King James Version · Under the Greeks
1 Maccabees 7
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1In the hundred and one and fiftieth year the son of departed from , and came up with men unto a city of the sea coast, and reigned there. 2And as he entered into the palace of his ancestors, so it was, that his forces had taken and , to bring them unto him. 3Wherefore, when he knew it, he said, Let me not see their faces. 4So his host slew them. Now when was set upon of , 5There came unto him all and ungodly men of Israel, having , who was desirous to be , for their captain: 6And they accused the people to the king, saying, and his brethren have slain all thy friends, and driven us out of our own land. 7Now therefore send some man whom thou trustest, and let him go and see what havock he hath made among us, and in the king’s land, and let him punish them with all them that aid them. 8Then the king chose , a friend of the king, who ruled beyond the flood, and was a great man in , and to the king, 9And him he sent with that , whom he made , and commanded that he should take of the . 10So they departed, and came with a great into the land of , where they sent to and his brethren with peaceable words deceitfully. 11But they gave no heed to their words; for they saw that they were come with a great . 12Then did there assemble unto and a company of , to require justice. 13Now the were the first among the that sought peace of them: 14For said they, One that is a priest of the of is come with this army, and he will do us no wrong. 15So he spake unto them, peaceably, and sware unto them, saying, we will procure the harm neither of you nor your friends. 16Whereupon they him: howbeit he took of them threescore men, and slew them in one day, according to the words which he wrote, 17 of thy have they cast out, and their have they shed round about , and there was none to bury them. 18Wherefore the fear and dread of them fell upon all the people, who said, There is neither truth nor in them; for they have broken and that they made. 19After this, removed from , and pitched his tents in Bezeth, where he sent and took many of the men that had forsaken him, and certain of the people also, and when he had slain them, he cast them into the great pit. 20Then committed he the country to , and left with him a to aid him: so went to the king. 21But contended for the high priesthood. 22And unto him resorted all such as troubled the people, who, after they had gotten the land of into their , did much hurt in Israel. 23Now when saw all the mischief that and his company had done among the , even above the heathen, 24He went out into all the coasts of round about, and took of them that had revolted from him, so that they durst no more go forth into the country. 25On the other side, when saw that and his company had gotten the upper hand, and knew that he was not able to their force, he went again to the king, and said all the worst of them that he could. 26Then the king sent , one of his honourable princes, a man that deadly hate unto Israel, with to destroy the people. 27So came to with a great force; and sent unto and his brethren deceitfully with friendly words, saying, 28Let there be no battle between me and you; I will come with men, that I may see you in peace. 29He came therefore to , and they saluted one another peaceably. Howbeit the were prepared to take away by . 30Which thing after it was known to , to wit, that he came unto him with deceit, he was sore afraid of him, and would see no more. 31 also, when he saw that his was discovered, went out to fight against beside Capharsalama: 32Where there were slain of ’s side about five thousand men, and the rest fled into . 33After this went up to mount , and there came out of certain of the priests and certain of the of the people, to salute him peaceably, and to shew him the burnt that was offered for the king. 34But he mocked them, and laughed at them, and abused them shamefully, and spake proudly, 35And sware in his , saying, Unless and his host be now into my hands, if ever I come again in safety, I will burn up this house: and with that he went out in a great rage. 36Then the priests entered in, and stood before the and , weeping, and saying, 37Thou, O , didst choose this house to be called by thy name, and to be a house of and petition for thy people: 38Be of this man and his host, and let them fall : remember their blasphemies, and suffer them not to continue any longer. 39So went out of , and pitched his tents in , where an host out of met him. 40But pitched in with three thousand men, and there he , saying, 41O , when they that were sent from the king of the blasphemed, thine went out, and smote an hundred fourscore and five thousand of them. 42Even so destroy thou this host before us this day, that the rest may know that he hath spoken blasphemously against thy sanctuary, and judge thou him according to his wickedness. 43So the thirteenth day of the month the hosts joined battle: but ’s host was discomfited, and he himself was first slain in the battle. 44Now when ’s host saw that he was slain, they cast away their weapons, and fled. 45Then they pursued after them a day’s journey, from unto , sounding an alarm after them with their . 46Whereupon they came forth out of all the towns of round about, and closed them in; so that they, turning back upon them that pursued them, were all slain with , and not one of them was left. 47Afterwards they took the spoils, and the prey, and smote off Nicanors head, and his , which he stretched out so proudly, and brought them away, and hanged them up toward . 48For this cause the people rejoiced greatly, and they kept that day a day of great gladness. 49Moreover they ordained to keep yearly this day, being the thirteenth of . 50Thus the land of was in rest a little while.
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.