1 Maccabees 11

New Catholic Bible

Chapter 11

Demetrius II Becomes King. ¹ The king of Egypt then gathered a huge army, as numerous as the sands on the seashore, and also a great fleet of ships. His purpose was to take possession of Alexander’s kingdom by subterfuge and add it to his kingdom. ² He set out for Syria with protestations of peace, and the people of the towns opened their gates to him and went out to meet him. King Alexander had commanded them to do so, since Ptolemy was his father-in-law. ³ However, on entering the towns, Ptolemy stationed troops as a garrison in each one.

⁴ When he reached Azotus, he was shown the burnt-out temple of Dagon, Azotus and its outlying areas demolished, corpses strewn everywhere, and the charred remains of those burned by Jonathan in the fighting and stacked up in heaps along his route. ⁵ In an attempt to turn the king against Jonathan, they explained to him what Jonathan had done, but the king said nothing. ⁶ Jonathan met the king with pomp at Joppa, and they exchanged greetings and spent the night there. ⁷ Jonathan accompanied the king as far as the river called Eleutherus,^[a] and then he returned to Jerusalem.

⁸ King Ptolemy took possession of the cities along the seacoast as far as Seleucia by the sea,^[b] and he continued to devise wicked plans against Alexander. ⁹ He sent envoys to King Demetrius, saying: “Come, let us make a pact with each other. I will give you in marriage my daughter whom Alexander has married, and you will reign over the kingdom of your father. ¹⁰ I regret that I gave my daughter to him, for he has sought to kill me.”^{[c] 11} He made this deceitful accusation against Alexander because he coveted his kingdom. ¹² After taking his daughter away from him and giving her to Demetrius, Ptolemy ended his friendship with Alexander, and their enmity became clearly manifest. ¹³ Then Ptolemy entered Antioch and assumed the crown of Asia in addition to the crown of Egypt that he already possessed.

¹⁴ King Alexander was in Cilicia at that time because the people of that region were in revolt, ¹⁵ but when he was informed about what was occurring, he marched against Ptolemy, who opposed him with a strong force and put him to flight. ¹⁶ Alexander fled to Arabia to seek protection, and King Ptolemy’s triumph was complete ¹⁷ when Zabdiel the Arab cut off Alexander’s head and sent it to Ptolemy. ¹⁸ However, three days later King Ptolemy died, and his men in the fortified cities were killed by the inhabitants there. ¹⁹ Thus Demetrius became king in the year one hundred and sixty-seven.

²⁰ Jonathan Makes a Pact with Demetrius. At this juncture Jonathan mustered the men of Judea for an attack on the citadel in Jerusalem, and they set up a large number of engines of war to use against it. ²¹ However, some renegades who were traitors to their own nation went to the king and informed him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel. ²² When Demetrius heard this report, he was furious, and he immediately set out for Ptolemais. He also wrote to Jonathan, ordering him to end the siege and to meet him for a conference at Ptolemais as soon as possible.

²³ When Jonathan heard this, he gave orders to continue the siege. Then, selecting some elders of Israel and priests to accompany him, he placed himself in jeopardy ²⁴ by taking silver, gold, clothing, and numerous other gifts and journeying to Ptolemais, where by means of these gifts he won the favor of Demetrius. ²⁵ Although some renegade Jews of his own nation brought charges against him, ²⁶ the king treated him just as his predecessors had done and honored him in the presence of all his Friends. ²⁷ He confirmed him in the high priesthood and in all the other positions of honor he had previously held, and he had him enrolled among his Chief Friends.

²⁸ Jonathan asked the king to exempt Judea and the three districts^[d] of Samaria from tribute, and promised him three hundred talents in return. ²⁹ The king consented and wrote the following letter to Jonathan about all these matters:

³⁰ “King Demetrius sends greetings to his brother Jonathan and to the Jewish nation. ³¹ For your own information we are sending you a copy of the letter that we wrote to our kinsman Lasthenes^[e] concerning you, as follows: ³² ‘King Demetrius sends greetings to his father Lasthenes. ³³ Since the Jewish people are our friends and fulfill their obligations to us, we have decided to reward them. ³⁴ Therefore, we confirm their possession of the territory of Judea and of the three districts of Aphairema, Lydda, and Ramathaim. These districts, with all their dependencies, were annexed to Judea from Samaria for the benefit of all those who offer sacrifices for us at Jerusalem instead of paying the royal taxes that the king formerly received from them every year from the crops of the land and the fruit of the trees. ³⁵ From this day forward we also release them from the payment of other revenues that are due to us—that is, tithes, and tribute, the tax on the salt pits, and the crown taxes. ³⁶ These provisions shall be irrevocable from this moment for all time. ³⁷ Be sure, therefore, to have a copy of them made and given to Jonathan, so that it may be displayed in a conspicuous place on the holy mountain.’ ”

³⁸ Jonathan’s Forces Save Demetrius. When King Demetrius saw that the country was at peace under his rule and that there was no opposition to him, he dismissed his forces, sending all of them to their own homes except for the foreign troops that he had recruited from the islands of the nations. As a result, all the soldiers who had served under his predecessors hated him. ³⁹ Trypho, one of Alexander’s former supporters, observed that all the soldiers were grumbling against Demetrius. He went to see Imalkue the Arab, who was bringing up Antiochus, Alexander’s young son, ⁴⁰ and repeatedly urged him to hand over the boy to him so that he could become king in place of his father. During his stay there for many days, he also reported to Imalkue everything that Demetrius had done and the hatred that his soldiers felt toward him.

