Joseph was constantly at the court of Ptolemy Philopator, when business took him to Alexandria. This court was a hot-bed of depravity. The days were spent in revelry, and the nights in shameless debauchery; the prevailing depravity led astray both the people and the army.
Philopator entertained the absurd belief that his ancestors were descended from the God of Wine, Dionysus (Bacchus); and he considered himself obliged to introduce bacchanalian revelries into his kingdom. Any one wishing to ingratiate himself with the king and his boon companions was forced to belong to the fraternity of Dionysus. Whenever Joseph was called to Alexandria, he enjoyed the doubtful honour of being invited to the king's orgies, and of being received by the followers of the God of Wine. It was at such a feast that he contracted a violent passion for one of those dissolute dancing-women who never failed to be present upon these occasions.
Jerusalem did not long remain untainted by this social impurity. Joseph, from friendship, let us suppose, for his royal patron, introduced Dionysian festivals into Judæa. At the turning-point of the year, when winter makes way for spring, when the vine bursts into blossom, and the wine in the barrels ferments a second time, then the Greeks held their great festival in honour of Dionysus: "the festival of the barrel-openings." Two days were devoted to intoxicating orgies, when friends interchanged pitchers of wine as presents. He who drank most was most honoured. This festival of the "barrel-opening" was now to be celebrated in much the same way in Judæa. But, in order to clothe this festival in a Judæan garb, the rich made it an occasion for dispensing alms to the poor. Revelry is always the attendant of excessive indulgence in wine. The rich Judæans soon copied the Greek customs, and, callous to the promptings of shame and honour, they introduced singers, dancers, and dissolute women at these festivals. A poetical writer raises a warning voice against the growing unchastity of the age:—
"Meet not with an harlot, lest thou fall into her snares. Use not much the company of the songstress, lest thou be taken with her attempts.... Give not thy soul unto harlots, that thou lose not thine inheritance." (Ecclus. ix. 3, seq.)
The love of art and beauty which Joseph introduced into Judæa did not compensate for this loss of chastity and morality. Even earnest men, under Greek influence, began to cast doubts upon their old traditional belief. They questioned whether the teachings of Judaism were correct and true throughout, whether God really demanded from man the denial of all self-gratification, and whether the Deity in any way concerned itself about the great universe and the small world of mankind.
The teachings of Epicurus, inculcating the impotence of the gods, and recommending self-indulgence to man, were well received by the degenerate Græco-Macedonians, and particularly by the upper circles of the Alexandrians. It was from that city that the poison spread to Judæa. In Jerusalem also doubters arose, who disregarded the teachings of Judaism. These doubts might have led to increased mental activity, had not discord been added to the corruption of manners. Feelings of jealousy sprang up between the seven sons of Joseph by his first marriage, and the youngest, Hyrcanus, the son of his second wife. The latter was distinguished in youth by his quick intellect, his ability, and his craftiness, characteristics that endeared him to his father. In the year 210, a son was born to the king Philopator. The different representatives of the cities of Cœlesyria were anxious to express, by presents and congratulations, their devotion to the Egyptian king. Joseph felt that he ought not to absent himself upon such an occasion. But his growing infirmities not allowing him to undertake such a journey, he asked one of his sons to represent him. Hyrcanus was the only one who felt equal to the task, and his brothers unanimously requested their father to accept his services. At the same time they suggested to their friends in Alexandria to put him out of the way. But Joseph's young son instantly gained favour at court. His extravagant gifts upon the great day of public congratulation—one hundred handsome slaves to the king, and one hundred beautiful female slaves to the queen, in the hands of each a gift of a talent—threw the presents of all others into the shade. His ready wit and adroit tongue soon made him a favoured guest at Philopator's table. He returned to Jerusalem filled with pride. But his perfidious brothers were lying in wait for him on the road, and determined to accomplish what the Alexandrians had failed to do. Hyrcanus and his companions defended themselves, and in the combat which ensued killed two of his brothers. His father received him sternly on account of his extravagance in Egypt, being perhaps also jealous of his extraordinary popularity. Hyrcanus dared not remain in Jerusalem, and probably returned to Alexandria.
Thus far, this discord was confined only to the family of Joseph, and seemed not to affect the people at large or the inhabitants of Jerusalem. No one could have imagined that the violent dissensions among the members of that house, and its Greek proclivities, would end by bringing misery upon the whole nation. The present seemed bright and sunny; prosperity was widespread in the land, and offered the means for beautifying life. The neighbouring peoples acknowledged the supremacy of the Judæan governor, and none ventured to attack the nation, or to treat it with contempt. Judæa had not known so peaceful a state of things since the age of Nehemiah.
It was, therefore, not unnatural that a poem in the form of a love song should have appeared at that time, shedding a rosy flush over the age, and reflecting happy and joyous days.
A cloudless sky, green meadows, fragrant flowers, and, above all things, careless light-heartedness are mirrored in it, as though there were no more serious occupation in life than to wander over hills of myrrh, to repose among lilies, to whisper words of love, and to revel in the ecstasy of the moment. In this period of calm which preceded the storm, the "Song of Songs" (Shir-ha-shirim) was written. It was the offspring of untroubled, joyous days. In it the Hebrew language proved its capability of expressing tenderness and depth of sentiment, exquisite dialogue and picturesque poetry of nature. The author of this poem had seen the life of Greece, had felt the charm of its literature, and learned the cunning of its art. But beneath the veil of poetry he reprovingly pointed out the evils of the time.
In contrast to the impure and unchaste love of the Greek world, our poet's ideal is a shepherdess, Shulamit, the beautiful daughter of Aminadab. She bears in her heart a deep, ardent, unquenchable love for a shepherd who pastures his flock among the lilies, and with and through this love, she remains pure and innocent. Her beauty is enhanced by her grace of movement, by her soft voice and gentle speech. As her eyes are like the dove's, so is her heart full of dove-like innocence. In the flowery language of the most exquisite poetry, the author of the Song of Songs denounces the debauchery of the times, the lewdness of the public dancers and singers, the voluptuousness of town life, and the enervating effects of riotous living.
Joseph, the grandson of Simon the Just, died in the year 208, leaving his family torn by dissension. His office was to be transferred to one of his sons; but Hyrcanus, the youngest, being the only one known at the Egyptian court, and a favourite of the king, the preference was no doubt given to him. This fired the hatred of his brothers. They assumed a hostile position towards him upon his arrival in Jerusalem, and as Hyrcanus had a large number of followers, civil war seemed imminent. The action of the high-priest, Simon II., who sided with the elder brothers, turned the scale, and Hyrcanus was again compelled to flee the city. If he intended pleading his cause in Alexandria, as he probably did, he was disappointed, for he could obtain no hearing at the Egyptian court, as his patron Philopator had just died (206), and Egypt was a prey to disorder.
Two ambitious kings, tempted by the weakness of the house of Ptolemy, seized upon Egypt and her provinces, and divided them. These were Antiochus the Great, of Syria, and Philip of Macedon.
Joseph's elder sons, or, as they were generally called, the Tobiades, out of hatred to their younger brother, Hyrcanus, determined to side with Antiochus against Egypt. They raised a Seleucidæan party. They are described as scoffers and reprobates, and, as matters went on, they showed themselves to be unprincipled men, who sacrificed their country's weal to their thirst for revenge and the gratification of their lusts. They opened the gates of Jerusalem to the Syrian king, and did homage to him. The adherents of the Ptolemies and of Hyrcanus yielded or were crushed.
