that the man was gaining ground inch by inch and adding daily to his successes, he wrote to Ptolemy, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, for support in maintaining the king's cause. 9 The latter lost no time in selecting Nicanor, the son of Patroclus, one of the foremost among the king's Friends, whom he dispatched at the head of no fewer than twenty thousand troops of all nationalities to exterminate the entire population of Judaea; and with him there was associated Gorgias, a military commander who had considerable experience of active service. 10 Nicanor, however, determined to sell the Jews into slavery, and so to make up the sum of two thousand talents which the king owed by way of tribute to the Romans. 11 He therefore sent at once to the maritime towns, inviting them to purchase Jewish slaves, whom he promised to sell at the rate of ninety a talent — little imagining the judgement that was to overtake him from the Almighty.

12 Now when Judas was informed of Nicanor's inroad, and when he told his followers about the arrival of the host, 13 those who were cowardly and sceptical about God's judgement ran off and decamped, 14 while others sold all their remaining possessions and withal besought the Lord to deliver those whom the impious Nicanor had already sold before the battle; 15 and this, if not for their own sakes, at least for the sake of the covenants made with their fathers and for the sake of His reverend and glorious name, by which they were called. 16 But when Maccabaeus had got his men together, six thousand in number, he bade them have no fear of chains and slavery and no dread of the vast number of the heathen who had attacked them wrongfully; 17 let them fight nobly, keeping before their eyes the wanton and lawless outrage of the heathen upon the holy place, the shocking and despiteful violence done to the city, and further the overthrow of their ancestral polity. 18 They trust to arms and daring deeds, he said, but we rely upon the Almighty God, who by a nod can lay low our enemies, aye and the whole world. 19 Then he rehearsed to them the aid repeatedly vouchsafed in the days of their ancestors, as in the days of Sennacherib, when a hundred and eighty-five thousand perished, 20 and as at the battle fought against the Galatians in Babylonia, where only eight thousand men, together with four thousand Macedonians, took the field, and where, after the Macedonians were hard pressed, the eight thousand slew the hundred and twenty thousand, owing to the aid vouchsafed them from heaven, and won rich booty. 21 With these words he inspirited them and got them ready to die for the laws and for their country.

22 He then divided his army into four, and put his brothers at the head of the various divisions, Simon, Joseph, and Jonathan each being in command of fifteen hundred men; 23 he also made Eleazar read aloud the holy Book, and taking "God's Help" as a watchword put himself at the head of the first division, and engaged Nicanor. 24 And, since the Almighty fought on their side, they slew over nine thousand of the enemy, wounded and disabled the greater part of Nicanor's army, and forced them all to flee. 25 They also secured the very money of those who had arrived for the purpose of buying them. 26 Then, after pursuing them for some distance, they were obliged to turn back on account of time; it was the day before the sabbath, and therefore they made no effort to follow them up. 27 So, after collecting the arms of the enemy, and stripping them of their spoils, they attended to the duties of the sabbath, loudly blessing and praising the Lord who had preserved them unto this day and thus begun to show them mercy; 28 after the sabbath, when they had apportioned part of the spoils to their own wounded and to the widows and orphans, they shared the remainder among themselves and their children. 29 This done, they united in supplication, beseeching the Lord of mercy to be fully reconciled to his servants.

30 In an encounter with the forces of Timotheus and Bacchides, they also killed over twenty thousand and got possession of some extremely high strongholds, securing a large quantity of plunder which they distributed equally with themselves not only among the wounded, the orphans, and the widows, but also among the older people. 31 Then, after collecting the arms of the enemy, they stored them all carefully in the most important forts, conveying the rest of the spoils to Jerusalem. 32 They also slew Phylarches, who belonged to Timotheus' forces, a most impious scoundrel who had inflicted serious injuries on the Jews. 33 And while they were celebrating the victory in the city of their fathers, they burned Callisthenes and some others, who had set fire to the sacred gates, and who had taken refuge in a small house; thus did these men receive the due reward of their impiety. 34,35 As for the thrice-accursed Nicanor, who had brought the thousand merchants to buy the Jews for slaves, those whom he reckoned of no account humbled him by the help of the Lord; doffing his splendid uniform, he had to make his way alone, like a runaway slave, straight across country to Antioch, having fared disastrously in his expedition and having left his army annihilated. 36 So the man who undertook to secure tribute for the Romans by selling the Jerusalemites into captivity, proved the means of showing that the Jews had a Champion and that they were invulnerable since they followed the laws which He enacted.

