The Age of the Maccabees (Illustrated) (4 page)

On Antiochus’s conduct
at this time Prof. Mahaffy comments as follows: “I think his savage outbreak at
Jerusalem, where he sacrificed swine upon the altar, defiled the Holy of
Holies, and forced all the priests to pollute themselves, must have been caused
by some more special personal injuries on their part than the mere resistance
to his innovations. Our information is so scanty that we can only guess. In
some way the nationalist party in Judaea, and their relations in Egypt, must
have thwarted his advance and marred his campaign. We hear that his third
advance was slow; had he reached Alexandria but a few days sooner, he might
have seized the capital, murdered the royal princes, and then made his peace
with the Romans when the game was won. It seems likely that the opposition of
the patriotic party in Judea hindered his march, and so caused his signal
failure at the moment of victory”.

On the occasion of
another expedition against Egypt two years later (168 BC), Antiochus was met by
a Roman envoy, Caius Popilius Lenas, who handed him the Senate’s written order
to discontinue the war, and on his hesitation to promise acquiescence, drew a
circle around him with his stick on the sand, and required his decision before
he stepped across that boundary. At the moment that Antiochus yielded to this
peremptory demand, the empire of Alexander may be said to have visibly passed
over to the Romans. But to a man of the king's ferocity of temper the occasion
proved one on which he had to wreak his vengeance in some direction, and now,
asbefore, the Jews were the victims. Sending Apollonius, his collector of
tribute, with 20,000 men to Jerusalem, he gave command that it should be thoroughly
Hellenized. On the first Sabbath after his arrival Apollonius proceeded to
carry out his orders. Those who opposed were killed or sold into slavery, and
colonists brought in to fill their places. The city walls were demolished, but
the citadel was fortified, and the Syrian garrison held it securely through
Maccabean times till 142 BC. All distinctively Jewish practices were forbidden,
circumcision, the sacrificial system, abstinence from unclean food, even the
possession of the sacred Books. On the 15th of Chisleu,i.e. late in December,
168 BC, an altar to the Olympian Zeus was placed on the altar of
burnt-offering, and ten days later it was hanselled by the sacrifice of a sow.
The Jews were compelled to keep the festival of Dionysus (Bacchus), crowned with
ivy. Violence, including death, was the penalty for detection in the
infringement of any of these commands, which were rigidly enforced by officers
appointed to see to their observance in all parts of the country. To this time
belong the well-known stories of the martyrdom of the aged scribe Eleazar, and
of the mother and her seven sons. It was emphatically a time of sifting. “Judah
was searched, and that which was unworthy cast out. Waverers turned with
rekindled fervor to the God of their fathers. In their hiding-places on the
outskirts of the land, the faces of the Chasidim (Assideans) grew stern. The
soldiers of Jehovah were ready for battle, waiting in prayer for a God-sent man
to lead them”.

IN order to understand
the importance of the Maccabean revolt as a specially important epoch in the
history of Judaism, we must contemplate it on the one hand in its relation to
the establishment of the Law under Ezra and Nehemiah, and on the other hand in
its reference to the completion of the literary work which goes by the name of
the Mishnah (circ. 200 AD).

When the Temple-worship
at Jerusalem was reestablished, there was placed before the pious Jew in detail
the ceremonial, as well as other, duties which that Law entailed. The festival
celebrations, the sacrifices and other offerings on stated occasions, the
tribute to be paid to the priests, and in general the rites necessary to be
performed regularly or on special occasions, on the penalty of forfeiting the
favor of the Almighty—all these were set forth with particularity, to be
carried out with the utmost punctilio. Further, the study of the Law was given
in charge to a body of men, the scribes, whose duty should be to enforce its
regulations, explain its meaning, and draw such inferences as might be needed
in the complicated circumstances of religious duty. Absolute precision was
essential in carrying out the requirements of the Law. How should that
precision be attained, except by an authorized interpretation? In the course of
centuries these guardians of the Law had heaped up a vast number of traditions,
more or less directly based on the groundwork of the text which was in their
keeping, and intended to provide answers for the variety of questions actually
arising, or which might well be expected to arise, touching its requirements.
This gradually growing body of decisions, which by the end of the second
centuryAD was formed into the Mishnah (the common basis of the Talmuds of
Jerusalem and Babylon), had not of course acquired in Maccabean times the
fullness which it afterwards exhibits. Nevertheless, it is clear that the
Assideans, and all those who with them placed a high value upon the distinctive
religious rites of the nation, were even at this date strong supporters of the
sanctity of the ceremonial enjoined, or suggested by inference from that which
was enjoined, in the five “Books of Moses” (the Torah). A considerable measure
of enthusiasm for the Law already doubtless existed among those who were wholly
opposed to the encroachments of the Hellenistic spirit, to which we have
referred in previous chapters.