Thus Judæa came under the rule of the Seleucidæan kings (203–202). But an Ætolian commander of hired troops, Scopas, undertook to oppose the Syrian conqueror. He soon overran the Jordanic and trans-Jordanic territories, causing terror amongst the Tobiades and their followers. Desperately but in vain they struggled against their impending doom. Scopas took Jerusalem by storm, laid waste the city and the Temple, and put to the sword those who were pointed out as hostile to him. Numbers sought safety in flight.
In order to secure the allegiance of the conquered people, Scopas left a contingent in the fortress of Baris or Acra. But the re-conquest of Judæa and Cœlesyria for the son of Ptolemy, the child Epiphanes, was not to be lasting. The Syrians now re-appeared on the scene. In the beautiful valley at the foot of Mount Hermon, near the mountain city of Panion, at the source of the Jordan, a terrible battle was fought, in which Scopas and his troops were entirely routed. Judæa once again became a prey to the horrors of war and internal dissensions; she resembled a storm-tossed ship, flung violently from side to side. Both parties inflicted unsparing blows on her.
Antiochus succeeded in re-conquering the greater part of the land, and then marched upon Jerusalem. The people, headed by the Synhedrin and the priests, came out to meet him, bringing provisions for his troops and elephants. But the Ætolian contingent still held the fortress of Acra. Antiochus or one of his commanders, with the help of the Judæans, undertook the siege of the fortress. The Seleucidæan king, it appears, greatly valued the friendship of the Judæans, for he gave orders to rebuild their ruined city and repair their Temple. They were treated with much consideration, and were allowed to govern themselves according to their own laws. None but Judæans had the right of entering the Temple; no impurities were suffered to pollute it, and no unclean animals were to be bred in Jerusalem.
Antiochus remained in undisputed possession of Cœlesyria, and therefore also of Judæa. But he cast a greedy eye upon Egypt and her neighbouring provinces, of whose conquest, since they were under the rule of a boy-king, he felt assured. But the Romans, free for action since the downfall of Carthage, formed a stumbling-block to his progress. Compelled to abandon his plans on Egypt, Antiochus conceived the idea of making war upon the Romans, and after having conquered them, of seizing upon Asia Minor and Greece and also Egypt But his foolhardiness and over-confidence led to his humiliation. He suffered so crushing a defeat at the hands of the Romans (190), that he was obliged to give up his conquests in Greece and in a part of Asia Minor, surrender the whole of his fleet, and pay 15,000 talents annually, for twelve years, to the victor. He was constrained to send to Rome as hostage his son, Antiochus Epiphanes, who was destined to leave a bloody mark upon the annals of Judæan history. Severe was the penalty that Antiochus paid for having over-estimated the strength of the Seleucidæans. In order to be able to pay the heavy indemnity, the Syrian kings robbed temples; this sacrilege made them odious, and stirred up the hatred of the most patient nationalities. Antiochus, surnamed the Great, met his death through one of these acts of rapine (187).
The sacrileges continued by his son became the cause of the rise to new strength of the Judæan nation, as well as of the humiliation and decadence of the Seleucidæan kingdom.
The disintegration of the Judæan community, which began under Joseph's administration, increased rapidly during the constant struggle between the Seleucidæans and the Ptolemies for the possession of Cœlesyria. The leaders of the two parties were not particular as to the means they employed to forward their own cause, or to injure that of their antagonists. The friends of the Seleucidæans were above all things determined to find allies amongst the foreign nationalities in and around Judæa. The Greeks living in Palestinean places, as well as the native Gentiles, hated the Judæans, on account of the humiliations they had suffered at the hands of the tax-collector Joseph. There were other antagonistic races besides; the old names of the enemies of the Judæans still existed, recalling the warlike days of the Judges and of David's reign. The Idumæans and the Philistines were in possession of Judæan territory, and the former occupied even the ancient city of Hebron. Both hated the Judæans, and made them feel this hatred upon every occasion, whilst in the north the Samaritans did the same.
The Judæan settlers in the provinces of the Seleucidæan kingdom looked up to the Græco-Macedonian rulers, commanders and officers for protection from their numerous foes. But in order to curry favour with the Greeks, it was necessary to endeavour to become like them in manners, customs and observances. As to Jerusalem, those who had Hellenised themselves in outward appearance, determined upon educating the Judæan youth according to the Greek model. Thus they established races and contests in wrestling. The richest and most distinguished among the Judæans belonged to this Greek faction, amongst others, Jesus (Joshua), the son of the high-priest, who called himself Jason, and who was followed by many Aaronides. The party was led by the Tobiades, or sons and grandsons of Joseph the tax-collector. But as Jewish law and custom were sternly opposed to such innovations, and held in especial abhorrence Greek shamelessness, these factions determined to abolish the faith of the fathers, that the people might be Hellenised without let or hindrance.
Complete incorporation with the pagan Greeks was their aim. Of what use was the fence erected by Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Synhedrin round Judaism? The Hellenists pulled down the fence, and showed a desire to fell the primeval trees of the forest too.
As has repeatedly occurred in the history of thinking nations, lack of moderation on the one side brought forth exaggeration on the other. Those Judæans who saw with pain and rage the attempts of the Hellenists grouped themselves into a party which clung desperately to the Law and the customs of their fathers, and cherished them as the apple of their eye. They were "the community of the pious," or Chasidim, a development of the Nazarites. Every religious custom was to them of inviolable sanctity. A more complete contrast than was presented by these two parties can hardly be imagined. They understood each other as little as if they had not been sons of the same tribe, people of the same nation. That which was the dearest wish of the Hellenists, the Chasidim condemned as a fearful sin; they called its authors "breakers of the Law," "trespassers of the Covenant." Again, what was dear and sacred to the Chasidim, the Hellenists looked upon as folly, and denounced as a hindrance to the welfare and stability of the community. Amongst the Chasidim there were two noted teachers of the Law, Josê, the son of Joëzer, of the town of Zereda, and Josê, the son of Johanan of Jerusalem, each of them the founder of a school. The one laid more stress upon the theoretical study of the Law, the other, upon the execution of its commands. Josê of Zereda taught his disciples: "Let your house be a place of assembly for the wise men; allow yourself to be covered with the dust of their feet; drink in their words greedily." Josê of Jerusalem, on the other hand, taught, "Let the door of your house be opened wide; let the poor be your guests, and do not converse with women."
Between the two widely opposed parties, the Hellenists and the Chasidim or Assidæans, the people took a middle course. They certainly took delight in the luxuries and refinements of life introduced by the Greeks, and did not care to have their pleasures narrowed by the severe Chasidim; at the same time they disapproved of the excesses of the Hellenists; they refused to break their connection with the past, or to have it obliterated through innovations. But the passionate warfare that existed between Hellenists and Chasidim, menacing with extinction one of the two parties, obliged the moderates to take sides with one or the other of them.
The pious, or patriots, were still supreme in their position of command in the community. At their head was Onias III., high-priest, son of Simon II. He is described as a man of excellent character. Though gentle by nature, he was an enemy to wrongdoing, zealous for the Law, a strong advocate of piety, and uncompromisingly opposed to Hellenistic practices. The Hellenists accordingly hated him fiercely. His principal enemies, besides the Tobiades, were three brothers, of a distinguished Benjamite family, who vied with each other in insolence—Simon, Onias called Menelaus, and Lysimachus. They hated the high-priest not only on account of his constant opposition to their innovations, but also on account of his alliance with Hyrcanus, who was still suffering from the persecutions of his brothers and their followers.