Chapter 9

1 Now about that time it happened that Antiochus had to beat a disorderly retreat from the region of Persia. 2 He had entered the city called Persepolis and tried to rob temples and get hold of the city; whereupon the people flew to arms and routed him, with the result that Antiochus was put to flight by the people of the country and broke up his camp in disgrace. 3 And while he was at Ecbatana, news reached him of what had happened to Nicanor and the forces of Timotheus. 4 So, in a transport of rage, he determined to wreak vengeance on the Jews for the defeat which he had suffered at the hands of those who had forced him to fly, and ordered his charioteer to drive on without halting till the journey was ended. Verily the judgement of heaven upon him was imminent! For thus he spoke in his arrogance: When I reach Jerusalem, I will make it a common sepulchre of Jews. 5 But the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, smote him with a fatal and unseen stroke; the words were no sooner out of his mouth than he was seized with an incurable pain in the bowels, and his internal organs gave him cruel torture — 6 a right proper punishment for one who had tortured the bowels of other people with many an exquisite pang. 7 He did not cease from his wild insolence, however, but waxed more arrogant than ever, breathing fire and fury against the Jews, and giving orders to hurry on with the journey. And it came to pass that he dropped from his chariot as it whirled along, so that the bad fall racked every limb of his body. 8 Thus he who in his overweening haughtiness had supposed the waves of the sea were at his bidding and imagined he could weigh the high mountains in his scales, was now prostrate, carried along in a litter — a manifest token to all men of the power of God. 9 Worms actually swarmed from the impious creature's body; his flesh fell off, while he was still alive in pain and anguish; and the stench of his corruption turned the whole army from him with loathing. 10 A man who shortly before had thought he could touch the stars of heaven, none could now endure to carry, such was his intolerable stench.

11 Then it was that, broken in spirit, he began to abate his arrogance, for the most part, and to arrive at some knowledge of the truth. For, as he suffered more and more anguish under the scourge of God, unable even to bear his own stench, he said: 12 Right is it that mortal man should be subject to God, and not deem himself God's equal.

13 The vile wretch also made a vow to the Lord, who would not now have pity on him, promising that he would proclaim the holy city free — the city which he was hurrying to lay level with the ground and to make a common sepulchre — 14,15 that he would make all the Jews equal to citizens of Athens — the Jews whom he had determined to throw out with their children to the beasts, for the birds to devour, as unworthy even to be buried — 16 that he would adorn with magnificent offerings the holy sanctuary which he had formerly rifled, restoring all the sacred vessels many times over, and defraying from his own revenue the expense of the sacrifices; 17 furthermore, that he would even become a Jew and travel over the inhabited world to publish abroad the might of God.

18 But when his sufferings did not cease by any means, for God's judgement had justly come upon him, he gave up all hope of himself and wrote the following letter, with its humble supplication, to the Jews: 19 To his citizens, the loyal Jews, Antiochus their king and general wisheth great joy and health and prosperity. 20 If you and your children fare well and your affairs are to your mind, I give thanks to God, as my hope is in heaven. 21 As for myself, I am sick. Your esteem and goodwill I bear in loving memory. On my way back from Persia I have fallen seriously ill, and I think it needful to take into consideration the common safety of all my subjects — 22 not that I despair of myself, for, on the contrary, I have good hopes of recovery, 23 but in view of the fact that when my father marched into the upper country, he appointed his successor, 24 in order that, in the event of anything unexpected occurring or any unwelcome news arriving, the residents at home might know whom the State had been entrusted to, and so be spared any disturbance. 25 Besides these considerations, as I have noticed how the princes on the borders and the neighbours of my kingdom are on the alert for any opportunity and anticipate the coming event, I have appointed my son Antiochus to be king. I have often committed and commended him to most of you, when I hurried to the upper provinces. 26 I have also written to him what I have written below. 27 I therefore exhort and implore you to remember the public and private benefits you have received and to preserve, each of you, your present goodwill toward me and my son. 28 For I am convinced that with mildness and kindness he will adhere to my policy and continue on good terms with you.

29 So this murderer and blasphemer, after terrible suffering such as he had inflicted on other people, ended his life most miserably among the mountains in a foreign land. His bosom-friend Philip brought the corpse home; and then, fearing the son of Antiochus, he betook himself to Ptolemy Philometor in Egypt.

Chapter 10

1 Now Maccabaeus and his followers, under the leadership of the Lord, recaptured the temple and the city, 2 and pulled down the altars erected by the aliens in the market-place, as well as the sacred inclosures. 3 After cleansing the sanctuary, they erected another altar of sacrifice, and striking fire out of flints they offered sacrifices after a lapse of two years, with incense, lamps, and the presentation of the shew-bread. 4 This done, they fell prostrate before the Lord with entreaties that they might never again incur such disasters, but that, if ever they should sin, he would chasten them with forbearance, instead of handing them over to blasphemous and barbarous pagans. 5 Now it so happened that the cleansing of the sanctuary took place on the very day on which it had been profaned by aliens, on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which is Chislev. 6 And they celebrated it for eight days with gladness like a feast of tabernacles, remembering how, not long before, during the feast of tabernacles they had been wandering like wild beasts in the mountains and the caves. 7 So, bearing wands wreathed with leaves and fair boughs and palms, they offered hymns of praise to him who had prospered the cleansing of his own place, 8 and also passed a public order and decree that all the Jewish nation should keep these ten days every year.

9 Such was the end of Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes. 10 We will now explain what occurred under Antiochus Eupator, the son of that godless man, summarizing the calamities of the wars. 11 When he succeeded to the throne, he appointed a certain Lysias as his chancellor and as supreme governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia. 12 For Ptolemy, who was called Macron, had set an example of justice to the Jews in righting wrongs done to them, and had endeavoured to deal amicably with them. 13 For this he was arraigned before Eupator by the king's Friends; on every side he heard himself called a traitor for having abandoned the island of Cyprus which Philometor had entrusted to him, and for having sided with Antiochus Epiphanes: so, feeling unable to maintain the prestige of his position, he took poison in a fit of despair and made away with himself.

