Judas Maccabæus — Restoration of he Jewish Commonwealth (ii)
By John Lord, LL. D.
King Antiochus now saw that the subjection of this
valiant Jew was no easy matter; and filled with wrath
and vengeance he gathered together all the forces of
his kingdom, opened his treasury, paid his soldiers a
year in advance, and resolved to root out the rebellious
nation by a war of extermination. Crippled, however,
in resources, and in great need of money, he concluded
to go in person to Persia and collect tribute from the
various provinces, and seize the treasures which were
supposed to be deposited in royal cities beyond the
Euphrates. He left behind, as regent or lieutenant,
Lysias, a man of royal descent, with orders to prosecute
the war against the Jews with the utmost severity,
while with half his forces he proceeded in person to
Persia. Lysias chose Ptolemy, Nicanor, and Gorgias,
experienced generals, to conduct the war, with forty
thousand foot and seven thousand horsemen, besides
elephants, with orders to exterminate the rebels, take
possession of their lands, and settle heathen aliens in
their place. So confident were these generals of suc-
cess that merchants accompanied the army with gold
and silver to purchase the Jews from the conquerors,
and fetters in which to make them slaves. A large
force from the land of the Philistines also joined the
attacking army.
Jerusalem at this time was a forsaken city, uniin-
habited, like a wilderness; the Sanctuary was trodden
down, and heathen foreigners occupied the citadel on
Mount Zion. It was a time of general mourning and
desolation, and the sound of the harp and the pipe
ceased throughout the land. But Judas was not dis-
couraged; and the warriors with him were bent
upon redeeming the land from desolation. They how-
ever put on sackcloth, and prayed to the God of their
fathers, and made every effort to rally their forces,
feeling that it was better to die in battle than see
the pollution of the Sanctuary and the evils which
overspread the land. Judas succeeded in collecting
altogether three thousand men, who however were
poorly armed, and intenched himself among the
mountains, about twenty miles from Jerusalem.
Learning this, Gorgias took five thousand men, one
thousand horsemen, under guides from the castle on
Mount Zion, and departed from his camp at Emmaus
by night, with a view of surprising and capturing
the Jewish force. But Judas was on the alert, and
obtained information of the intended attack. So he
broke up his own camp, and resolved to attack the
main force of the enemy, weakened by the absence of
Gorgias and the chosen band. After reminding his
soldiers of God's mercies in times of old, he ordered
the trumpets to sound, and unexpectedly rushed upon
the unsuspecting and unprepared Syrians, totally routed
them, pursued them as far as to the plains of Idumæa,
killed about three thousand men, took immense spoil,——
gold and silver, purple garments and military weapons
——and returned in triumph to the forsaken camp, sing-
ing songs and blessing Heaven for the great victory.
Many of the Syrians that escaped came and told
Lysias all that had happened, and he on hearing it
was confounded and discouraged. But in the year fol-
lowing he collected an army of sixty thousand chosen
footmen and five thousand horsemen to renew the
attack, and marched to the Idumaean border. Here
Judas met him at Bethsura, near to Jerusalem, with
ten thousand men, now inspirited by victory, and again
defeated the Syrian forces, with a loss to the enemy of
five thousand men. Lysias, who commanded this army
in person, returned to Antioch and made preparations
to raise a still greater force, while the victorious Jews
took possession of the capital.
Judas had now leisure to cleanse the Sanctuary and
dedicate it. When his army saw the desolation of their
holy city,——trees growing in the very courts of the
Temple as in a forest, the altars profaned, the gates
burned,——they were filled with grief, and rent their
garments and cried aloud to Heaven. But Judas pro-
ceeded with his sacred work, pulled down the defiled
altar of burnt sacrifice and rebuilt it, cleansed the
Sanctuary, hallowed the desecrated courts, made new
holy vessels, decked the front of the Temple with
crowns and shields of gold, and restored the gates and
chambers. Judas also fortified the Temple with high
walls and towers, and placed in it a strong garrison,
for the Syrians still held possession of the Tower,——a
strong fortress near the mount of the Temple.