Hyrcanus was in great favour at the Egyptian court, and Ptolemy V. had given him the control over some trans-Jordanic territory. Armed troops were probably at his disposal to help him in the discharge of his duties. The Judæans who colonised the province were probably loyal to him, or were employed by him. By their aid he was able to levy contributions from the Arabs, or Nabatæans, of the provinces of Hesbon and Medaba, as ruthlessly as his father Joseph had once done in Cœlesyria. In this way he accumulated vast wealth. He erected a wonderful citadel of white marble, upon a rock near Hesbon, to all intents and purposes a fortress, but of surpassing beauty. He called this magnificent palace Tyrus; he surrounded it with a wide moat of great depth, and constructed the gates of the outer wall of such narrow dimensions that they admitted only one person at a time. Hyrcanus spent several years, probably from 181 to 175, in this mountain retreat. The surplus of the wealth accumulated by Hyrcanus was sent from time to time, for safe-keeping, to the Temple in Jerusalem, which enjoyed the privilege of inviolability.
Simon, the Benjamite, held some kind of an office in the Temple, whereby he came into conflict with the high-priest. Onias banished Simon from Jerusalem, and in order to stem the ever-growing anarchy in the city, he passed a similar sentence of exile upon the Tobiades. But by doing this he only added fresh fuel to the flames. Simon devised a diabolical scheme for wreaking vengeance upon his enemy. He repaired to the military commander of Cœlesyria and Phœnicia, Apollonius, son of Thraseius, and betrayed to him the fact that great treasures, not belonging to the Sanctuary, and consequently royal property, were hidden in the Temple of Jerusalem. Apollonius lost no time in giving the king, Seleucus II.(187–175), information on this subject. Seleucus thereupon sent his treasurer Heliodorus to Jerusalem with orders to confiscate the treasures concealed in the Temple. Onias naturally resisted this unjust demand. Heliodorus then showed his royal warrant, and prepared to force his way into the Sanctuary. Great was the consternation in Jerusalem at the thought of a heathen's entering the Temple and robbing it of its treasures. However, by some means or other, this sacrilege was not perpetrated. We are not told what means were employed for preventing it, but tradition, born of pious reverence for the Temple of God, has given the colouring of the miraculous to the whole proceeding.
But Simon could not desist from his attempts to bring about the downfall of the hated high-priest. He even had recourse to the aid of hired assassins. Fortunately, he was unsuccessful; but Onias was now thoroughly alarmed. He determined to lay the real state of affairs before King Seleucus, with an account of the conflicting parties and of the motives that induced Simon and the Tobiades to conspire against him, imploring the king's protection and aid. He appointed his brother Joshua, or Jason, as his delegate, and repaired to Antioch. During his absence the Hellenists, eager to obtain the office of high-priest for one of their own party, redoubled their intrigues. A high-priest from among their own number would not only be master of the treasures in the Temple, but leader of the nation. He could assist them in the introduction of Greek customs, and, by reason of his spiritual office, add weight to the efforts of the Hellenists, who had become so demoralised that they held nothing sacred.
These secret devices soon became known, and roused the indignation of many who clung to the old customs and traditionary teachings. Amongst these was a poet and writer of proverbs, Jesus Sirach by name, the son of Eleazar (200–176). He was prompted by the wrongdoing he witnessed in Jerusalem to write a book of pithy sayings, applicable to the evils of the age, which might prove salutary to its Judæan readers. He was a successor of the proverb-writers. He was familiar with the Law, the prophets, and other instructive and spiritual works, and he was a close reader of the older Book of Proverbs, imitating the style of that work, though without reaching its graceful simplicity.
Sirach did not belong to the sterner Chasidim who refrained from all harmless pleasures, and who denounced others for enjoying them. On the contrary, he was in favour of the social meal, enlivened by music and wine. To those who made a point of interfering with innocent pleasures, and whose dismal talk put an end to all gaiety, he addressed the following rebuke:—
"Speak, thou elder in council, for it becometh thee, but with sound judgment, and shew not forth wisdom out of time. As a signet of an emerald set in a work of gold, so is the melody of music with pleasant wine." (Ecclus. xxxii. 3, 4, 6.)
There were some over-pious Judæans who condemned the use of all medical skill and aid; they insisted that as all maladies were sent from God, He alone could cure them. Sirach explained in his proverbs that the skill of the physician and the virtue of medicines were also the gifts of God, created to serve the purpose of healing.
But all his zeal was kindled at sight of the social and religious backsliding of his brethren, and their consequent humiliation in the eyes of the neighbouring peoples. The social depravity of his co-religionists grieved him more than their political oppression. Sirach stung with the lash of sarcasm the arrogance, deceit and lust of the rich Hellenists, who worshipped Mammon. He also denounced lechery, warned them against the companionship of dancers, singers and painted women, and he painted in no flattering colours the portraits of the daughters of Israel.
Sirach declared that the root of all this evil was the indifference of the Judæans to their sacred Law. His aim was to reinstate it in the hearts of the people. He touched upon another subject, a burning question of the day. Many in Jerusalem, particularly among the upper circles, were anxious to substitute for the high-priest Onias one of their own party, even though he were not a descendant of Aaron. Was it necessary to restrict the priestly office to one family? This was the question propounded by the ambitious. Sirach's proverbs are directed against the possibility of a revolution in the sacred order.
By various examples, taken from the history of the Judæan people, he endeavoured to show that obedience to the Law and to established rule would entail happy consequences, but that disobedience must lead to fatal results. He gave a short account of illustrious and notorious personages, dwelling upon their virtuous deeds or nefarious practices, as the case might be. He described the rise of the family of Korah against Aaron, their final destruction by fire, and the heightened glory of the high-priest. This was a hint to his co-religionists that the zealous Hellenists should not be allowed to provoke a repetition of Korah's punishment. He also dwelt upon the history of Phineas, Aaron's grandson, the third in glory, who was permitted to make atonement for Israel.
He passed rapidly over the division of the two kingdoms and the depravity of the people, lingering upon the activity and energy of the prophets. He mentioned with loving recollection the names of Zerubbabel, the high-priest Joshua, and Nehemiah, in the days succeeding the Captivity. And at length he closed with a brilliant description of the high-priest, Simon the Just, of his good deeds and the majesty of his priesthood, hoping that this example of the ancestor of the family of the high-priest and of the Tobiades might instruct and warn the ambitious desecrators of the priestly diadem. But instead of the unity for which he prayed, at the end of his book, the dissensions increased, and the plots and wickedness of the Hellenists brought the Judæan nation to the brink of destruction.
Antiochus Epiphanes—His Character—His Wars with Rome—He appoints Jason to the High Priesthood—Introduction of the Greek Games—Jason sends Envoys to Tyre to take part in the Olympian Games—Affairs in Jerusalem—Antiochus invades Egypt—Report of his Death in Jerusalem—Antiochus attacks the City and defiles the Temple—His Designs against Judaism—His Second Invasion of Egypt—The Persecution of the Judæans—The Martyrs—Mattathias and his five Sons—Apelles appears in Modin—The Chasidim—Death of Mattathias and Appointment of Judas Maccabæus as Leader—His Virtues—Battles against Apollonius and Heron—Antiochus determines to exterminate the Judæan People—Composition and Object of the Book of Daniel—Victory of Judas over Lysias.
175–166 B. C. E.