14 But when Gorgias became governor of this district, he maintained a force of mercenaries and kept up war with the Jews at every turn. 15 Besides that, the Idumaeans, who were in possession of important strongholds, harassed the Jews and did their utmost to keep the feud going by welcoming the refugees from Jerusalem. 16 But Maccabaeus and his men, after solemnly imploring and beseeching God to fight on their side, rushed at the strongholds of the Idumaeans and, after a vigorous assault, captured the positions, 17 beating off those who manned the walls, slaying any whom they came across, and slaughtering no fewer than twenty thousand. 18 No less than nine thousand took refuge in two extremely strong towers, which were well equipped to stand a siege; 19 so Maccabaeus left Simon and Joseph, together with Zacchaeus and his division, as a force adequate for the siege, and went off in person to various places where he was needed. 20 But the covetous retinue of Simon allowed themselves to be bribed by some of those inside the towers, and let some of them slip out, on payment of seventy thousand drachmas. 21 When Maccabaeus learned of what had occurred, he summoned the leaders of the nation and accused them of selling their brethren for money, by setting their enemies free to fight against them; 22 then he slew these men for having turned traitors and instantly stormed the two towers. 23 Successful in every feat of arms which he undertook, he destroyed in the two strongholds more than twenty thousand men.

24 Now Timotheus, who had been previously defeated by the Jews, mustered a foreign force of vast size, and raised a large detachment of Asiatic cavalry, and arrived in Judaea as though he meant to capture it by force of arms. 25 But on his approach Maccabaeus and his men sprinkled earth upon their heads and girded their loins with sackcloth, in supplication to God, 26 and falling down upon the step in front of the altar besought Him to show favour graciously to them, to be the enemy of their enemies, and the adversary of their adversaries, as the law affirmeth. 27 Then rising from prayer they took up their arms and advanced some distance from the city, halting when they drew near to the enemy. 28 And when the dawn came, the two armies joined battle; one had a pledge of success and victory, not only in their valour but in their appeal to the Lord, while the other side were impelled to the struggle by their own passions.

29 And as the fight waxed fierce, the enemy saw five resplendent men from heaven on horses with golden bridles, who led on the Jews and took Maccabaeus between them, sheltering him with their armour and preserving him scatheless; 30 they also showered arrows and thunderbolts on the enemy till, blinded and disordered, they were utterly bewildered and cut to pieces. 31 Twenty thousand five hundred were slain, with six hundred horsemen, and Timotheus himself took refuge in a stronghold called Gazara, which was very strongly fortified under command of Chaereas. 32 The troops of Maccabaeus laid eager siege to this fort for twenty-four days, 33 during which time the besieged, who relied on the strength of the place, blasphemed furiously and gave vent to impious cries. 34 But, as the twenty-fifth day dawned, twenty youths from the Maccabaean army, burning with anger at all this blasphemy, stormed the wall like men, and in a wild fury of passion proceeded to cut down every one they met. 35 Meantime others had followed them up by a wheel movement and had set fire to the towers, kindling fires and burning the blasphemers alive, while some burst the gates open and admitted the rest of the band. 36 So they captured the city, and killed Timotheus, who had concealed himself in a cistern, 37 and his brother Chaereas, and Apollophanes. 38 Having accomplished this feat, they sang hymns of thanksgiving, blessing the Lord who rendereth great services to Israel and giveth them the victory.

Chapter 11

1 Quite soon after this, Lysias, the king's guardian and kinsman and chancellor, who was seriously annoyed at what had taken place, collected about eighty thousand infantry with all his cavalry and marched against the Jews, intending to make the city a residence for Greeks, 2 to levy tribute on the temple as on the other sacred places of the nations, and to put up the high-priesthood for sale every year; 3,4 for he never reckoned with the might of God, but was puffed up with his own myriads of infantry and thousands of cavalry and eighty elephants. 5 On entering Judaea, he came up to Bethsuron, a strong fort about five leagues from Jerusalem, and pressed it hard. 6 Now when Maccabaeus and his men learned that he was besieging the strongholds, they and all the people wailed and wept, beseeching the Lord to send a good angel to save Israel. 7 Maccabaeus himself was the first to take up arms, and he urged the others to join him at the hazard of their lives, in order to succour their brethren. So they sallied forth, all together, right willingly. 8 And ere ever they had left Jerusalem, a rider appeared at their head, in white apparel, brandishing weapons of gold; 9 and they joined in blessing God the merciful and were still more encouraged; ready now to break through not only men but ferocious beasts and walls of iron, they advanced in array with their heavenly ally — for the Lord had mercy on them.

