1 Maccabees 10

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¹In the hundred and sixtieth year , the son of surnamed Epiphanes, went up and took : for the people had received him, by means whereof he reigned there, ²Now when king heard thereof, he gathered together an exceeding great host, and went forth against him to fight. ³Moreover sent letters unto with loving words, so as he magnified him. ⁴For said he, Let us first make peace with him, before he join with against us: ⁵Else he will remember all the evils that we have done against him, and against his brethren and his people. ⁶Wherefore he gave him to gather together an host, and to provide weapons, that he might aid him in battle: he commanded also that the hostages that were in the tower should be him. ⁷Then came to , and read the letters in the audience of all the people, and of them that were in the tower: ⁸Who were sore afraid, when they heard that the king had given him to gather together an host. ⁹Whereupon they of the tower their hostages unto , and he them unto their parents. ¹⁰This done, settled himself in , and began to build and repair the city. ¹¹And he commanded the workmen to build the walls and the mount and about with square stones for fortification; and they did so. ¹²Then the strangers, that were in the fortresses which had built, fled away; ¹³Insomuch as every man left his place, and went into his own country. ¹⁴Only at certain of those that had forsaken and remained still: for it was their place of refuge. ¹⁵Now when king had heard what promises had sent unto : when also it was told him of the battles and noble acts which he and his brethren had done, and of the pains that they had , ¹⁶He said, Shall we find such another man? now therefore we will make him our friend and confederate. ¹⁷Upon this he wrote a letter, and sent it unto him, according to these words, saying, ¹⁸King to his brother sendeth greeting: ¹⁹We have heard of thee, that thou art a man of great , and meet to be our friend. ²⁰Wherefore now this day we ordain thee to be the of thy nation, and to be called the king’s friend; (and therewithal he sent him a purple robe and a of gold:) and require thee to take our part, and keep friendship with us. ²¹So in the seventh month of the hundred and sixtieth year, at the feast of the tabernacles, put on the robe, and gathered together forces, and provided much armour. ²²Whereof when heard, he was very sorry, and said, ²³What have we done, that hath prevented us in making amity with the to strengthen himself? ²⁴I also will write unto them words of encouragement, and promise them dignities and gifts, that I may have their aid. ²⁵He sent unto them therefore to this effect: King unto the people of the sendeth greeting: ²⁶Whereas ye have kept with us, and continued in our friendship, not joining yourselves with our , we have heard hereof, and are glad. ²⁷Wherefore now continue ye still to be unto us, and we will well you for the things ye do in our behalf, ²⁸And will grant you many immunities, and give you rewards. ²⁹And now do I free you, and for your sake I all the , from tributes, and from the customs of salt, and from taxes, ³⁰And from that which appertaineth unto me to receive for the third part or the , and the half of the fruit of the trees, I it from this day forth, so that they shall not be taken of the land of , nor of the three governments which are added thereunto out of the country of and , from this day forth for evermore. ³¹Let also be and free, with the borders thereof, both from tenths and tributes. ³²And as for the tower which is at , I yield up over it, and give the , that he may set in it such men as he shall choose to keep it. ³³Moreover I freely every one of the , that were carried out of the land of into any part of my kingdom, and I will that all my officers remit the tributes even of their cattle. ³⁴Furthermore I will that all the feasts, and , and new moons, and solemn days, and the three days before the feast, and the three days after the feast shall be all of immunity and for all the in my realm. ³⁵Also no man shall have to meddle with or to molest any of them in any matter. ³⁶I will further, that there be enrolled among the king’s forces about thirty thousand men of the , unto whom pay shall be given, as belongeth to all king’s forces. ³⁷And of them some shall be placed in the king’s strong holds, of whom also some shall be set over the affairs of , which are of : and I will that their overseers and governors be of themselves, and that they live after their own laws, even as the king hath commanded in the land of . ³⁸And concerning the three governments that are added to from the country of , let them be joined with , that they may be to be under one, nor bound to other than the ’s. ³⁹As for , and the land pertaining thereto, I give it as a free gift to at for the necessary expences of . ⁴⁰Moreover I give every year fifteen thousand of silver out of the king’s accounts from the places appertaining. ⁴¹And all the overplus, which the officers payed not in as in former time, from henceforth shall be given toward the works of . ⁴²And beside this, the five thousand of silver, which they took from the uses of out of the accounts year by year, even those things shall be released, because they appertain to the priests that minister. ⁴³And whosoever they be that flee unto at , or be within the liberties hereof, being indebted unto the king, or for any other matter, let them be at , and all that they have in my realm. ⁴⁴For the building also and repairing of the works of expences shall be given of the king’s accounts. ⁴⁵Yea, and for the building of the walls of , and the fortifying thereof round about, expences shall be given out of the king’s accounts, as also for the building of the walls in . ⁴⁶Now when and the people heard these words, they gave no credit unto them, nor received them, because they remembered the great evil that he had done in Israel; for he had afflicted them very sore. ⁴⁷But with they were well pleased, because he was the first that entreated of true peace with them, and they were confederate with him always. ⁴⁸Then gathered king great forces, and camped over against . ⁴⁹And after the two kings had joined battle, ’ host fled: but followed after him, and prevailed against them. ⁵⁰And he continued the battle very sore until the sun went down: and that day was slain. ⁵¹Afterward sent ambassadors to king of with a message to this effect: ⁵²Forasmuch as I am come again to my realm, and am set in of my progenitors, and have gotten the , and overthrown , and recovered our country; ⁵³For after I had joined battle with him, both he and his host was discomfited by us, so that we sit in of : ⁵⁴Now therefore let us make a league of amity together, and give me now thy daughter to wife: and I will be thy son in law, and will give both thee and her as according to thy dignity. ⁵⁵Then the king gave answer, saying, Happy be the day wherein thou didst return into the land of thy fathers, and satest in of their kingdom. ⁵⁶And now will I do to thee, as thou hast written: meet me therefore at , that we may see one another; for I will marry my daughter to thee according to thy . ⁵⁷So went out of with his daughter Cleopatra, and they came unto in the hundred threescore and second year: ⁵⁸Where king meeting him, he gave unto him his daughter Cleopatra, and celebrated her marriage at with great , as the manner of kings is. ⁵⁹Now king had written unto , that he should come and meet him. ⁶⁰Who thereupon went honourably to , where he met the two kings, and gave them and their friends silver and gold, and many presents, and found in their sight. ⁶¹At that time certain pestilent fellows of Israel, men of a life, assembled themselves against him, to accuse him: but the king would not hear them. ⁶²Yea more than that, the king commanded to take off his garments, and clothe him in purple: and they did so. ⁶³And he made him sit by himself, and said into his princes, Go with him into the midst of the city, and make proclamation, that no man complain against him of any matter, and that no man trouble him for any manner of cause. ⁶⁴Now when his accusers saw that he was according to the proclamation, and clothed in purple, they fled all away. ⁶⁵So the king honoured him, and wrote him among his chief friends, and made him a duke, and partaker of his . ⁶⁶Afterward returned to with peace and gladness. ⁶⁷Furthermore in the; hundred threescore and fifth year came son of out of into the land of his fathers: ⁶⁸Whereof when king heard tell, he was right sorry, and returned into . ⁶⁹Then made the governor of his general, who gathered together a great host, and camped in , and sent unto the , saying, ⁷⁰Thou alone liftest up thyself against us, and I am laughed to scorn for thy sake, and reproached: and why dost thou vaunt thy against us in the mountains? ⁷¹Now therefore, if thou trustest in thine own strength, come down to us into the plain field, and there let us try the matter together: for with me is the of the cities. ⁷²Ask and learn who I am, and the rest that take our part, and they shall tell thee that thy foot is not able to to flight in their own land. ⁷³Wherefore now thou shalt not be able to the horsemen and so great a in the plain, where is neither stone nor flint, nor place to flee unto. ⁷⁴So when heard these words of , he was moved in his , and choosing ten thousand men he went out of , where his brother met him for to help him. ⁷⁵And he pitched his tents against : but; they of shut him out of the city, because had a garrison there. ⁷⁶Then laid siege unto it: whereupon they of the city let him in for fear: and so won . ⁷⁷Whereof when heard, he took three thousand horsemen, with a great host of footmen, and went to as one that journeyed, and therewithal drew him forth into the plain. because he had a great number of horsemen, in whom he put his . ⁷⁸Then followed after him to , where the armies joined battle. ⁷⁹Now had left a thousand horsemen in ambush. ⁸⁰And knew that there was an ambushment behind him; for they had compassed in his host, and cast darts at the people, from morning till evening. ⁸¹But the people stood still, as had commanded them: and so the ’ horses were tired. ⁸²Then brought forth his host, and set them against the footmen, (for the horsemen were spent) who were discomfited by him, and fled. ⁸³The horsemen also, being scattered in the field, fled to , and went into Bethdagon, their idol’s temple, for safety. ⁸⁴But set on , and the cities round about it, and took their spoils; and of , with them that were fled into it, he burned with . ⁸⁵Thus there were burned and slain with well nigh eight thousand men. ⁸⁶And from thence removed his host, and camped against , where the men of the city came forth, and met him with great pomp. ⁸⁷After this returned and his host unto , having any spoils. ⁸⁸Now when king heard these things, he honoured yet more. ⁸⁹And sent him a buckle of gold, as the use is to be given to such as are of the king’s : he gave him also Accaron with the borders thereof in possession.