There now appeared on the scene a royal personage who seemed destined to increase the hopeless disorders in Judæa, and to bring greater misery upon the House of Israel than it had ever known before. This man was Antiochus Epiphanes, whom history has justly branded. He belonged to a class of men who have a double nature. He was a mixture of malice and noble impulses; he was cunning and calculating, yet capricious, petty in great enterprises, and great in trivialities. His contemporaries even could not fathom his character, nor understand whether a naturally crippled intellect or simulation was the cause of the absurdities by which he made himself ridiculous in the eyes of the people. He seemed to covet the name of "Epimanes," or the Madman. His early training encouraged him to lead an irregular life. He resided for thirteen years at Rome, whither his father had sent him as hostage for the maintenance of peace and the payment of the costs of the war. Rome had just become the capital of the world. The Romans had conquered the Carthaginians, the Macedonians and the Syrians, and the Eternal City was passing from the austere morality of the Catos to the wantonness of the Claudii. Debauchery and unnatural lust—the immoral practices of the Greeks—speedily took root there. But what Antiochus learnt principally at Rome was contempt of men and their cherished customs; there also he acquired not only insolence, but a hardness of heart which knew no compassion, and the malice which sports with its victim before it strangles it.
Antiochus succeeded in obtaining permission to leave Rome, and to send his nephew Demetrius, son of the king Seleucus Philopator, as hostage in his place. He returned to Syria, probably with the intention of dethroning his brother, but his design had been anticipated by Heliodorus, one of the court magnates, who had murdered Seleucus (175), and taken possession of the kingdom. It may be questioned whether Antiochus was not implicated in this deed; he was at that time at Athens, on his way home. His father's enemy, Eumenes, king of Pergamus, with his brother Attalus, put the murderer Heliodorus to flight, and proclaimed Antiochus king of Syria and Asia. Thus Antiochus attained to power by craft and usurpation; for Demetrius, now a hostage at Rome, was the rightful sovereign. The Romans favoured the usurper, for they hoped, by increasing the dissensions among the royal families, to bring about the fall of those kingdoms which still resisted their power. Antiochus, however, was determined to foil this stratagem of the Romans. A Judæan seer thus graphically describes his accession to the throne:—
"And in his place shall stand up a contemptible person to whom they had not given the honour of the kingdom; but he shall come suddenly, and shall obtain the kingdom by flatteries.... And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully; for he shall come up and shall become strong, with a small number of people. Suddenly shall he come even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them prey, and spoil, and substance." (Daniel xi. 21–24.)
It was in the execution of his designs to deceive the Romans that he introduced in Antioch the Roman gladiatorial combats, in which prisoners of war or slaves were made to fight each other with arms until one succumbed or was killed. Antiochus had entirely banished from his soul the fear of any deity; "he neither reverenced the gods of his ancestors, nor any god whatever, for above all he magnified himself." The Judæans were now in the hands of this monster, who had a heart of stone, and scorned alike man and law, morality and religion. If peace had reigned in Judæa, the country might have escaped his notice, but the discord which the Hellenists had excited there directed his attention towards the Judæan people and their land. The Hellenist party themselves requested his interference in the internal affairs of Judæa, directing his notice to Hyrcanus, whom they hated, and who, residing in his castle near Hesbon, collected the taxes from the Arabian or Nabatæan inhabitants of the land in the name of the king of Egypt. Hyrcanus, dreading an ignominious death, committed suicide, and Antiochus seized all his property.
The Hellenists then carried out their long-cherished plan of divesting their other enemy, the high-priest Onias, of his dignity. The brother of the latter, called Jesus or Jason, promised Antiochus a large sum if he would transfer the high-priesthood to him; and the needy king did not scruple to grant the request. Onias, who journeyed to Antioch, to bring charges against his enemies, was denounced as a partisan of the Ptolemies, and the accuser thus became the accused. The Hellenists, or rather the high-priest, next petitioned Antiochus that those Judæans who were trained for the Greek combats should be registered as Antiochians or Macedonians, and as such be entitled to the privileges of full citizenship, and admitted to all public meetings and games of the Greeks. Games were serious occupations to the Greeks, not mere amusements, but rather the aim and end of life. The Grecian settlers in Palestine and Phœnicia maintained the national tie with their brethren at home by introducing the Olympian games, held every four years, in the land of the barbarians, and such of the latter as were allowed to take part in these games felt themselves greatly honoured by their admission to the Greek nobility.
By introducing gymnasia into Jerusalem, Jason and the Hellenists hoped to obtain the right of Greek citizenship for the Judæans, and thus to diminish the hatred and contempt from which they suffered. As soon as Antiochus had conceded the privilege for which the Hellenists had petitioned, Jason took great interest in superintending the exercises which were to be practised before the Judæans could take part in the Olympian games. The high-priest selected (174) a site for the games in the Birah or Acra (Acropolis), north-west of the Temple. It comprised a gymnasium for youths and an ephebeion for boys. Greek masters were most probably hired to teach the Judæan men and youths their games, which consisted in racing, jumping, wrestling, in throwing discs, and boxing. It soon became evident, however, that these games, which owed their origin to quite a different mode of life, were incompatible with Judaism. According to Greek custom, the men who took part in these contests were naked. The Judæan youths who consented to compete were therefore compelled to overcome their feeling of shame and appear naked in sight of the Temple. Besides, in uncovering their bodies they could immediately be recognised as Judæans. But were they to take part in the Olympian games, and expose themselves to the mockery of the Greek scoffers? Even this difficulty they evaded by undergoing a painful operation, so as to disguise the fact that they were Judæans. Youths soon crowded to the gymnasium, and the young priests neglected their duties at the Temple to take part in the exercises of the palæstra and the stadium. The pious saw with terror this adoption of foreign customs, but they held their peace. Meanwhile even Jason's confederates were dissatisfied with his leaning to Greek manners, when it led to the denial of the fundamental truths of Judaism. When (June, 172) the Olympian games were celebrated at Tyre, at which sacrifices were offered up to the Greek god Hercules, the alleged founder of these combats, Jason sent as ambassadors men who were practiced in these games, and entitled to take part in them. According to custom, they were entrusted with a money contribution to be devoted to sacrifices to Hercules. But the ambassadors, although Greek at heart, felt conscience-stricken at the manner in which this sum was to be employed; it seemed to stamp them as idolaters, and to prove their belief in the divinity of a marble statue. They therefore accepted the commission on condition that the disposal of the money they took with them was to be left to their own discretion. The belief in Israel's God was too deeply rooted even in the hearts of those men who were partial to the Greek customs, and attached to the Hellenistic party to admit of this desecration. Jason's ambassadors gave the money as a contribution to the fleet which Antiochus was fitting out at Tyre.
Meanwhile the dissensions in Jerusalem increased so greatly that pernicious consequences could not fail to follow. The Hellenists were devising intrigues to overthrow Jason, and to have the office of high-priest placed under their own control. They were impelled to this either by feelings of ambition, or by the fear that the brother of Onias was too partial to Judaism, and not sufficiently energetic, to overthrow the patriarchal customs. One of their number, Onias Menelaus, an unscrupulous man, and a brother of that Simon who had denounced Onias, and revealed the existence of the treasures in the Temple, was to be made high-priest. Jason sent the annual contributions to the king through Menelaus, who promised to increase them by 300 talents, if he were made high-priest. He boasted of his great credit, which would enable him to further the king's cause more energetically than Jason. Antiochus did not scruple to transfer the dignity of the high-priest to the highest bidder (172–171). He immediately sent Sostrates, one of his officers, with a troop of Cyprian soldiers, to Jerusalem, to subdue any opposition that might be made, and to watch over the punctual delivery of the promised sums. Sostrates placed the soldiers in the fortified Acra to keep down the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and proclaimed the dismissal of Jason according to the king's order. The latter was either banished or he escaped from Jerusalem, whence he crossed over the Jordan into the land of the Ammonites. This district was governed by a Nabatæan prince, named Aretas, by whom he was cordially received. This change only increased the disorders in Jerusalem; the greater part of the people were indignant that Menelaus, who was a Benjamite, and not of the family of the high-priests, and who besides was known to be opposed to the patriarchal customs, had been invested with that holy dignity. Even the admirers of Greek customs and the lovers of innovations condemned the selection of Menelaus.