When all was cleansed and renewed, a solemn ser-
vice of consecration was celebrated; the sacred fire
was kindled afresh on the altar, thousands of lamps
were lighted, the sacrifices were offered, the people
thronged the courts of Jehovah, and with psalms of
praise, festive dances, harps, lutes, and cymbals made
a joyful noise unto the Lord. This triumphant res-
toration was celebrated thee years, to the very day,
from the day of desecration; it was forever after——as
long as the Temple stood——held a sacred yearly festival,
and called the Feast of Dedication, or sometimes,
from its peculiar ceremonies, the Feast of Lights.
The successes of Judas and the restoration of the
Temple worship inflamed with renewed anger the
heathen population of the countries in the near vicin-
ity of Judæa; and there seems to have been a general
confederacy of Idumæans,——descendents of Esau,——
with sundry of the Bedouin tribes, and of the heathen
settled east of the Jordan in the land of Gilead, and
of Phœnicians and heathen strangers in Galilee, to
recover what the Syrians had lost, and to restore idol
worship. Judas had now an army of eleven thousand
men, which he divided between himself and his brother
Simon, and they marched in different directions to the
attack of their numerous enemies. They were both
eminently successful, gaining bloody battles, capturing
cities and fortresses, taking immense spoils, mingling
the sound of trumpets with prayers to Almighty God,
——heroes as religious as they ere brave, an un-
exampled band of warriors, rivalling Joshua, Saul, and
David in the brilliancy of their victories. All the
Jews who remained true to their faith in the districts
which he overran and desolated, Judas brought back
with him to Jerusalem for greater safety.
Only one misfortune sullied the glory of these ex-
ploits. Judas had left behind him at Jerusalem, when
he and Simon went forth to fight the idolaters, a garri-
son of two thousand men under the command of Joseph
and Azarias, leaders of the people, with the strict com-
mand to remain in the city until he should return.
But these popular leaders, dazzled by the victories of
Judas and Simon, and wishing to earn a fame like
their, issued from their stronghold with two thousand
men to attack Jamnia, and were met by Gorgias the
Syrian general and completely annihilated,——a just
punishment for military disobedience. The loss of
two thousand men was a calamity, but Judas pursued
his victories, finally turning against the Philistines,
who at this point disappear from sacred history.
In the meantime King Antiochus, who, as already
state, had gone on a plundering expedition to Persia,
was defeated in the attempt, and returned in great
grief and disappointment to Ecbatana. Here he heard
that his armies under Lysias had been disgracefully
beaten, and that Judæa was in a fair way to achieve
its independence under the heroic Judas; and, worse
still, that all the pagan temples and altars which he
had set up in Jerusalem were removed and destroyed.
This especially filled him with rage, for he was a fa-
natic in his religion, and utterly detested the mono-
theism of the Jews. So oppressed with grief was this
heathen persecutor that he took to his bed; ad in
addition to his humiliation he was afflicted with a
loathsome disease, called elephantiasis, so that he was
avoided and neglected by his own servants. He now
saw that he must die, and calling for his friend Philip,
made him regent of his kingdom during the minority
of his son, whom he had left at Antioch.
The Jews were thus delivered from the worst enemy
that had afflicted them since Babylonian captivity.
Neither Assyrians nor Egyptians nor Persians had so
ruthlessly swept away religious institutions. Those
conquerors were contented with conquest and its politi-
cal results,——namely, the enslavement and spoliation
of the people; they did not pollute the sacred places
like the Syrian persecutor. By the rivers of Babylon
the Jews had sat down and wept when they remem-
bered Zion, but their sad wailing was over he fact
that they were captives in a strange land. Ground
down to the dust by Antiochus, however, they bewailed
not only their external misfortunes, but far more bit-
terly the desecration of their Sanctuary and the at-
tempt to root out their religion, which was their life.