10,11 And leaping like lions upon the foe, they slew eleven thousand of their infantry, and sixteen hundred of their cavalry, and forced all the rest to flee. The majority only escaped with wounds and the loss of their arms, while Lysias himself had to save his life by a disgraceful flight. 12–14 Now Lysias was no fool. Thinking over the defeat he had sustained, and recognizing that the Hebrews were invincible, thanks to the mighty God who was their ally, he sent to persuade them to agree to a fair and comprehensive settlement, undertaking that he would even induce the king to become their friend. 15 Maccabaeus agreed to all the terms proposed by Lysias, thereby showing a sagacious regard for the interests of the people, since the king did grant all the written demands which Maccabaeus made to Lysias on behalf of the Jews.

16 Now the letter addressed by Lysias to the Jews was to this effect: Lysias to the people of the Jews, greeting. 17 Your envoys, John and Absalom, have presented the appended petition and asked for a decision upon its contents. 18 I have therefore informed the king of whatever had to be laid before him, and he has agreed to all that could be granted. 19 If you will maintain your goodwill toward the State, I will endeavour in future to promote your interests, 20 and, as for this particular business, I have instructed your representatives and my own to confer with you. Fare ye well. 21 Written in the hundred and forty-eighth year, on the four and twentieth day of the month Dioscurus.

22 The king's letter ran as follows: King Antiochus to his brother Lysias, greeting. Now that our father hath passed over to the gods, it is our pleasure that the subjects of the realm should live undisturbed and attend to their own concerns. 23 As for our Jewish subjects, we understand that they object to our father's project of bringing them over to Hellenism, preferring their own ways of life and asking permission to follow their own customs. 24 It is our will therefore that this nation also shall not be disturbed, and we have decided to give them back their temple and to permit them to live after the manner of their ancestors. 25 Thou wilt do well therefore to send messengers to them and give them the right hand of fellowship, that they may know our purpose and be of good heart and cheerfully settle down to their own business.

26 The king's letter to the nation was as follows: King Antiochus to the senate of the Jews and to the rest of the Jews, greeting. If you fare well, it is as we wish; we too are in good health. 27 Menelaus has informed us of your desire to return home and attend to your own affairs. 28 Those Jews then who return home up to the thirtieth day of Xanthicus shall have our friendship, with full permission to use their own food and to observe their own laws as of yore; none of them shall be molested in any way for any unwitting offence. 29 Moreover, I have sent Menelaus to reassure you. Fare ye well. 30 Written in the hundred and forty-eighth year, on the fifteenth day of Xanthicus.

31 The Romans also sent them a letter to this effect: Quintus Memmius and Titus Manlius, ambassadors of the Romans, to the nation of the Jews, greeting. 32 With reference to what Lysias, the king's kinsman, has granted you, we hereby give our consent. 33 As for the points which he decided were to be referred to the king, send some one at once to advise on them, that we may act in your interests. 34 We are off to Antioch; make haste, then, to send some of your number, that we may know what your mind is. Fare ye well. 35 Written in the hundred and forty-eighth year, on the fifteenth day of Xanthicus.

Chapter 12

1 After these agreements had been concluded, Lysias went away to the king, while the Jews devoted themselves to husbandry. 2 But some of the local governors, Timotheus and Apollonius, the son of Gennaeus, with Hieronymus and Demophon, and also Nicanor, the governor of Cyprus, would not let them alone or leave them at peace.

3 Some inhabitants of Joppa also perpetrated the following crime: they invited the Jewish residents to embark, with their wives and children, in boats which they provided, as if they meant no harm at all but were simply acting according to the public regulations of the town. 4 The Jews agreed to go, since they wished to be peaceable and had no suspicions; but, when they were out at sea, the men of Joppa drowned no fewer than two hundred of them. 5 Now when Judas heard of this brutal cruelty to his fellow-countrymen, he summoned his men, called on God the righteous Judge, 6 and attacked the murderers of his brethren, setting fire to the haven by night, burning the boats, and putting to the sword those who had fled thither. 7 Then, as the town was shut against him, he retired, intending to come back and extirpate the entire community of Joppa. 8 And on learning that the inhabitants of Jamnia meant to carry out the same kind of plot against the local Jews, 9 he attacked them also by night, and set fire to the haven and the fleet, so that the glare of the light was seen at Jerusalem, two hundred and forty furlongs distant.

10 Now when they had drawn off nine furlongs from thence, on their march against Timotheus, they were attacked by no fewer than five thousand Arabs, with five hundred horsemen, 11 and a stiff fight was waged in which, by God's help, Judas and his men won the victory. The vanquished nomads besought Judas to be their friend, promising to give him cattle and to be of service in other ways, 12 and Judas, with the idea that they would really be of use in a number of ways, agreed to keep peace with them; whereupon, after pledging friendship, they departed to their tents.

13 He also fell upon a town which was strongly fortified with earthworks and walls, and inhabited by a mixed population; its name was Caspin. 14 The inhabitants, relying on the strength of their walls and their ample provisions, scoffed insolently at Judas and his men, and, more than that, blasphemed and uttered cries of impiety; 15 but Judas and his men, invoking the great Sovereign of the world, who without rams and instruments of war had laid Jericho low in the days of Joshua, 16 made a furious attack on the walls, and, capturing the town by the will of God, they massacred an unspeakable number, so much so that the adjoining lake, which was two furlongs broad, looked as though it were filled with the deluge of blood.