Both the followers of Jason and those who did not wish to break entirely with Judaism disapproved of his dismissal. But the malcontents were compelled to be silent, because they feared the presence of the Syrian officer and the Cyprian troops which he commanded; but great excitement prevailed in the minds of the people, and threatened to break forth at the earliest opportunity. Menelaus brought matters to a climax. He had promised the king more than he could give in payment for the dignity he had received. Antiochus was indignant, and summoned him to come and justify himself. Compelled to go to Antioch, he left the capital in charge of his brother Lysimachus, who was as unconscientious as himself, and took holy gifts out of the Temple, intending to sell them in order to make up the required sum. Not finding the king at home, he bribed his lieutenant Andronicus with part of the costly vessels. The worthy high-priest, Onias III., who still resided at Antioch, heard of this crime; he also learnt that Menelaus had sold utensils from the Temple in Tyre and other Phœnician towns. Indignant at such behaviour, he accused Menelaus of robbing the Temple, a crime which was considered heinous even amongst the Greeks. This accusation hastened the death of the deposed high-priest. For Menelaus conspired with Andronicus to remove Onias before the king was informed of the theft committed in the Temple, and of the use made of the plunder. Andronicus, being himself implicated, was anxious to make Onias harmless. He enticed him from the temple of Apollo at Daphne, near Antioch, where he had taken refuge, and slew him (171). This was one more crime added to those of which Menelaus had already been guilty. The murder of the high-priest produced a great sensation, even among the Greeks in Syria, and Antiochus, on his return, was compelled to punish the murderer Andronicus.
Meanwhile Menelaus, although his accuser had been silenced, was forced to try to conciliate the king. In order to do this, he ordered his brother Lysimachus to steal some more of the treasures of the Temple. These thefts, however, did not remain unnoticed; as soon as they were discovered and the perpetrator found out, there arose a feeling of great bitterness against him, which culminated in violence. When the shameful conduct of the two brothers became known to the people outside of Jerusalem, they hurried into the city, and joining the inhabitants of the capital, they threatened the violator of the Temple with death. Lysimachus armed his followers, and placed at their head a man named Avran, an old comrade and fellow-sinner. The unarmed people were not frightened by the soldiers, but attacked them with stones and sticks, blinded them with heaps of ashes, killed a great many, and put others to flight. Lysimachus himself was slain in the vicinity of the treasury of the Temple. Menelaus naturally brought an accusation against the rebels of Jerusalem before the king, and the latter organised a judicial court in Tyre to try the cause. Three members of the council, whom the people had selected for the purpose, proved in so convincing a manner the guilt of Lysimachus and his brother in the matter of the desecration of the Temple that the verdict would have turned against him. But the inventive genius of Menelaus managed to secure the interest of a creature of like mould, who succeeded in turning the balance in favour of the culprit. Antiochus, from his seat of justice, exonerated the criminal Menelaus, whilst he condemned to death the three deputies from Jerusalem, who had so clearly proved his guilt. The Tyrian witnesses of this breach of justice evinced their displeasure by taking a sympathetic part in the funeral of the three noble men, but Menelaus and injustice triumphed. He retained his coveted power, and he formed plans to revenge himself upon the people that hated him so fiercely. He calumniated his enemies, that is to say, the whole nation, before the king. On the one hand, he maintained that his enemies were partisans of the Egyptian court, and that they persecuted him only because he opposed their party intrigues; on the other, Menelaus maligned Judaism; he said that the Law of Moses was replete with hatred of humanity, for it forbade the Jews to take part in the repasts of other nations, or to show any kindness to strangers. As Antiochus was then concentrating all his thoughts on the conquest of Egypt, he believed Menelaus's calumnies, and regarded the Judæans with distrust. If he undertook the hazardous expedition against Egypt, it would be dangerous to leave an enemy in his rear who might become formidable.
At last he carried out his long-cherished plan of attacking Egypt. A pretext for war is easily found, and Antiochus soon discovered one. His sister Cleopatra, married to Ptolemy V., had died, and left two infant sons, Philometor and Physcon, the former of whom was the nominal king, but his two guardians, Eulæus and Lenæus, ruled the country. Antiochus pretended that he was only anticipating the war which would shortly be directed against himself, and assembled his troops to make a descent upon Egypt. He delayed his attack, however, for some time, out of fear of the Romans. But when the latter became involved in a new war with Perseus, king of Macedonia, he ventured at last to cross the Egyptian frontier (170). He defeated the Egyptian army near Pelusium, and penetrated deeper into the country.
The two guardians fled with the young king Philometor. Thereupon Antiochus took possession of the whole of northern Egypt, and advanced to Alexandria to besiege it. The inhabitants meanwhile proclaimed the younger brother Ptolemy Physcon king, and defended the town so valiantly that the Syrian king despaired of conquering it. He therefore entered into negotiations with the elder brother, sent for him, signed a treaty with him, and pretended to continue the war for his benefit. The two kings "at one table spake lies to each other." In Judæa the consequences of the war were watched with eager suspense. If the Egyptians were victorious, the probability was that the sad misfortunes brought about by the hated high-priest would come to an end. The Egyptian court favoured the national Judæan party, and received all the patriots who fled from the tyranny of Antiochus and Menelaus. The report was suddenly spread that Antiochus had fallen, and the intelligence produced great excitement. The deposed high-priest Jason left the Ammonites, with whom he had found refuge, and hurried to Jerusalem, accompanied by a thousand men, by whose aid he hoped to take possession of the town. Menelaus barricaded the gates of Jerusalem, and fought the enemy from the walls. Thus arose a civil war through the ambition of two men, who both sought the high-priesthood as a road to power. But as only a small number of the inhabitants sided with Menelaus, Jason succeeded in entering Jerusalem with his troops. Menelaus took refuge within the walls of the Acra.
Meanwhile Antiochus left Egypt with rich spoils (169), perhaps with the intention of raising new troops. Having heard of the occurrences in Jerusalem, his anger was roused against the Judæans, and the Covenant of Judaism; his wicked, inhuman nature broke forth against the people. He suddenly attacked Jerusalem, and massacred the inhabitants without regard to age or sex, slaughtering friend and foe alike. He forced his way into the Temple, and entered even the Holy of Holies, and as a mark of contempt for the God who was worshipped there, he removed the golden altar, the candlestick, the table, the golden vessels, and all the treasures which still remained. Menelaus acted as guide in this spoliation of the Temple. Antiochus blasphemed the God of Israel, whose omnipotence was sung by His followers, but whom he scorned, because He did not interfere with these sacrilegious actions. To palliate both the massacre of innocent people and the desecration of the Temple, he invented a falsehood which long afterwards continued to bring Judaism into bad repute amongst all civilised nations. Antiochus declared that he had seen in the Holy of Holies the statue of a man with a long beard, mounted on an ass, and holding a book in its hand. He believed it to be the statue of the law-giver Moses, who had given the Judæans inhuman, horrible laws to separate them from all other peoples. Amongst the Greeks and Romans the rumour was spread that Antiochus had found the head of an ass made of gold in the Temple, which the Judæans venerated, and that consequently they worshipped asses. Antiochus was probably the author of another horrible lie invented to blacken the Judæans: it was said that he had discovered, lying in bed in the Temple, a Greek, who entreated to be released, as the Judæans were in the habit of killing a Greek every year, and feeding on his intestines, meanwhile swearing hatred against all Greeks, whom they were determined to destroy. Whether this vile calumny proceeded directly from Antiochus, or whether these fables were only attributed to him, there is no doubt that he blackened the reputation of the Judæans by spreading the report that Judaism inculcated hatred towards all other nations. This was the first fruit of the long-cherished wish to be associated with the Greeks.