The death of Antiochus Ephiphanes was therefore a
great relief and rejoicing to the struggling Jews. He
left as heir to his throne a boy nine years of age;
but though he had made his friend Philip guardian of
his son and regent of his kingdom, his lieutenant at
Antioch, Lysias, also claimed the guardianship and the
regency. These rival claims of course led to civil wars
between Lysias and Philip, in consequence of which the
Jews were comparatively unmolested, and had leisure
to organize their forces, fortify their strongholds, and
prepare for complete independence. Among other
things, Judas Maccabæus attacked the citadel or tower
on Mount Zion, overlooking the Temple, in which a
large garrison of the enemy had long been stationed,
and which was a perpetual menace. The attack or
siege of this string fortress alarmed the heathen, who
made complaint to the young king, called Eupator,
or more probably to the regent Lysias, who sent an
overwhelming army to Judæa, consisting of one hun-
dred thousand foot, twenty thousand horse, and thirty-
two elephants. But Judas did not hesitate to give
battle to this great force, and again gained a vic-
tory. It was won, however, at the expense of his
brother Eleazer. Seeing one of the elephants armed
with royal armor, he supposed that it carried the king
himself; and heroically forcing his way through the
ranks of he enemy, he slipped under the elephant,
and gave the beast a mortal wound, so that it
fell to the ground, crushing to death the courageous
Maccabæus,——for the brothers of Judas, worthy com-
patriots and fellow-soldiers with him, were also called
by his special name; and although the family name
was Asmon, they are famous as "the Maccabees."
This battle however was not decisive. Lysias ad-
vanced to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. But hearing
that Philip had succeeded in gaining authority at An-
tioch, he made peace with Judas, and hastily returned
to his capital, where he found Philip master of the city.
Although he recovered his capital, it was only for a
short time, since Demetrius, son of Seleucus, who had
been sojourning at Rome, returned to the palace of
his ancestors, and slaying both Lysias and the young
king, reigning in their stead.
With this king the Jews were soon involved in
war. Evil-minded men, hostile to Judas (for in such
unsettled times treachery was everywhere), went to
Antioch with their complaints, headed by Alcimus,
who wished to be high-priest, and inflamed the
anger of King Demetrius. The new monarch sent
one of his ablest generals, called Bacchides, with an
army to chastise the Jews and reinstate Alcimus, who
had been ejected from his high office. This wicked
high-priest overran the country with the forces of
Bacchides, who had returned to Antioch, but did not
prevail; so the king sent Nicanor, already experienced
in this Jewish war, with a still larger army against
Judas. The gallant Maccabæus, however, gained a
great victory, and slew Nicanor himself. This battle
gave another rest for a time to the afflicted land of
Judah.
Meanwhile Judas, fearing that the Syrian forces
would ultimately overpower him, sent an embassy to
Rome to invoke protection. It was a long journey
in those times. A century and a half later it took
Saint Paul six months to make it. The conquests
of the Romans were known throughout the East,
and better known than the policy they pursued
of devouring the countries that sought their pro-
tection when it suited their convenience. At this
time, 162 B.C., Italy was subdued, Spain had been
added to the empire, Macedonia was conquered, Syria
was threatened, and Carthage was soon to fall. The
Senate was then the ruling power at Rome, and was
in the height of its dignity, not controlled by either
generals or demagogues. The Senate received with
favor the Jewish ambassadors, and promised their
protection. Had Judas known what that protection
meant, he would have been the last man to seek it.
Nor did the treaty of alliance with Rome save Judæa
from the continued hostilities of Syria. Demetrius
sent Bacchides with another army, which encamped
against Jerusalem, where Judas had only eight hun-
dred men to resist an army of twenty thousand foot
and two thousand horse. We infer that his forces had
dwindled away by perpetual contests. His heart of
hope was now well-nigh broken, but his lion courage
remained. Against the solicitation of his companions
in war he resolved to fight, gallantly and stubbornly
contested the field from morning to night, and at last,
hemmed in between two wings of the Syrian foe, fell
in the battle.
The heroic career of Judas Maccabæus was ended.
