King James Version · Under the Greeks
2 Maccabees 13
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1In the hundred forty and ninth year it was told , that was coming with a great into , 2And with him his protector, and ruler of his affairs, having either of them a Grecian of footmen, an hundred and ten thousand, and horsemen five thousand and three hundred, and elephants two and twenty, and three hundred chariots armed with hooks. 3 also joined himself with them, and with great dissimulation encouraged , not for the safeguard of the country, but because he thought to have been made governor. 4But the King of kings moved ’ against this wretch, and informed the king that this man was the cause of all mischief, so that the king commanded to bring him unto , and to put him to , as the manner is in that place. 5Now there was in that place a tower of fifty high, full of , and it had a round instrument which on every side hanged down into the . 6And whosoever was condemned of sacrilege, or had committed any other grievous crime, there did all men thrust him unto . 7Such a it happened that man to , not having so much as burial in the earth; and that most justly: 8For inasmuch as he had committed many about the , whose and were , he received his in . 9Now the king came with a barbarous and haughty to do far worse to the , than had been done in his ’s time. 10Which things when perceived, he commanded to call upon night and day, that if ever at any other time, he would now also help them, being at the point to be put from their law, from their country, and from the temple: 11And that he would not suffer the people, that had even now been but a little refreshed, to be in subjection to the blasphemous nations. 12So when they had all done this together, and besought the merciful with weeping and , and lying flat upon the ground three days long, , having exhorted them, commanded they should be in a readiness. 13And , being apart with the , determined, before the king’s host should enter into , and get the city, to go forth and try the matter in fight by the help of . 14So when he had committed all to the Creator of the world, and exhorted his soldiers to fight manfully, even unto , for the laws, , the city, the country, and the commonwealth, he camped by : 15And having given the watchword to them that were about him, Victory is of ; with the most valiant and choice young men he went in into the king’s tent by night, and slew in the camp about four thousand men, and the chiefest of the elephants, with all that were upon him. 16And at last they filled the camp with fear and tumult, and departed with good success. 17This was done in the break of the day, because the protection of did help him. 18Now when the king had taken a taste of the manliness of the , he went about to take the holds by policy, 19And marched toward , which was a strong hold of the : but he was put to flight, failed, and lost of his men: 20For had conveyed unto them that were in it such things as were necessary. 21But Rhodocus, who was in the ’ host, the secrets to the ; therefore he was sought out, and when they had gotten him, they put him in prison. 22The king treated with them in Bethsum the second time, gave his hand, took their’s, departed, fought with , was overcome; 23Heard that Philip, who was left over the affairs in , was desperately bent, confounded, intreated the , submitted himself, and sware to all equal conditions, agreed with them, and offered , honoured , and dealt kindly with the place, 24And accepted well of Maccabeus, made him principal governor from unto the Gerrhenians; 25Came to : the people there were grieved for the ; for they stormed, because they would make their void: 26 went up to the seat, said as much as could be in defence of the cause, persuaded, pacified, made them well affected, returned to . Thus it went touching the king’s coming and departing.
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.