A veil of grief was drawn over Jerusalem, and the house of Jacob was dishonoured.
"The leaders and the elders moaned, youths and maidens hid themselves, the beauty of the women was disfigured, the bridegroom lifted up his voice in sorrow instead of joyous song, and the bride wept in her bridal chamber." (1 Macc. i. 26–28.)
But this was by no means the end; more sorrowful days were in store for Judæa. Antiochus undertook a second campaign against Egypt, and the Judæans were destined a second time to suffer from his anger at the unsuccessful termination of the war. The two royal brothers Philometor and Physcon were reconciled with each other by the help of their sister and the Romans; Philometor was proclaimed king in Alexandria. Antiochus was furious at this; for his desire was to employ the helpless and cowardly Philometor as his tool, and to rule Egypt through him. As the Romans were still involved in a Macedonian war, he thought he might venture to attack Egypt a second time (168). He entered the country without opposition, and pushed on as far as Alexandria; the king of Egypt had meanwhile despatched envoys to Rome to ask for help from the senate. Three Roman deputies, with instructions to tarry on the road until they heard the issue of the Macedonian war, were thereupon sent to Antiochus to bid him desist. After the successful battle of Pydna, the destruction of the Macedonian army, and the flight of King Perseus (June 22, 168), the three Roman deputies hurried to the camp of Antiochus, and brought him the command of the senate to leave Egypt. When the Syrian king asked for time to consider, Popillius Lænas, drawing a circle with his stick, sternly declared that, before stepping out of this circle, Antiochus was to state whether he wished for peace or war with Rome. Antiochus knew how inexorable were Roman commands, and therefore determined to depart immediately (end of June, 168).
Antiochus, "the Illustrious," returned to his capital. The knowledge of his humiliation tormented him the more, as he had to feign friendship and satisfaction before the Romans. He vented his secret anger in unparalleled cruelties upon the Judæans. They had, he said, shown pleasure at his degradation; they had proclaimed aloud that the God they worshipped humbled the haughty, and had therefore prepared this mortification for him. Apollonius, one of his princely subjects, and former governor of Mysia, entered the Judæan capital, accompanied by fierce troops, apparently with peaceful intentions. Suddenly, however, on a Sabbath, when resistance was impossible, the Greek or Macedonian mercenaries threw themselves on the inhabitants, killed men and youths, took women and children prisoners, and sent them to the slave markets. Apollonius also destroyed many houses in the capital, and pulled down the walls of Jerusalem, for he wished it to disappear from the list of important cities. What induced the madman and his wild troops to spare the Sanctuary? They did not destroy it, because Antiochus wanted the Temple for another purpose; but they gave vent to their anger by attacking its surroundings, burning the wooden gates, and destroying the halls "with hammer and axe." Within the Temple there was nothing left to steal. The inhabitants who had not met with death escaped, and only the most rabid Hellenists, the Syrian soldiers, and strangers remained in the deserted places. "Jerusalem became strange to her own children." The Temple was also abandoned, for the faithful priests and Levites had left, and the Hellenists did not trouble themselves about the sacred building; the Acra was their resort. Here was stationed the strong Syrian garrison, and here also dwelt the Hellenists. This place was protected against any attack by high, strong walls and towers overlooking the Temple, and it was filled with arms and provisions.
The desolation soon became unbearable to Menelaus, the instigator of all these horrors. Of what use was it to be high-priest if no worshippers came to the Temple, or to be ruler over the nation if the people turned their backs upon him? Hearing nothing but the echo of his own voice, he became gloomy. To free himself from this painful position he resorted to new infamy. Judaism, with its laws and customs, was to be abolished, and its followers were to be compelled to adopt the Greek faith. Antiochus, full of hatred and anger against both the Judæans and their religion, acceded to Menelaus's plan, and had it carried out with his usual inflexibility. The Judæans were to become Hellenised, and thereby reduced to obedience, or, if they opposed his will, to be put to death. He not only wished to become master of the Judæan people, but to prove to them the impotence of the God they served so faithfully. He, who disdained the gods of his ancestors, considered it mockery that the Judæans should still hope that their God would destroy him, the proud blasphemer, and he determined to challenge and defeat the God of Israel. Thereupon Antiochus issued a decree, which was sent forth to all the towns of Judæa, commanding the people to renounce the laws of their God, and to offer sacrifice only to the Greek gods. Altars and idols were to be erected everywhere for that purpose, and, in order to strike an effectual blow at Judaism, Antiochus ordained that unclean animals, particularly swine, should be used at the sacrifices. He forbade, under severe penalty, three religious rites which outwardly distinguished the Judæans from the heathen, namely, circumcision, the keeping of the Sabbath and the festivals, and the abstinence from unclean food. Officials were appointed to see that his orders were carefully carried out, and these officials were hard-hearted men, who punished with death any person infringing the royal commands. The Temple was first desecrated, and Antiochus himself sent a noble Antiochian thither to dedicate the Sanctuary to Jupiter. A swine was sacrificed on the altar in the court, and its blood was sprinkled in the Holy of Holies, on the stone which Antiochus had imagined to be the statue of Moses; the flesh was cooked, and its juice spilt over the leaves of the Holy Scriptures. The so-called high-priest Menelaus and the other Judæan Hellenists were to partake of the swine's flesh. The roll of the Law, which was found in the Temple, was not only bespattered, but burnt, because this teacher of purity and love for all humanity,—so Antiochus maintained,—inculcated hatred of mankind. This was its first baptism of fire. The statue of Jupiter, "the abomination of destruction," was then placed on the altar, and to him sacrifices were henceforth to be offered (17 Tammuz, July, 168).
Thus the Temple in Jerusalem, the only place of holiness on earth, was thoroughly desecrated, and the God of Israel was apparently unseated by the Hellenic Zeus. How will the people bear this unparalleled violation? Will they submit to the stern edict of the heartless king and his officials, and allow themselves to be deprived of their nationality and their God? It was a severe and momentous ordeal. Death threatened all those who openly confessed Judaism, and they dared not even call themselves Judæans. But the persecuted people came out of their trial victoriously, and the blood of martyrs sealed their union with God and His Law.
The Judæans who were dispersed in Syrian and Phœnician towns, in closest proximity to the Greeks, and were included in this forced conversion, affected submission to the order, sacrificed to the Greek gods, and concealed or denied their religion. But even amongst these some remained faithful, and gave their lives in testimony of the truth of the Law. In Antioch an aged man named Eleazar suffered a martyr's death rather than partake of the idolatrous sacrifices. It was related in Jewish circles outside of Judæa, that a mother and seven sons, defying threats and persuasion, cheerfully went into death for the Law. These heroic martyrs, both young and old, set a noble example to the Judæans, and the number of those who suffered for their faith increased from day to day. The overseers whom Antiochus had appointed to carry out his decrees directed their attention to the smaller towns, whither the inhabitants of Jerusalem had fled. Here they built altars, and summoned the people in the name of the king to offer swine to Jupiter, and then to eat the flesh, and to break the Sabbath by working on the day of rest. They particularly insisted that sacrifices should be offered every month on the date which corresponded to that of Antiochus's birthday. On the bacchanalian festival of Dionysus, the celebration of which consisted in opening barrels of wine, they were compelled to deck themselves with ivy, like the Greeks, to institute processions, and to utter wild cries of joy in honour of the Greek Bacchus. When one of the officials came into a country town, and called the people together to give proofs of their secession from Judaism, he found but few to meet him. Many had fled and sought shelter in the caves and ravines of the Judæan mountains, or in the waste land near the Dead Sea. Antiochus was greatly irritated by this resistance, and he issued command upon command, recommending the utmost cruelty in the punishment of the disobedient people. The officials therefore continued their persecutions with redoubled zeal. They tore and burnt the rolls of the Law whenever they found them, and killed those who were found to seek strength and consolation in their perusal. They destroyed all houses of worship and education, and if they found women in confinement who, in the absence of their husbands, circumcised their sons themselves, these barbarians hanged them with their babes on the walls of the city.