On the other hand, we
gather from the general tenor of the history that those who favored Hellenism
were in the majority in Judea during the times immediately preceding the
Maccabean outbreak. Not only were the Jews compelled from the needs of commerce
to acquaint themselves with the Greek language, but it is also evident that the
attempts to introduce Greek customs into Judea met with considerable success.
If then there had been no violent means used to this end, and things had been
permitted to go smoothly on in Judea, as had been the case in Syria and in
Egypt, it seems humanly speaking probable that as in the latter cases, so in
the former, the Judaism of Palestine would have taken a more or less
Hellenistic form. “For it belonged to the very essence of Hellenism that it
should dominate and color the modes of religions worship, and at least clothe
them in Grecian garments. We find it so in Syria as well as in Egypt”.

But although, as far as
numbers go, those who favored Greek ways seem to have been in the ascendant in
Judea, the check was sudden and effective. The violent attempt of Antiochus
Epiphanes to "rush" (in modern phrase) his policy and abolish Judaism
at one blow, aroused the spirit which found expression in the Maccabean revolt.
“It was just the extreme and radical character of the attempt that saved
Judaism. For now not only the strict party of Chasidim, but the whole mass of the
people, was roused to do battle for the old faith. And the further development
of events led to the complete expulsion of Hellenism from Jewish soil, at least
in matters of religion. So far as our information reaches, this is the only
example of an Oriental religion completely emancipating itself from the
influence of Hellenism”. It is true that the need in pre-Maccabean days of
resisting the seduction of Greek manners had already done something in this
direction. None the less did the savagery of Epiphanes bring about the saving
crisis of Judaism.

The contemplation,
however, of the Maccabean revolt from this point of view must not cause us to
forget that its leaders were in constant intercourse with Greeks. Although in
one sense those leaders were fiercely Semitic and national in their aims, they
were willing to deal in the way of treaties with the Seleucid kings or the
Roman Senate, and, as Prof. Mahaffy observes, in a case of the latter kind
(circ. 129 BC) “the very names of the ambassadors — Simon, son of Dositheus;
Apollonius, son of Alexander; and Diodorus, son of Jason, cultivated men, who
doubtless spoke Greek perfectly at Rome—show the worldly side of John
Hyrcanus”.

We have spoken of the
barbarities practiced upon the Jews by order of Antiochus Epiphanes, and the
martyrdoms which were the outcome of Jewish heroism. The Assideans and those
whom by preaching and example they encouraged to resistance, took refuge, as
their forefathers had done, in caves and other hiding-places. At first the
Assideans would not permit their followers to defend their positions if
assailed on the Sabbath, and we are told that on one such occasion Philip, the
Phrygian commander of the Syrian forces, was able to destroy vast numbers of
the fugitives by applying fire to the caves in which they had sought refuge.

Hope at last appeared,
and the heroism of Mattathias and his family supplied the leadership which was
needed by the afflicted nation. He belonged to the priestly family of the
Hasmoneans, so called from Chasmon, his great-grandfather. He was an old man,
and his sons were all in their prime. He had withdrawn from Jerusalem, when the
state of affairs rendered it impossible for him to discharge his priestly
functions there, to Modin, his home. The emissaries of the king, in the course
of their expeditions for the purpose of extirpating Jewish rites, arrived at
Modin, and urged Mattathias to sacrifice to Jupiter, promising advancement, if
he would comply. When he stoutly refused, on behalf of himself and his family,
to forsake the law of his fathers, even should he stand alone in resistance, he
saw a Jew step forward to comply with the commissioners’ demand. This spark
kindled the flame. With his own hand he slew his recreant fellow-countryman,
while his sons killed Apelles, the leader, and his soldiers, and destroyed the
altar of sacrifice. Thereupon Mattathias summoned all to follow him to the
mountains, where he carried on for a year a successful warfare, harassing the
enemy, and careful not to meet them in the open, as long as his forces were
still untrained to cope with anything like disciplined troops. He persuaded
even the more rigid of his followers to give up their scruples as to
self-defence on the Sabbath. His adherents constantly increased, and although,
as in the times of the Judges and early in the reign of Saul, they had to live
for the most part in hiding-places, they gradually gained experience in
warfare, as well as courage from the successes gained in unlooked-for descents
upon towns occupied by the enemy, where he slew foes and apostates alike,
circumcised the children, and destroyed symbols of idolatry.