he had done marvellous things. He had for six years
resisted and often defeated overwhelming forces; he
had fought more battles than David; he had kept the
enemy at bay while his prostrate country arose from
the dust; he had put to flight and slain tens of thou-
sands of the heathen; he had recovered and fortified
Jerusalem, and restored the Temple worship; he had
trained his people to be warlike and heroic. At last he
was slain only when his followers were scattered by suc-
cessive calamities. He bore the brunt of six years' uc-
cessful war against the most powerful monarchy in Asia,
bent on the extermination of his countrymen. And
amid all his labors he had kept the Law, being revered
for his virtues as much as for his heroism. Not a sin-
gle crime sullied his glorious name. And when he fell
at last, exhausted, the nation lamented him as David
mourned for Jonathan, saying, "How is the valiant
fallen!" A greater hero than he never adorned an age
of heroism. Judas was not only a mighty captain, but
a wise statesman,——so revered, that, according to Jo-
sephus, in his closing years he was made high-priest
also, thus uniting in his person both spiritual and
temporal authority. It was a very small country
that he ruled, but it is in small countries that ge-
nius is often most fully developed, either for war or
for peace. We know but little of his private life. He
had no time for what the world calls pleasures; his
life was rough, full of dangers and embarrassments.
His only aim seems to have been to shake off the
Syrian yoke that oppressed his native land, to redeem
the holy places of the nation from the pollutions of the
obscene rites of heathenism, and to restore the worship
of Jehovah according to the consecrated ritual estab-
lished in the Mosaic Law.
The death of Judas was of course followed by great
disorders and universal despondency. His mantle fell
on his brother Jonathan, who became the leader of
the scattered forces of the Jews. He also prevailed
over Bacchides in several engagements, so that the
Syrian leader returned to Antioch, and the Jews had
rest for two years. Jonathan was now clothed with
honor and dignity, wore a purple garment and other
emblems of high rank, and was almost an acknowl-
edged sovereign. He improved his opportunities and
fortified Jerusalem. But his prosperous career was cut
short by treachery. He was enticed by the Syrian
general, even when he had an army of forty thou-
sand men,——so largely had the forces of Judæa in-
creased,——into Ptolemais with a few followers, under
blandishing promises, and slain.
Simon was now the only remaining son of Matta-
thias, and on him devolved the high-priesthood, as well
as the executive duties of supreme ruler. He wisely
devoted himself to the internal affairs of the State
which he ruled. He fortified Joppa, the only port
of Judæa, reduced hostile cities, and made himself
master of the famous fortress of Mount Zion, so long
held in threatening vicinity by the Syrians, which he
not only levelled with the ground, so that it should
no longer overlook the Temple area. The Temple be-
came not only the Sanctuary, but also one of the
strongest fortresses in the world. At a later period it
held out for some time against the army of Titus,
even after Jerusalem itself had fallen.
Simon executed the laws with rigorous impartial-
ity, repaired the Temple, restored the sacred vessels,
and secured general peace, order, and security. Even
the lands desolated by the wasting wars with several
successive Syrian monarch again rejoiced in fertility.
Every man sat under his own vine and fig-tree in
safety. The friendly alliance with Rome was renewed
by a present to that greedy republic of golden shield,
weighing one thousand pounds, and worth fifty talents,
thus showing how much wealth had increased under
Judas and his brothers. Even the ambassadors of
the Syrian monarch were astonished at the splendor
of Simon's palace, and at the riches of the Temple,
again restored, not in the glory of Solomon, but in
a magnificence of which few temples could boast,——
the pride once more of the now prosperous Jews, who
had by their persistent bravery earned their indepen-
dence. In the year 143 B.C., the Jews began a
new epoch in their history, after twenty-three years
of almost incessant warfare.
Yet Simon was destined, like his brothers, to end
his days by violence. He also, together with two of
his sons, was treacherously murdered by his son-in-
law Ptolemy, who aspired to the exalted office of
high-priest, leaving his son John Hyrcanus to reign in
his stead, in the year 136 B.C. The rule of the Mac-
cabees,——the five sons of Mattathias,——lasted thirty
years. They were the founders of the Asmonean
princes, who ruled both as kings and high-priests.
With the death of Simon, the last remaining son
of Mattathias, this lecture properly should end; yet
a rapid glance at the Jewish nation, under the rule of
the Asmonean princes and the Idumæan Herod, may
not be uninteresting.
John Hyrcanus, the first of the Asmonean kings,
was an able sovereign, and reigned twenty-nine years.