But all such cruelties, instead of intimidating the people, only increased their determined resistance. Death had lost its terrors. Many preferred even death to violating the dietary laws. This noble firmness was particularly encouraged by the strictly religious sect of Chasidim. Some of these emerged from their hiding-places, and entering towns and villages, called the inhabitants together, spoke with warmth and conviction, and incited them to be steadfast and constant. Their preaching was all the more effective as they gave proof of indomitable courage in the face of death.
Before long, however, the Syrian commanders in Jerusalem discovered the leaders of this courageous resistance; some reprobate Hellenists had probably betrayed the hiding-place of the Chasidim. Thereupon the Phrygian Philip, commander of the garrison, went in search of the concealed fugitives. On a Sabbath he and his soldiers surrounded the caves in which thousands of men, women and children had sought refuge, he summoned them to come out in obedience to Antiochus's commands, and promised them safety if they submitted voluntarily to his orders. They answered unanimously, "We will not obey your command to break the Sabbath." Then Philip ordered his troops to commence the attack. The Chasidim looked on with undaunted courage, but did not try to defend themselves, nor to raise a stone to close the entrance to the caves, for fear of desecrating the Sabbath. Thus calling heaven and earth to witness their innocence, all the people perished in the caves by the hands of the murderous followers of Philip. Some were killed by the firebrands thrown into the caves, whilst others were suffocated by the smoke, which had penetrated into the interior.
Great was the grief of the faithful Judæans when they learned the horrible death of the men who had been to them a light and an example. The most courageous lost heart. What was to be the outcome of this unbearable position? The faithful were bowed down by the thought that Heaven vouchsafed them no visible sign of hope in this, their unparalleled trial; no prophet rose up to foretell when this fearful ordeal was to end.
When the bloody persecution of the Judæan people had reached such a height that either the destruction of the whole nation, or their submission from exhaustion and despair seemed imminent, an open rebellion took the place of passive resistance.
It was brought about by a family whose members combined the purest piety with courage, wisdom and prudence; this was the family of the Hasmonæans or Maccabees. An aged father and five heroic sons brought about a revolution, and kindled a spirit of enthusiasm which secured the existence of Judaism for all time. The aged father, Mattathias, was the son of Johanan, son of Simon Hasmonai, an Aaronide; he had left Jerusalem in consequence of the desecration of the Temple, and had established himself in the small town of Modin, three miles north of Jerusalem. His five sons, who all helped to raise the people from its deep degradation, and found their death in defending their country, bore Aramaic names: Johanan Gadi, Simon Tharsi, Judas Maccabi, Eleazar Hawran, and Jonathan Haphus. This family of Hasmonæans, who had many followers, on account of the consideration in which they were held, felt the miserable condition of their country with poignant sorrow. "What is life to us, now that the Sanctuary is desecrated and Judæa has become a slave?" Thus spoke Mattathias to his sons, and he determined not to remain quiet and sorrowing in his hiding-place, but either to help the good cause or to die courageously for it.
When Apelles, one of the Syrian overseers, reached Modin, to summon the inhabitants to abandon the Law and to become idolaters, Mattathias and his sons intentionally appeared, and when commanded to set an example of submission, the former answered: "If all the people in the kingdom obey the order of the monarch, to depart from the faith of their fathers, I and my sons will abide by the Covenant of our forefathers." When one of the Judæans approached the altar to sacrifice to Jupiter, Mattathias could no longer restrain his wrath, but rushed upon the apostate, killing him at the altar. His sons, armed with long knives, fell upon Apelles and his troops, killed them, and destroyed the altar. This act proved the turning-point; it set an example of courageous resistance as against inactive despair. Immediately after this attack upon the officers of Antiochus, Mattathias cried out: "Whosoever is zealous for the Law, and whosoever wishes to support the Covenant, follow me." Thereupon the inhabitants of Modin and the vicinity followed him to a secure hiding-place which he selected for them in the mountains of Ephraim; and there the remainder of the Chasidim, who had escaped death in the caves, and all those who had fled from oppression joined him.
The number of resolute defenders of their country daily increased. Mattathias did not conceal from them that they would have to fight hard battles, but exhorted them to be ready to face death. Warned by the exaggerated piety of the Chasidim, who had scrupled to move a stone on the Sabbath in their own defence, the assembly which surrounded the aged Hasmonæan decided to repulse with arms any attack made upon them even on the day of rest. The Chasidim accepted this decision, and the men of peace, hitherto entirely absorbed in the Holy Scriptures, now prepared to wage war. A commander who inspires confidence creates warriors. There was a recurrence of the hopeless condition which had prevailed at the time of the Judges and at the beginning of Saul's reign. Some of the inhabitants were hiding themselves in caves, others went over to the enemy, and only a small number were willing to sacrifice their lives for their country; they had no arms, and knew nothing of warfare. Victory seemed more hopeless now than in those olden days. Mattathias was careful not to wage open war against the Syrians with his small band. Well acquainted with every inch of the country, he entered the towns unexpectedly with his sons and followers, destroyed the idolatrous temples and altars, punished the inhabitants who sided with the enemy, chastised the Hellenists whenever he came upon them, and admitted into the Covenant the children that had been left uncircumcised. From time to time he routed small troops of Syrian soldiers whom he happened to encounter, but whenever the commander of the garrison of Jerusalem sent a larger detachment to pursue the rebellious Judæans, the latter disappeared as suddenly as they had come. In short, Mattathias waged a kind of petty warfare against the enemy, such as can be carried on only in mountainous districts, but may wear out the most powerful enemy.
When the death of the aged Mattathias drew nigh (167), his followers had no need to be anxious about his successor; the only difficulty was the choice of one from amongst his five heroic sons. The dying father designated Simon as a wise counsellor, and Judas as the commander, and exhorted them all to sacrifice their lives for the Covenant of their forefathers, and to fight God's battle. As soon as Judas Maccabæus was in command, matters took a favourable turn. He was a warrior such as the house of Israel had not known since the time of David and Joab, than whom he was nobler and purer. Invisible strength seemed to emanate from his hero-soul, which imbued all who surrounded him with the same dauntless courage. He was endowed with the instincts of a general, and this enabled him to fight at the right moment, to take advantage of his enemy's weakness, and to deceive him by means of feigned attacks. In the hour of battle, "he was like a lion in his rage," and when at rest, like a dove in gentleness and simplicity. He was as resigned to the will of God as the holiest men of old in Israel, and relied not on his sword, but on God's help, praying to Him before each decisive action. Judas Maccabæus was a true hero of Israel, who only resorted to bloodshed when compelled by necessity in order to recover lost freedom, and to raise a humbled people. He gave his name to the whole epoch.