In 167 BC, feeling
death approaching, he committed the cause to his five sons, exhorting them to
be faithful to the charge thus laid on them. Each of them had a distinguishing
epithet. John was Gaddis, “the Holy”: Simon, Thassi, “Guide”; Judas, Maccabeus,
“the Hammer”;Eleazar, Avaran, “the Beastslayer”; Jonathan, Apphus, “the
Cunning”. John, as the eldest, was head of the family, but their father,
knowing their natural aptitudes, named Simon as the adviser, and Judas the
leader in war. The selection was justified by events. Judas showed himself
possessed of ability, patriotism, modesty, tactical skill, unfailing courage,
and military ardor, and won undying fame among heroes. “He was renowned unto
the utmost part of the earth, and he gathered together such as were ready to
perish”, is the enthusiastic summing up of his merits by the native historian
of his times.

After a while spent in
completing the training and organization of his men by the same tactics as had
been adopted by his father, he soon succeeded in defeating and slaying
Apollonius, the commander of the Syrian detachment, and set an example of
turning the enemy’s arms upon himself, by ever after using the sword which he
had thus captured. Not long-subsequently, in the pass of Beth-horon, encouraged
no doubt by the memory of Joshua's overthrow of the five kings of the Amorites,
he completely routed the army of Coele-Syria under Seron.

Antiochus, roused to
indignation by these unexpected defeats, and prevented from avenging them in
person by the need of suppressing insurrections against his authority in
Parthia and Armenia, entrusted an army of mercenaries to Lysias, his son’s
guardian. His policy towards the Jews was now changed. Hitherto he had sought
to Hellenize them by planting colonists, who should induce them to give up all
their distinctive features as a nation, and become absorbed into the Greek
world. But now his end was to be obtained, not by absorption, but by
annihilation, and his orders were that the Jews should be exterminated, and the
land colonized by external troops.

Lysias for this service
chose three generals, Ptolemy, Nicanor, and Gorgias, with a force variously
estimated at twenty thousand and at forty thousand soldiers. His troops were so
confident of success that they were accompanied by Phoenician slave-traders,
with chains and money ready for the acquisition of the captives on whom they
reckoned, and whose price they had already fixed. They proceeded by the coast
route to Emmaus (now Amwas), twenty-two Roman miles N.W. of Jerusalem, near the
Jaffa road. Judas took up his quarters in the first instance at Mizpah, where
in old time, when the nation was in sore need, Samuel had procured for them a
victory decisive and with lasting results. Having inspired his followers with
enthusiasm by the display of a scroll of the Law, for the maintenance of whose
precepts they were about to fight, he led his forces, 6,000 in number, to a
position on the south of Emmaus, and thence into the hills. Gorgias, leaving
part of the Syrian army in charge of Nicanor, who was commander-in-chief,
proceeded by night to the hills to attack Judas's camp. Forewarned of this
plan, Judas had withdrawn his men, and, descending under cover of darkness to
the plain, appeared at Emmaus, and attacked and destroyed his enemy's position
with great slaughter. Gorgias, when day dawned, perceived the camp in flames,
and, not venturing to hazard a conflict with the foe thus flushed with success,
withdrew to the Philistine country. The booty, including much gold and silver,
proved of considerable value in facilitating the continuance of the struggle.
“And they returned home, and sang a song of thanksgiving, and gave praise unto heaven;
because His mercy is good, because His mercy endureth for ever”.

This took place in 166
BC In the following year Lysias resumed hostilities, this time leading in
person a large army of horse and foot along a circuitous route by way of
Idumea. He met with no better success, being completely overthrown at Beth-zur,
a town which commands the main road from Beer-sheba and Hebron to Jerusalem,
and which played an important part in the Maccabean struggle.

These signal successes
put a completely new face upon the Jewish resistance, and a lull in the contest
with their oppressors having now set in, Judas proceeded to Jerusalem, where
the citadel was still held by Menelaus under the protection of Syrian forces.
The deserted sanctuary, idolatrous altars, and images of Zeus and of Antiochus
would remind the Jewish leader that much yet remained to be done. The Temple
was now thoroughly cleansed of its pollutions. A new altar and new vessels were
provided, while a wall with two towers was erected as a defence against attacks
from the citadel. We gather that Hellenizing priests were rigidly excluded from
taking part in the restoration of the national religion, and doubtless
Menelaus, though still titular high priest, had no share in the proceedings. On
the removal of the polluted altar, a council of elders determined to place its
stones in one of the porches of the entrance court, “until there should come a
prophet to show  what should be done with them”  (1 Mace. 5. 40). In order that
the fire for the new sacrifice might come from a source of unquestioned purity,
it was obtained by striking stones together. Just three years to the day from
the defilement of the altar of burnt-offering by idolatrous sacrifice, the
consecration was effected. It was ordained that each year the festival
commemorative of this rededication should be held for eight days “with gladness
and joy” (1 Mace. 4. 59). Its name to this day is Chanukah (Consecration) or
the Feast of Lights, the latter symbolizing the reestablishment of the Divine
illumination of the Law.