He threw off the Syrian yoke, and the Jewish king-
dom maintained its independence until it fell under
the Roman sway. His most memorable feat was the
destruction of the Samaritan Temple on Mount Geri-
zim, which had been an eye-sore to the people of
Jerusalem for two hundred years. He then subdued
Idumæa, and compelled the people to that country to
adopt the Jewish religion. He maintained a strict
alliance with the Romans, and became master of Sa-
maria and of Galilee, which were incorporated with his
kingdom, so that the ancient limits of the kingdom
of David were nearly restored. He built the castle
of Baris on a rock within the fortifications that sur-
rounded the hill of the Temple, which afterwarrd was
known as the tower of Antonia.
On his death, 105 B.C., Hyrcanus was succeeded by
his son Aristobulus,——a weak and wicked prince, who
assassinated his brother, and starved to death his
mother in a dungeon. The next king of the Asmo-
nean line, Alexander Jannæus, was brave, but unsuc-
cessful, and died after and unquiet and turbulent reign
of twenty-seven years, 77 B.C. His widow, Alexan-
dra, ruled as regent with great tact and energy for
nine years, and was succeeded by her son Hyrcanus
II. This feeble and unfortunate prince had to con-
tend with the intrigues and violence of his more able
but unscrupulous brother, Aristobulus, who sought to
steal his sceptre and who at one time even drove him
from his kingdom. Hyrcanus put himself under the
protection of the Romans. They came as arbiters;
they remained as masters. It was when Judæa was
under the nominal rule of Hyrcanus II., driven hither
and thither by his enemies, and when his capital was
in their hands, that Pompey, triumphant over the
armies of the East, took Jerusalem after a desperate
resistance, entered the Temple, and even penetrated
the Holy of Holies. To his credit he left untouched
the treasures accumulated in the Temple, but he de-
molished the walls of the city and imposed a tribute.
Judæa was now virtually under the dominion of the
Romans, although the sovereignty of Hyrcanus was
not completely taken away. On the fall of Pompey,
Crassus the triumvir plundered the Temple of ten
thousand talents, as was estimated, and the fate of
Judæa, during the memorable civil war of which
Cæsar was the hero and victor, hung in trembling
suspense. I will not enumerate the contentions, the
deeds of violence, the acts of treachery, and the strife
of rival parties which marked the tumultuous period
in Judaea while Caesar and Pompey were contending
for the sovereignty of the world. These came to an
end at last by the dethronement of the last of the
Asmonean princes, and the accession of the Idumæan
Herod by the aid of Antony (40 B.C.).
Herod, called the Great, was the last independent
sovereign of Palestine. He was the son of Antipater,
a noble Idumæan, who had ingratiated himself in the
favor of Hyrcanus II., high-priest and sovereign, and
who ruled as the prime minister of this feeble and
incapable prince. By rendering some service to Cae-
sar, Antipater was made procurator of Judæa, and
appointed his son Herod to the government of Gal-
ilee, where he developed remarkable administrative
talents. Soon after, he was raised by Sextus Cæsar
to the military command of Cœle-Syria. After the
battle of Philippi, Herod secured the favor of Antony
by an enormous bribe, as he had that of Cassius on
the death of Cæsar, and was made one of tetrarchs
of the province. In the mean time his father, Alex-
ander, was poisoned at Jerusalem, and Antigonus, son
of Aristobulus, who had gained ascendancy, cut off
the ears of Hyrcanus, and not only deprived him of
the office of high-priest, but usurped his authority.
Herod himself proceeded to Rome, and was successful
in his intrigues, being by the favor of Antony made
king of Judæa. But a severe contest was before him,
since Antigonus was resolved to defend his crown. With
the aid of the Romans, Herod, after a war of three
years, subdued his rival and put him to death, together
with every member of the Sanhedrin but two. His
power was cemented by his marriage with Mariamne,
the beautiful sister of Aristobulus, whom he made
high-priest.
The Asmonean princes were now, by the death of
Antigonus, reduced to Aristobulus and the aged Hyr-
canus, both of whom were murdered by the suspicious
tyrant who had triumphed over so many enemies. In
a fit of jealousy Herod even caused the execution of
his beautiful wife, whom he passionately loved, as he
had already destroyed her grandfather, father, brother,
and uncle. Supported by Antigonus, whom he had
managed to conciliate after the death of Antony, Herod
reigned with undisputed authority over even an in-
crease of territory. He doubtless reigned with great
ability, tyrant and murderer as he was, and detested
by the Jews as an Idumæan. He reigned in a state
of magnificence unknown to the Asmonean princes.