At first he followed the example of his father, and sallied out only secretly or at night to punish the apostates, to win over the wavering, and to harass small bands of Syrian troops. But as the number of his followers steadily increased, augmented by pretended converts to heathendom, who were glad to throw off their masks, and by those who were cured of their love for the Greeks by the cruelty and despotism of the latter, Judas ventured to confront a Syrian army under Apollonius. The latter had united the garrison at Samaria with other troops which he had collected in order to fight the rebels, for he had deemed it imprudent to withdraw the soldiers from Jerusalem, or rather, from the Acra. This was the first open battle which Judas fought, and success rewarded his valour. Apollonius was killed, and his soldiers were either slain on the battle-field, or sought safety in flight. Though the number of the defeated Syrians was small, still this victory encouraged the Judæans. They had met the cruel foe face to face, and their daring had triumphed; they considered it a proof that God had not abandoned His people, but still watched over and protected them. Judas took the sword which had dropped from the hand of Apollonius, and fought with it until his death.
A Syrian commander named Heron, guided by some treacherous Hellenists, pursued Judas and his followers into the mountains, and hoped to crush them with his overwhelming numbers. When the Judæan soldiers first saw the great numbers of men assembled near Bethhoron, they cried out, "How can we wage war against such an enemy?" But Judas knew how to calm their fears, and reminded them of the precious treasures they were called upon to defend,—their lives, their children, and the Law. A vigorous attack was made on the Syrians, who were totally defeated. Eight hundred men of Heron's army remained dead on the battle-field, and the others fled westward into the land of the Philistines. This first decisive victory of Judas, at Bethhoron, over a much larger army than his own (166), inspired the Judæans with confidence, and filled their enemies with terror; they were amazed both at the bravery and the strategical skill of the Maccabee, and at the endurance of the people.
What was Antiochus, the author of all these calamities, doing meanwhile? At first he troubled himself little about the Judæans, foolishly believing that his decrees would suffice to subdue and convert them. But when he learned of the losses of his army, and when the fame of Judas reached his ear, he at last admitted that he had underrated his enemy's power of resistance. In the first moment of anger he determined to send forth a large army, and make an end of his refractory opponents. But he was unable to carry out his plans immediately; he had few troops left, and would have been compelled to obtain mercenaries. For this purpose he needed money, and his treasury was but scantily supplied; for his extravagant expenditures were greatly in excess of his revenues, and owing to the war with Judas, the taxes were not collected in Judæa. Other embarrassments were added to these, for alarming news reached him from the east and the north. Arsaces, his satrap of Parthia, had revolted against the Syrio-Babylonian Empire, and had freed himself and his people. Artaxias, king of Armenia, totally ignored his fealty to Antiochus, and acted like an independent sovereign. The inhabitants of Aradus, and other Phœnician towns, also refused to obey him, and thus his revenues decreased steadily. In order to replenish his treasury he would have been compelled to wage war against these revolted nations, but to carry on this war he needed money. Thus he fell from one trouble into another; but, somehow, the half-insane Antiochus managed to hire some mercenary troops for a year. Intending to lead half of the troops himself against the rebellious provinces beyond the Euphrates, he placed the other half under the command of Lysias, a man of royal parentage, whom he appointed his lieutenant for the country between the Euphrates and the Egyptian border. To Lysias also he entrusted the education of his son. Antiochus's intentions regarding Judæa were now quite altered. Hellenisation was no longer thought of. His plan of changing the Jews into Greek citizens had been frustrated. They had shown themselves incorrigible, and quite unworthy of the benefit he wished to confer upon them. He therefore determined that they should be exterminated. He commissioned Lysias to march against Judæa with the troops left in his charge, and, after conquering the Judæans, to destroy and uproot every remnant of Israel and every trace of Jerusalem; and the land was to be colonised by foreign tribes, and divided among them. The Judæan Hellenists were likewise comprised in this plan of destruction. Antiochus gave them up to their fate. He did not care for the small number who slavishly adhered to his commands. As soon as this plan became known, all the Judæans were seized with terror and despair, especially those who lived among other nations, outside of Judæa. Would the small but heroic army, under the guidance of the Maccabees, be able to resist the onslaught of a numerous horde, provided with elephants? "In every town, and in every country, where the king's commands became known, great terror filled the hearts of the Judæans, and they fasted and wept. The Elders dressed themselves in their penitential garb, and lay in ashes." But this unprecedentedly cruel plan of destroying a whole people, men, women and children, roused new champions for the defence of their country. Even the more worldly-minded men among the Judæans, and those who, though anxious for innovation, had not entirely fallen away from Judaism, now joined the Maccabees, for they had no other alternative.
However, the actual state of affairs was dismal enough. A large Syrian army was expected at every moment to crush the Judæan soldiers. It was absolutely necessary, therefore, that the whole nation should be animated with enthusiasm to fight and to endure. A peculiar book was compiled to further this object, and circulated amongst the more educated of the Judæans; this was the Book of Daniel. It was undoubtedly written by one of the Chasidim, and intended for his party. The object of this apocalyptic and artistically compiled work, written partly in Hebrew and partly in Chaldæan, was to give examples of firmness in adhering to religious convictions, to encourage the reader to endurance, and to make him feel that this bloody persecution of the people would not be of long duration. Even the most pious and faithful were beginning to doubt God's mercy, for no prophet appeared to reveal the object of their cruel sufferings, or to announce when they would cease. The Book of Daniel offered consolation in this respect, showing that prophecy was not wholly extinct in Israel, for here was a vision, which announced the aim, and predicted the end of their misery. "There is yet prophecy among us"—this is repeatedly urged as a consolation.
The Book first quotes examples of constancy in religious observances even under great difficulties and danger, and shows that this constancy was rewarded by a miraculous escape from death; the end of the book also contains prophecies for the future. The book further tells how the kings who violated the Sanctuary, or exercised religious despotism were humiliated, and forced to repent of their crimes. The Book of Daniel half conceals and half reveals, in a sort of allegory, the destruction of the wicked Syrian Empire, which was the heir to former kingdoms. It foretells that the fourth kingdom on earth, following that of the Babylonians, the Medo-Persians and the Macedonians, would utter foolish words against the Almighty, seek to destroy the pious and to turn them away from the festivals and the laws. The pious would fall into its clutches for "a time, two times, and half a time." Then dominion would pass into the hands of the people of the Holy One for ever, and all knees would bow down to Him. In another vision he saw the fourth Syrian Empire extending far away to the south, to the east and to the north, rising to the heavens, and casting down stars unto the earth, and crushing them. It would exalt itself over the King of the heavenly Hosts, it would abolish the daily sacrifice, and set up an idol in the Sanctuary. To the question:
"How long shall be the vision concerning the continual burnt-offering and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give up both the Sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?" (Daniel viii. 13.)
a voice answered—
"Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; when the Sanctuary shall be justified." (verse 14.)
The Book of Daniel, with its mystical revelations, was undoubtedly read with great interest by the Assidæans. The apocalyptic form, which gave each line a peculiar meaning, and reflected the present conditions, lent it a great attraction. Moreover, it solved the problem of the present calamities, and showed the object of the horrible persecutions; these were intended, on the one hand, to destroy sin, and on the other, to ennoble believers. It was evident that the duration of the period of affliction had been determined from the beginning, and that this very duration, too, had a secret meaning. The worldly kingdoms would disappear, and at the end of this time, God's kingdom, the kingdom of the holy ones, would commence, and those who had died or had been slain during the persecutions would awake to eternal life. Thus, though no prophet arose, still there existed a prophecy for the present time.