King James Version · Under the Greeks
1 Maccabees 3
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1Then his son , called Maccabeus, rose up in his stead. 2And all his brethren helped him, and so did all they that held with his , and they fought with cheerfulness the battle of Israel. 3So he gat his people great , and put on a breastplate as a giant, and girt his warlike harness about him, and he made battles, protecting the host with his . 4In his acts he was like a lion, and like a lion’s whelp roaring for his prey. 5For He pursued , and sought them out, and burnt up those that vexed his people. 6Wherefore shrunk for fear of him, and all the workers of were troubled, because prospered in his hand. 7He grieved also many kings, and made glad with his acts, and his memorial is for ever. 8Moreover he went through the cities of , destroying the ungodly out of them, and turning away from Israel: 9So that he was renowned unto the utmost part of the earth, and he received unto him such as were ready to . 10Then gathered the together, and a great host out of , to fight against Israel. 11Which thing when perceived, he went forth to meet him, and so he smote him, and slew him: many also fell down slain, but the rest fled. 12Wherefore took their spoils, and ’ also, and therewith he fought all his life long. 13Now when Seron, a prince of the army of , heard say that had gathered unto him a multitude and company of the to go out with him to war; 14He said, I will get me a name and in ; for I will go fight with and them that are with him, who despise the king’s . 15So he made him ready to go up, and there went with him a mighty host of the ungodly to help him, and to be of the . 16And when he came near to the going up of , went forth to meet him with a small company: 17Who, when they saw the host coming to meet them, said unto , How shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, seeing we are ready to faint with all this day? 18Unto whom answered, It is no hard matter for many to be shut up in the hands of ; and with the of it is all one, to with a great multitude, or a small company: 19For the victory of battle standeth not in of an host; but strength cometh from . 20They come against us in much pride and to destroy us, and our wives and children, and to spoil us: 21But we fight for our lives and our laws. 22Wherefore himself will overthrow them before our : and as for you, be ye not afraid of them. 23Now as soon as he had left off speaking, he leapt suddenly upon them, and so Seron and his host was overthrown before him. 24And they pursued them from the going down of unto the plain, where were slain about eight hundred men of them; and the residue fled into the land of the . 25Then began the fear of and his brethren, and an exceeding great dread, to fall upon the nations round about them: 26Insomuch as his fame came unto the king, and all nations talked of the battles of . 27Now when king heard these things, he was full of : wherefore he sent and gathered together all the forces of his realm, even a very strong army. 28He opened also his , and gave his soldiers pay for a year, commanding them to be ready whensoever he should need them. 29Nevertheless, when he saw that the money of his failed and that the tributes in the country were small, because of the dissension and plague, which he had brought upon the land in taking away the laws which had been of old time; 30He feared that he should not be able to bear the charges any longer, nor to have such gifts to give so liberally as he did before: for he had abounded above the kings that were before him. 31Wherefore, being greatly perplexed in his , he determined to go into , there to take the tributes of the countries, and to gather much money. 32So he left , a nobleman, and one of royal, to oversee the affairs of the king from the river unto the borders of : 33And to bring up his son , until he came again. 34Moreover he unto him the half of his forces, and the elephants, and gave him charge of all things that he would have done, as also concerning them that dwelt in and : 35To wit, that he should send an army against them, to destroy and root out the strength of Israel, and of , and to take away their memorial from that place; 36And that he should place strangers in all their quarters, and divide their land by lot. 37So the king took the half of the forces that remained, and departed from , his royal city, the hundred forty and seventh year; and having passed the river , he went through the high countries. 38Then chose the son of Dorymenes, , and , of the king’s friends: 39And with them he sent forty thousand footmen, and seven thousand horsemen, to go into the land of , and to destroy it, as the king commanded. 40So they went forth with all their , and came and pitched by in the plain country. 41And the merchants of the country, hearing the fame of them, took silver and gold very much, with servants, and came into the camp to buy the for : a also of and of the land of the joined themselves unto them. 42Now when and his brethren saw that miseries were multiplied, and that the forces did encamp themselves in their borders: for they knew how the king had given to destroy the people, and utterly abolish them; 43They said one to another, Let us restore the decayed fortune of our people, and let us fight for our people and . 44Then was gathered together, that they might be ready for battle, and that they might , and ask mercy and . 45Now lay void as a , there was none of her children that went in or out: also was trodden down, and aliens kept the strong hold; the heathen had their habitation in that place; and joy was taken from , and the pipe with the harp ceased. 46Wherefore the assembled themselves together, and came to , over against ; for in was the place where they aforetime in Israel. 47Then they that day, and put on , and cast upon their heads, and rent their clothes, 48And laid open the book of , wherein the heathen had sought to paint the of their . 49They brought also the priests’ garments, and the , and the : and the Nazarites they stirred up, who had accomplished their days. 50Then cried they with a loud voice toward , saying, What shall we do with these, and whither shall we carry them away? 51For thy sanctuary is trodden down and profaned, and thy priests are in heaviness, and brought low. 52And lo, the heathen are assembled together against us to destroy us: what things they imagine against us, thou knowest. 53How shall we be able to stand against them, except thou, O , be our help? 54Then sounded they with , and cried with a loud voice. 55And after this ordained captains over the people, even captains over thousands, and over hundreds, and over fifties, and over tens. 56But as for such as were building houses, or had wives, or were planting vineyards, or were fearful, those he commanded that they should return, every man to his own house, according to . 57So the camp removed, and pitched upon the south side of . 58And said, arm yourselves, and be valiant men, and see that ye be in readiness against the morning, that ye may fight with these nations, that are assembled together against us to destroy us and our sanctuary: 59For it is better for us to in battle, than to behold the calamities of our people and our sanctuary. 60Nevertheless, as the will of is in , so let him do.
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.