⁴¹ Meanwhile, Jonathan sent a report to King Demetrius asking that he withdraw his troops from the citadel in Jerusalem and from the strongholds, for they showed constant hostility toward Israel. ⁴² In reply, Demetrius sent this message back to Jonathan: “I will not only do this for you and your nation, but I will also confer great honor upon you and your nation whenever the opportunity presents itself. ⁴³ In return, please do me the favor of sending men to fight for me, because all my troops have deserted.”

⁴⁴ Therefore, Jonathan sent three thousand skilled fighting men to him at Antioch, and when they reached the king, he was delighted at their arrival, ⁴⁵ for the people, one hundred and twenty thousand strong, had massed together in the center of the city, intending to kill him. ⁴⁶ However, the king took refuge in the palace, while the people seized control of the main streets of the city and began to fight. ⁴⁷ The king then summoned the Jews to come to his aid. They immediately rallied around him and then spread out through the city. On that day they killed about one hundred thousand of its inhabitants, ⁴⁸ after which they set fire to the city and seized a great amount of booty. Thus they saved the life of the king.

⁴⁹ When the people of the city realized that the Jews had the city at their mercy, their courage failed them, and they cried out to the king, making this entreaty: ⁵⁰ “Grant us terms of peace, and order the Jews to stop fighting against us and our city.” They threw down their arms and made peace. ⁵¹ The Jews thus gained glory in the eyes of the king and of all his subjects in the kingdom, and they returned to Jerusalem with a great amount of spoil.

⁵² However, when King Demetrius felt secure on his royal throne and the land was peaceful under his rule, ⁵³ he broke all the promises he had made and became estranged from Jonathan. Instead of rewarding Jonathan for all the services he had rendered him, he treated him very harshly.

⁵⁴ Jonathan Enters the Service of Antiochus VI. After this, Trypho returned, bringing with him the young boy Antiochus,^[f] who was crowned king. ⁵⁵ All the soldiers that Demetrius had discharged rallied to Antiochus and fought against Demetrius, who was routed and fled. ⁵⁶ Trypho captured the elephants and took control of Antioch.

⁵⁷ Then the young Antiochus wrote to Jonathan as follows: “I confirm you in the high priesthood, place you in authority over the four districts, and appoint you as one of the King’s Friends.” ⁵⁸ He also sent him a dinner service of gold plate and gave him the right to drink from gold vessels, to dress in royal purple, and to wear a gold buckle. ⁵⁹ He also appointed Jonathan’s brother Simon as governor of the region from the Ladder of Tyre^[g] to the frontiers of Egypt.

⁶⁰ Jonathan then set out and traveled through West-of-Euphrates^[h] and its cities, and the whole Syrian army rallied to his support. When he reached Ashkelon, the people of the city received him with great honor. ⁶¹ From there he proceeded to Gaza, but the people of Gaza closed their gates to him. Therefore, he besieged Gaza, burning down its suburbs and plundering them. ⁶² Then the people of Gaza pleaded with Jonathan for mercy, and he granted them peace, taking the sons of their rulers as hostages and sending them to Jerusalem. He then traveled through the country as far as Damascus.

⁶³ Jonathan heard that the generals of Demetrius had arrived at Kadesh in Galilee with a large army, intending to remove him from office. ⁶⁴ He went forth to confront them, leaving his brother Simon in the province. ⁶⁵ Simon encamped opposite Beth-zur, attacked it for many days, and blockaded the inhabitants within it. ⁶⁶ Finally, they sued for peace, which he granted to them, although he expelled them from the town, took possession of it, and stationed a garrison there.

⁶⁷ Meanwhile Jonathan and his army encamped by the Lake of Gennesaret. Early in the morning they marched to the Plain of Hazor.^{[i] 68} There in the plain was the army of the foreigners advancing to attack, having first prepared an ambush against him in the mountains. ⁶⁹ While the main force made a frontal attack, the troops in ambush emerged from their place of concealment and joined in the fighting. ⁷⁰ All of the men with Jonathan fled; not one of them was left except for Mattathias, son of Absalom, and Judas, son of Chalphi, the commanders of the army. ⁷¹ Jonathan tore his clothes, threw dust on his head, and prayed. ⁷² Then he resumed the battle and completely routed the enemy, who took to flight. ⁷³ When the fugitives from Jonathan’s army observed this, they returned to his banner and joined him in the pursuit of the enemy as far as their camp in Kadesh, where they encamped. ⁷⁴ About three thousand of the foreign troops fell on that day. Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem.