1 Maccabees

Death of Judas

When Demetrius was informed of Nicanor’s death and his army’s defeat, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus back to Judea with the best troops of his army.

They took the road to Galilee. They besieged the city of Mesaloth in the region of Arbela. They captured it, killing many.

In the first month of one hundred and fifty-two (in B.C.), they encamped before Jerusalem.

From there, twenty thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry set out for Berea.

Judas had his camp in Elasa with three thousand well-selected men.

When they saw the huge number of enemies, they were frightened. Many slipped away from the camp, leaving only eight hundred men.

Judas saw his army dispersing, which broke his spirit. The battle was about to start, but he didn’t have time to gather everyone.

Still, despite feeling discouraged, he did his best to encourage those who stayed with him. “Let us fight our enemies. We may yet be able to defeat them.”

They tried to dissuade him: “We cannot do anything now but save ourselves. We can come back later with our brothers and fight. But now, we are too few.”

But Judas answered them: “God forbid I should run away from them. If our time has come, let us die as valiant men for our brothers without tarnishing our glory.”

While the Jews remained in their place, Bacchides’s army marched out of their camp to fight them. The cavalry was split into two wings. In the front line, the veteran soldiers advanced, followed by the archers and slingers.

Bacchides was positioned on the right wing. At the sound of the trumpets, they charged from both sides. The Jews also blew their trumpets.

The earth shook with the noise of the armies, and a battle broke out that lasted all day.

Judas saw that Bacchides, and the main strength of his army, was on the right. The most courageous of the Israelites went with him,

and they defeated the enemy’s right wing, pursuing them up to the hills.

But when those on the left wing saw the right wing defeated, they attacked Judas and his men from the rear.

They fought bitterly, and many fell on both sides.

Judas also fell, and the rest fled.

Jonathan and Simon took their brother and buried him in the tomb of their fathers at Modein.

All the people of Israel mourned and wept for him for many days, repeating this lamentation:

“How the hero has fallen; he, who saved Israel.”

Judas’s other deeds, his battles, exploits, and heroism, were not written about, for they were many.

Jonathan and Bacchides

After Judas’s death, the rebels reappeared throughout Israel, and the wicked gained courage.

Meanwhile, a severe famine struck, causing the country to fall into their hands.

Bacchides selected rebellious men to establish control over the land.

These men searched out all the friends and supporters of Judas, bringing them before Bacchides, who punished and humiliated them in countless ways.

It was a terrible trial for Israel, as it had never been experienced since the disappearance of the prophets.

So the friends of Judas came together and said to Jonathan:

“Since your brother, Judas, died, we haven’t found anyone like him to head the resistance against the enemy—against Bacchides and all the enemies of our nation.

So, we now choose you to take his place, to be our head, and lead us in our wars.”

So, from that day on, Jonathan accepted the leadership and succeeded his brother Judas.

When Bacchides heard of this, he planned to kill Jonathan.

But Jonathan was informed of the plot and fled to Tekoa’s desert with his brother Simon and his followers. They camped by the lake Asphar.

Bacchides found this out on the Sabbath day, and with all his army, he crossed the Jordan.

Jonathan had sent his brother John, a representative of the people, to ask their friends, the Nabateans, to store their large amount of baggage for them.

But the tribe of Jambri and the people of Medeba captured John, took all he had, and departed with the booty.

After this had happened, Jonathan and his brother Simon were told that the Jambrites were celebrating a solemn wedding of the daughter of one of the magnates and were escorting the bride from Nadabath with great pomp.

Both remembered the murder of their brother John, so they went and hid under the cover of the mountain.

At a particular moment, they heard a confusion of sounds; then they saw a great deal of baggage. The bridegroom, his friends, and brothers came straight to them with tambourines, musical instruments, and many weapons.

Then the Jews rushed down on them from their ambush, killing them. There were many casualties, and others fled to the mountain. The Jews seized all the plunder.

So the wedding turned to mourning and the music to lamentation.

Having avenged their brother’s death, the Israelites returned to the marshes of the Jordan.

Meanwhile, Bacchides arrived with a strong army on the Sabbath day at the banks of the Jordan.

So Jonathan said to his men: “Courage! Let us fight for our lives. For today, things are going to be serious.

Dangers surround us—we have the waters of the Jordan on this side, the marshes and the thickets on the other side—there is no place to turn.

So cry out to Heaven for deliverance from our enemies.”

When the battle started, Jonathan stretched out his arm to strike Bacchides, but he dodged him and withdrew.

So Jonathan and his men jumped into the Jordan River, swimming to the other side. But their enemies did not follow.

That day, about a thousand of Bacchides’ men were killed.

Bacchides returned to Jerusalem, where he began building fortified cities in Judea—the strongholds of Jericho, Emmaus, Beth-horon, Bethel, Timnath, Pharathon, and Tephon—with tall walls and barred gates,

and stationed garrisons in each to keep the Israelites in check.

He also fortified the cities of Beth-Zur, Gazara, and the Citadel, placing troops in each of them with supplies of provisions.

He took the sons of the leaders of the land as hostages, imprisoning them in the Citadel of Jerusalem.

In one hundred and fifty-three (in B.C.), in the second month, Alcimus ordered the demolition of the temple’s inner court wall. This meant no less than destroying the work of the prophets.

Alcimus did begin the demolition, but soon after, he suffered a stroke, suspending the work. Alcimus could no longer speak, nor could he rule over his household.

After a while, he died in great agony.

Because of his death, Bacchides returned to the king, bringing peace to the land for two years.

Then all the renegades agreed on a plan: “Jonathan and his people now live in peace, without fear. Let us bring Bacchides back so he can arrest them all in one night.”

They went to Bacchides, and after convincing him,

he set out with a large contingent. He secretly sent letters to his supporters in Judea, instructing them to seize Jonathan and his men. However, their plot was discovered, and their plan was thwarted.

Instead, the supporters of Jonathan arrested fifty Jewish leaders of this conspiracy and had them executed.

Jonathan and Simon withdrew to Bethbasi in the desert with their men. They rebuilt the ruins and fortified them.

When Bacchides heard this, he assembled all his men and notified his adherents in Judea.

He attacked Bethbasi, besieging it for many days with engines of war.

Then Jonathan left his brother Simon in the city and went to the countryside with a handful of men.

He defeated Odomera, his brothers, and the people of Phasiron in their camp.

Then, turning back, they began to attack the troops who had laid siege to the city. Meanwhile, Simon and his men left the city and set fire to the engines.

They attacked Bacchides, who was defeated and dismayed by the failure of his expedition.

He was greatly enraged against the renegades who had advised him to return to the Jewish country. He executed many of them and then decided to return to his land.

When Jonathan learned this, he sent messengers to make a peace treaty and exchange prisoners.

Bacchides accepted his terms. For Bacchides’ part, he fulfilled his promises and swore that henceforth and until his death, he would never harm him in any way.

He turned over to Jonathan the prisoners taken earlier in Judea. Then, he returned to his own country and never came back to Judea.

So there was peace in Israel, and Jonathan lived in Michmash, where he started to lead the land while the renegades vanished from Israel.