17 Drawing off seven hundred and fifty furlongs from thence, they made their way to Charax, to the Jews who are styled Tubieni. 18 Timotheus they did not find in that locality; he had gone off without achieving any success, and left behind him in a certain post an extremely strong garrison. 19 But Dositheus and Sosipater, captains of Maccabaeus, sallied out and destroyed the troops left by Timotheus in the stronghold, over ten thousand men. 20 Whereupon Maccabaeus, arranging his men in divisions, set a leader over each division, and hurried after Timotheus, who had with him a hundred and twenty thousand infantry and two thousand five hundred cavalry.

21 Now as soon as Timotheus heard of the onset of Judas, he sent forward the women and children and also the baggage into a place called Carnaim, which was hard to besiege and difficult of access owing to its narrow approaches on all sides. 22 But when the first division of Judas appeared in sight, panic seized the enemy, who were terrified by the manifestation of Him who beholdeth all things; they took to flight in all directions, so that many got hurt by their own men and wounded by the points of one another's swords, 23 while Judas kept up a hot pursuit, putting the wicked wretches to the sword, and destroying as many as thirty thousand men. 24 Timotheus himself fell into the hands of Dositheus and Sosipater, whom he adjured with plenty of specious guile to spare him and let him go, on the ground that he had the parents of many and the brothers of some in his power, and that, if he were not released, it would be the worse for them. 25 So, to save their brethren, they let him go, after he had solemnly pledged himself with many an oath to restore them unhurt.

26 Then Judas attacked Carnaim and the temple of Atergatis, massacring twenty-five thousand persons, 27 and after this rout and slaughter he made war against Ephron, a strong city, where Lysias had a residence and where the inhabitants came from all nationalities. Stalwart young men drawn up in front of the walls offered a resolute defence, and the place held ample stores of military engines and darts, 28 but the Jews invoked the Sovereign who crusheth forcibly the strength of his enemies, and got the city into their hands, destroying as many as twenty-five thousand of the inhabitants.

29 Setting out from thence they marched in haste against Scythopolis, which is six hundred furlongs from Jerusalem, 30 but since the local Jews testified to the goodwill shown them by the Scythopolitans and to their humane conduct during periods of misfortune, 31 they simply thanked them and enjoined them to continue well-disposed to their race in future. Then they marched up to Jerusalem, as the feast of weeks was close at hand.

32 After the feast called Pentecost they hurried against Gorgias, the governor of Jamnia, 33 who came out to meet them with three thousand foot soldiers and four hundred cavalry. And when they joined battle, it came to pass that a few of the Jews fell. 34 But a man Dositheus, belonging to the Tubieni, who was a powerful horseman, caught hold of Gorgias and, gripping his mantle, dragged him off by main force, meaning to capture the accursed wretch alive. 35 A Thracian horseman bore down on him, however, and disabled his arm, so that Gorgias managed to escape to Marisa. 36 And as Esdris and his men were now exhausted by the long fight, Judas called upon the Lord to show he was their ally and leader in the fight; 37 then, raising the war-cry and songs of praise in the language of the fathers, he made an unexpected rush against the troops of Gorgias and routed them.

38 And Judas took his army to the town of Adullam, where, as the seventh day was coming on, they purified themselves according to custom and kept the sabbath. 39 Next day, when the troops of Judas went — as it was high time they did — to pick up the corpses of the slain, in order to bring them home to lie with their kinsfolk in their fathers' sepulchres, 40 they discovered under the shirts of every one of the dead men amulets of the idols of Jamnia — a practice forbidden the Jews by law. All saw at once that this was why they had perished, 41 and, blessing the dealings of the Lord, the just Judge who revealeth what is secret, all betook themselves to supplication, beseeching that the sin committed might be wholly blotted out; 42 and the noble-hearted Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, after what they had seen with their own eyes as the result of sin committed by those who had fallen. 43 He then collected from them, man by man, the sum of two thousand drachmas of silver, which he forwarded to Jerusalem for a sin-offering. In this he acted quite rightly and properly, bearing in mind the resurrection — 44 for if he had not expected the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and silly to pray for the dead — 45 and having regard to the splendour of the gracious reward which is reserved for those who have fallen asleep in godliness — a holy and pious consideration! Hence he made propitiation for the dead, that they might be released from their sin.

Chapter 13

1 In the hundred and forty-ninth year tidings were brought to Judas and his men that Antiochus Eupator was marching with large troops against Judaea, 2 accompanied by Lysias his guardian and chancellor, each commanding a Greek force consisting of a hundred and ten thousand foot-soldiers, five thousand three hundred cavalry, twenty-two elephants, and three hundred chariots armed with scythes. 3 Menelaus also attached himself to them and, making loud pretences of patriotism, abetted Antiochus — not that he cared for the safety of the fatherland, but because he thought he would be appointed to office. 4 But the King of kings stirred the anger of Antiochus against the scoundrel, and, learning from Lysias that he was responsible for all the troubles, he ordered him to be taken to Beroea and put to death there in the local fashion. 5 For at Beroea there is a tower, fifty cubits high, filled with hot ashes, and a revolving contrivance which drops the victim sheer into the ashes. 6 To this they bring any one who is guilty of sacrilege or other heinous crimes, and they all push him on, to meet his doom. 7 By such a fate it befell that Menelaus, the law-breaker, died, not even getting a grave in earth. 8 And this was perfectly just. Many a sin had he committed against the altar, whose fire and ashes were holy; by ashes, then, he got his death.

9 Now the king was coming in hot indignation to inflict on the Jews the very sorest of the sufferings that had befallen them in his father's time. 10 But when Judas heard this, he bade the people call day and night on the Lord, that he would succour them, now if ever, as they were on the point of losing the Law, their country, and the holy temple, 11 and that he would not allow the people, after their brief and recent revival, to fall into the hands of profane pagans.

12 Now when they had all done so with one accord, and implored the merciful Lord for three days without ceasing, weeping and fasting and lying prostrate, Judas addressed them and ordered them to get ready. 13 After consulting privately with the elders, he determined that, before the king could throw his army into Judaea and master the city, they would march out and decide the issue by the help of God. 14 So, committing the outcome of it to the Creator of the world, and charging his men to fight stoutly, even to death, for laws, temple, city, country, and polity, he pitched his camp near Modin, 15 and, giving his troops the watchword of VICTORY IS GOD'S, he and a picked body of his bravest young men made an onset by night upon the royal tent and slew as many as two thousand men within the camp; they also stabbed the chief elephant and his mahout, 16 and finally, after filling the camp with panic and confusion, got away triumphantly, just as the day began to dawn. 17 This was due to the help of God's protection.

18,19 After this taste of the Jews' prowess the king used stratagem in attacking their positions. Thus he moved upon Beth-sura, a strong fortress of the Jews, was routed, dashed at it again, was worsted. 20,21 Judas got the necessaries of life conveyed to those inside. But Rhodocus, a Jewish soldier, betrayed the secrets of the Jews to the enemy; search was made for him, he was arrested and imprisoned. 22 Again the king made overtures to the residents in Beth-sura, pledged his right hand, took theirs, departed, attacked the forces of Judas, was defeated, 23 heard that Philip, who had been left as chancellor in Antioch, had become desperate, was confounded by the news, proposed peace to the Jews, submitted with an oath to all their equitable conditions, came to terms with them and offered sacrifice, honoured the sanctuary and the sacred Place, behaved humanely, took gracious farewell of Maccabaeus, 24 left Hegemonides in command from Ptolemais to Gerar, went to Ptolemais.

25 The men of Ptolemais felt sore over the treaty; they were excessively indignant with the Jews and wanted to annul the articles of the agreement. 26 Lysias advanced to the béma, defended it as well as possible, convinced them, pacified and won them over, departed to Antioch. Such was the course of the king's inroad and retreat.

Chapter 14

1 Now after the space of three years Judas and his men learned that Demetrius the son of Seleucus had sailed into the haven of Tripolis with a powerful army and fleet, 2 and had seized the country, after making away with Antiochus and Lysias his guardian. 3 And Alcimus, a former high-priest, who had voluntarily polluted himself in days when there was no trafficking with the Gentiles, and who therefore judged he was no longer safe and that he was now debarred entirely from the holy altar, 4 came to king Demetrius in the hundred and fifty-first year with the present of a golden crown and palm, and, in addition to these customary gifts, some of the olive-branches from the temple.

5 The first day he said nothing. But when he did get a chance of furthering his infatuated enterprise, on being summoned to confer with Demetrius and being asked about the temper and aims of the Jews, he replied: 6 It is the Jews called Hasidaeans, led by Judas Maccabaeus, who are keeping up the feud and stirring sedition; they will not let the kingdom settle down in peace. 7 Wherefore, deprived of my ancestral glory — I mean, the high-priesthood — I have now come hither, primarily from a sincere concern for the king's interests, and secondly from anxiety on behalf of my own fellow-citizens; 8 for the recklessness of the aforesaid party has involved our nation in no small misfortune. 9 Acquaint thyself, O king, with the details of this business, and take measures on behalf of our country and our sorely tried nation, according to the gracious kindness which thou showest to all. 10 For as long as Judas is alive, it is impossible for the State to be at peace.

11 When he said this, the rest of the king's Friends, who cherished ill will against Judas, hastened to inflame Demetrius still further against him, 12 and, after instantly summoning Nicanor, formerly master of the elephants, and appointing him governor of Judaea, he dispatched him 13 with written instructions to make away with Judas and to scatter his troops and to set up Alcimus as high-priest of the great temple. 14 Now all the heathen throughout Judaea, whom Judas had driven to flight, flocked to join Nicanor, anticipating that the misfortunes and calamities of the Jews would mean gain to them.

15 But when the Jews heard of Nicanor's inroad and the onset of the heathen, they sprinkled earth upon their heads and solemnly invoked Him who had established his own people to all eternity and who ever upholds those who are his Portion with visible aid. 16 Then, by order of their leader, they at once started out and joined battle with them at a village called Lessau. 17 Now Simon, the brother of Judas, had already encountered Nicanor and, thrown suddenly into consternation by the foe, had sustained a temporary check. 18 Nevertheless, Nicanor shrank from deciding the issue at the sword's point, as he had heard of the manliness and the courage shown by the troops of Judas in fighting for their country. 19 He therefore sent Posidonius and Theodotus and Mattathias to give and receive pledges of friendship.