He built a new and magnificent palace on the hill
of Zion, and rebuilt the fortress of Baris, which he
called Antonia in honor of his friend and patron,
Antony. He also erected strong citadels in different
cities of his kingdom, and rebuilt Samaria; he founded
Cæsarea and colonized it with the Greeks, so that it
became a great maritime city, rivalling Tyre in mag-
nificence and strength. But Herod's greatest work,
by which he hoped to ingratiate himself in he favor
of the Jews, was the rebuilding of the Temple on a
scale of unexampled magnificence. He was also very
liberal in the distribution of corn during a severe
famine. He was in such high favor with Augustus
by his fine presents and his devotion to the imperial in-
terests, that, next to Agrippa, he was the emperor's
greatest favorite. His two sons by Mariamne were
educated at Rome with great care, and were lodged in
the palace of the Emperor.
Herod's latter days however were clouded by the
intrigues of his court, by treason and conspiracies,
in consequence of which his sons, favorites with the
people on account of heir accomplishments and their
Asmonean blood, were executed by the suspicious and
savage despot. Antipater, another son, by his first
wife, whom he had chosen as his successor, conspired
against his life, and the proof of his guilt was so clear
that he was summarily executed. In addition to
these troubles Herod was tormented by remorse for the
execution of the murdered Mariamne. He was the
victim of jealousy, suspicion, and wrath. One of his
last acts was the order to destroy the infants in the
vicinity of Jerusalem in the vain hope of destroying
the predicted Messiah,——him who should be "born
king of the Jews." He died of a loathsome and ex-
cruciating disease, in his seventieth year, having reigned
nearly forty years. His kingdom, by his will, was
divided between the children of his later wife, a
Samaritan woman,——eldest of whom, Archelaus,
became monarch of Judæa; and the second, Antipas,
became tetrarch of Galilee. The former married the
widow of his half-brother Alexander, who was executed;
and the latter married Herodias, wife of Philip, also
his half-brother.
Archelaus ruled Judæa with such injustice and cru-
elty, that, after nine years, he was summoned to Rome
and exiled to Vienne in Gaul, and Judæa became a
Roman province under the prefecture of Syria. The
supreme judicial authority was exercised by the Jewish
Sanhedrin, the great ecclesiastical and civil council,
composed of seventy-one persons presided over by the
high-priest. The Sanhedrin, under the name of chief
priests, scribes, and elders of the people, now took the
lead in all public transactions pertaining to the inter-
nal administration of the province, being inferior only
to the tribunal of the governor, who resided in Cæsarea.
Meanwhile, the long expectation of the Jews, espe-
cially during the reign of Herod, of a promised Deliv-
erer, was fulfilled, and one claiming to be the Messiah
appeared,——not a temporal prince and mighty hero of
war, a greater Judas Maccabæus, as the Jews had sup-
posed, but a helpless infant, born in a manger, and
brought up as a peasant-carpenter. Yet he it was who
should found a spiritual kingdom never to be destroyed,
going on from conquering to conquer, until the whole
world shall be subdued. With the advent of Jesus of
Nazareth, in which we see the fulfilment of all the
promises made to the chosen people from Abraham to
Isaiah, Jewish history loses its chief interest. The
mission of the Hebrew nation seems to stand accom-
plished; the conception of one, holy, spiritual God was
kept alive in the world until, in "the fulness of time,"
the mighty Romans subdued and united all lands under
one rule, drawing them nearer together by great high-
roads; the flexible Greek language gave all peoples a
common tongue, in which already the Hebrew Scrip-
tures had been familiarized among the scholars; the life
and teachings of Jesus entered with vital power into
the heart and brain of those devoted followers who
recognized him as the Christ,——the revelator of the
universal fatherhood of the One true God; and thence-
forward Christianity becomes the great spiritual power
of the world.
from Beacon Lights of History, by John Lord, LL. D.,
Volume I, Part II: Jewish Heroes and Prophets, pp. 367 - 388
©1883, 1888, by John Lord.
©1921, By Wm. H. Wise & Co., New York
Posted Jul 11, 2019, 5:01 AM UTC
10