The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.

The world at this moment · Under the Greeks, 332 BC to 63 BC ›

Alexander's conquest and the kingdoms of his successors. Greek language and custom press in everywhere, and the crisis under Antiochus IV provokes the Maccabean revolt.

The successors: Alexander dies at thirty-two and his generals carve up the empire. Judea sits on the border between the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria, and is fought over by both for a century and a half, which is the ordinary condition of the corridor.
Hellenism: Not just conquest but a culture: the gymnasium, the theatre, Greek names, Greek dress, Greek as the language of anyone with ambitions. Some Jews embraced it, some resisted it, and the argument between them is the real subject of the Maccabean books. In Alexandria the Hebrew scriptures are translated into Greek, producing the Septuagint, which is the Bible most New Testament writers quote.
The crisis: Antiochus IV bans the practice of Judaism, plunders the temple, and sets up a pagan altar in it in 167 BC. The revolt under the Maccabees wins, the temple is rededicated in 164 BC, which is the origin of Hanukkah, and Judea has about eighty years of independence under the Hasmoneans before Rome arrives.
Further afield: Rome fights Carthage three times and ends up master of the Mediterranean. Euclid writes the Elements and Archimedes does his work at Syracuse. In China the Qin unify the country in 221 BC and the Han follow, opening what becomes the Silk Road.

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