20 After full consideration, when the proposals were laid by the general before the troops, and it appeared they were all of one mind, the compact was agreed to, 21 and a day was fixed for the two leaders to meet by themselves. A litter was carried forward from each army; chairs of state were placed; Judas stationed armed men ready in suitable positions, lest the enemy should spring any treacherous attack; 22 they carried through the conference duly. 23 Nicanor stayed a while in Jerusalem and did nothing amiss; he even disbanded the hordes who had flocked to join his standard; 24 he kept Judas always beside him; he had become heartily attached to the man, 25 urged him to marry and beget children. He did marry, settled down, and enjoyed life.

26 But when Alcimus saw their mutual goodwill, he got hold of the treaty which had been concluded and went to Demetrius, alleging that Nicanor was ill affected toward the State, since he had appointed that conspirator Judas to be his successor. 27 At this the king fell into a passion and, exasperated by the calumnies of the scoundrel, wrote to Nicanor that he was displeased at the compact, and ordered him to send Maccabaeus instantly as a prisoner to Antioch. 28 Nicanor was confounded by this news and sadly vexed at the thought of annulling the terms arranged, as the man had done no wrong. 29 However, as the king could not be gainsaid, he bided his time to carry out the business by a stratagem. 30 But Maccabaeus noticed that Nicanor was treating him with less friendliness and behaving more rudely than was his wont; so, reckoning this harshness was of a sinister character, he gathered a considerable number of his men and hid from Nicanor.

31 The latter, conscious that he had been pluckily outwitted by Judas, went to the great and holy temple, while the priests were offering the usual sacrifices, and commanded them to deliver up the man. 32,33 And when they swore they did not know where the man was whom he sought, he stretched forth his right hand toward the sanctuary, and swore this oath: Unless you hand over Judas as my prisoner, I will raze this shrine of God to the ground, and break down the altar, and erect on this spot a temple of Dionysus for all to see. 34 With these words he went away. But the priests stretched forth their hands to heaven, invoking Him who ever fighteth for our nation, thus: 35 O Lord, who hast no need of aught, as it hath pleased thee to have among us a sanctuary where thou dwellest, 36 so now, O holy Lord, from whom is all hallowing, keep free from defilement for evermore this house so lately cleansed, and shut every impious mouth.

37 Now information was laid before Nicanor against a Jerusalemite elder called Razis, a patriot who was very highly esteemed, and addressed as Father of the Jews on account of his benevolence. 38 For in bygone days, when there was no trafficking with the Gentiles, he had been accused of Judaism, and had most resolutely risked body and life for Judaism. 39 So Nicanor, with the intention of showing his hostility to the Jews, sent over five hundred soldiers to arrest him. 40 For he meant to strike a blow at the Jews by this arrest. 41 But when the troops were on the point of capturing the tower, forcing the outer door of the courtyard and calling for fire to set light to the doors, he fell upon his sword, seeing he was surrounded on every side; 42 he preferred to die a noble death rather than fall into the scoundrels' hands and suffer outrages unworthy of his noble character. 43 Owing to the hurry of the struggle, however, he missed his stroke, and, as a crowd of men was now pouring through the door, he pluckily ran up to the wall and threw himself bravely down among the crowds. 44 They drew back at once, so that he fell between them on the open street. 45 Still alive, however, he got up in a fury of anger and ran, with blood pouring from him, sore wounded as he was, right through the crowds; then, standing on a steep rock, his blood now drained from him, he tore out his bowels, taking both his hands to them, and flung them at the crowds. 46 So he died, calling on Him who is lord of life and spirit to restore them to him again.

Chapter 15

1 Now, learning that Judas and his men were in the region of Samaria, Nicanor determined to attack them without any risk upon the day of rest. 2 And when the Jews who were forced to accompany him said, Destroy them not so savagely and barbarously, but show honour to the day which He who beholdeth all things hath hallowed in his holiness, 3 the thrice-accursed wretch asked them if there was a Sovereign in heaven who had ordered the observance of the sabbath day. 4 And when they declared, There is the living Lord, himself a Sovereign in heaven, who bade us observe the seventh day, 5 he replied, I too am a sovereign on earth, and my orders are to take arms and execute the king's business. Nevertheless he did not succeed in executing his shocking purpose.

6 Now Nicanor, in the height of his overweening pride, had determined to erect a public trophy of victory over Judas and his men; 7 but Maccabaeus still ceased not to trust with absolute confidence that he would obtain help from the Lord, 8 and exhorted his company not to dread the onset of the heathen, but to keep in mind all the help they had formerly received from heaven and to expect at the present hour the victory which would be theirs from the Almighty; 9 and comforting them out of the law and the prophets, as well as recalling the struggles they had endured, he made them more eager for the fray. 10 Then, after rousing their spirits, he issued his orders, and at the same time pointed out the heathen's perfidy and breach of their oaths. 11 He armed each man, not so much with confidence in shields and spears as with the heartening which comes from apt words, and also cheered them all by recounting a reliable dream, a sort of vision.

12 This was what he had seen: Onias, the former high priest, a good and great man, of stately bearing yet gracious in manner, well-spoken and trained from childhood in all points of virtue — Onias with outstretched hands invoking blessings on the whole body of the Jews; 13 then another man in the same attitude, conspicuous by his grey hairs and splendour, and invested with marvellous, majestic dignity. 14 This, Onias explained to him, is the lover of the brethren, who prayeth fervently for the people and the holy city, Jeremiah the prophet of God. 15,16 And Jeremiah held out his right hand to present Judas with a golden sword, and as he gave it he addressed him thus: Take this holy sword as a gift from God, and with it thou shalt crush the foe.

17 So, encouraged by these truly heroic words of Judas, which had the power of rousing young souls to valour and stirring them to manliness, they determined not to pitch camp but manfully to set upon the foe and, by engaging them right valiantly hand to hand, to decide the issue, since the city and the sanctuary and the temple were in danger. 18 For their anxiety about wives and children, as well as about brethren and kinsfolk, weighed less with them than their supreme and chief anxiety about the consecrated sanctuary. 19 Whereas those left behind in the city were uneasy about the encounter in the open country, and suffered no slight anguish.

20 All were now waiting for the critical moment, the enemy had now united their forces and drawn up their line of battle, the elephants were arranged for easy action, and the cavalry stationed on the wings, 21 when Maccabaeus, surveying the hordes in front of him, with their varied weapons and fierce elephants, held up his hands to heaven and called upon the Lord, the worker of wonders, for he knew that victory is not decided by weapons but won by the Lord for such as He judgeth to deserve it. 22 And his prayer was in these terms: Thou, Sovereign Lord, didst send thine angel in the days of Hezekiah king of Judaea, and he slew as many as a hundred and eighty-five thousand of Sennacherib's host; 23 so now, O heavenly Sovereign, send a good angel before us to scare and terrify the foe; 24 by the great strength of thine arm may those who have blasphemously assailed thy holy sanctuary be utterly dismayed. 25 And as he ended with these words, Nicanor and his men advanced with trumpets and paeans. 26 But Judas and his men joined battle with the enemy, calling upon God and praying; 27 and so fighting with their hands, while they prayed to God with their hearts, they slew no fewer than thirty-five thousand men, mightily cheered by the manifest help of God.

28 The battle over, they were returning with joy, when they recognized Nicanor lying dead in full armour; 29 a shout of excitement arose, they blessed the Sovereign Lord in the language of their fathers, 30 and he who was ever in body and soul the protagonist of his fellow-citizens, he who retained through life his youthful patriotism, ordered Nicanor's head and arm to be cut off and carried to Jerusalem.

31 When he arrived there, and had called his countrymen together and set the priests before the altar, he sent for the garrison of the citadel, 32 showed them the vile Nicanor's head and the impious creature's hand which he had stretched out vauntingly against the holy house of the Almighty; 33 then, cutting out the impious Nicanor's tongue, he said he would throw it piecemeal to the birds and hang up the rewards of his insensate folly opposite the sanctuary. 34 And they all lifted to heaven their cry of blessing to the Lord who had manifested himself, saying, Blessed be He who hath preserved his own Place undefiled. 35 And he hung Nicanor's head from the citadel, a clear and conspicuous token to all of the Lord's help. 36 And all decided, by public decree, never to let this day pass uncelebrated, but to celebrate the thirteenth day of the twelfth month — called Adar in Syriac — the day before the day of Mordecai.

37 Such was the history of Nicanor; and as the city was held from that period by the Hebrews, I will make this the end of my story. 38 If it has been well told, if it has been skilfully arranged, such was my desire; but if it is poor and indifferent, that was all I could manage. 39 For just as it is bad to drink wine alone or again to drink water alone, whereas wine mixed with water proves at once wholesome and delightful, so the skill with which a book is composed is a delight to the taste of readers. And here shall be the end.

Colophon

Prepared from R. H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, Vol. 1: Apocrypha (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), translation and introduction by James Moffatt. Source: archive.org item apocryphapseudep01charuoft (University of Toronto copy), pages 125–154.

This edition's per-verse textual-critical apparatus — Greek manuscript sigla (Aleph, A, V), variant readings, and cross-reference notes printed in smaller type beneath each verse group — is omitted from this transcription; it survives complete in the 1913 printed edition and in the cited scan. Moffatt's editorial introduction is reproduced in full discursive prose except for two disclosed omissions: the long two-column table comparing parallel passages in 1 and 2 Maccabees (originally set within § 1) is summarized in one sentence rather than reproduced as a table, since it is a citation chart rather than continuous prose; and § 8, "Special Literature" — a bibliography of critical editions and secondary studies with no argument of its own — is omitted entirely. No wording of Moffatt's translation or discursive prose has been altered beyond correcting scanning errors (broken diacritics, misplaced page and running-head numbers, and dropped or duplicated digits in a handful of verse numbers, reconstructed from context and from the source's own textual notes, which cite verse numbers reliably even where the verse numeral printed in the body text had been damaged by scanning). No word or phrase of the translated text itself was illegible in the scan; none required marking as [illegible in scan].

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted transcription and editorial work.

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