History of the Jews, Vol. 1 (of 6)

Meanwhile Antiochus left Egypt with rich spoils (169), perhaps with the intention of raising new troops. Having heard of the occurrences in Jerusalem, his anger was roused against the Judæans, and the Covenant of Judaism; his wicked, inhuman nature broke forth against the people. He suddenly attacked Jerusalem, and massacred the inhabitants without regard to age or sex, slaughtering friend and foe alike. He forced his way into the Temple, and entered even the Holy of Holies, and as a mark of contempt for the God who was worshipped there, he removed the golden altar, the candlestick, the table, the golden vessels, and all the treasures which still remained. Menelaus acted as guide in this spoliation of the Temple. Antiochus blasphemed the God of Israel, whose omnipotence was sung by His followers, but whom he scorned, because He did not interfere with these sacrilegious actions. To palliate both the massacre of innocent people and the desecration of the Temple, he invented a falsehood which long afterwards continued to bring Judaism into bad repute amongst all civilised nations. Antiochus declared that he had seen in the Holy of Holies the statue of a man with a long beard, mounted on an ass, and holding a book in its hand. He believed it to be the statue of the law-giver Moses, who had given the Judæans inhuman, horrible laws to separate them from all other peoples. Amongst the Greeks and Romans the rumour was spread that Antiochus had found the head of an ass made of gold in the Temple, which the Judæans venerated, and that consequently they worshipped asses. Antiochus was probably the author of another horrible lie invented to blacken the Judæans: it was said that he had discovered, lying in bed in the Temple, a Greek, who entreated to be released, as the Judæans were in the habit of killing a Greek every year, and feeding on his intestines, meanwhile swearing hatred against all Greeks, whom they were determined to destroy. Whether this vile calumny proceeded directly from Antiochus, or whether these fables were only attributed to him, there is no doubt that he blackened the reputation of the Judæans by spreading the report that Judaism inculcated hatred towards all other nations. This was the first fruit of the long-cherished wish to be associated with the Greeks.

A veil of grief was drawn over Jerusalem, and the house of Jacob was dishonoured.

"The leaders and the elders moaned, youths and maidens hid themselves, the beauty of the women was disfigured, the bridegroom lifted up his voice in sorrow instead of joyous song, and the bride wept in her bridal chamber." (1 Macc. i. 26–28.)

But this was by no means the end; more sorrowful days were in store for Judæa. Antiochus undertook a second campaign against Egypt, and the Judæans were destined a second time to suffer from his anger at the unsuccessful termination of the war. The two royal brothers Philometor and Physcon were reconciled with each other by the help of their sister and the Romans; Philometor was proclaimed king in Alexandria. Antiochus was furious at this; for his desire was to employ the helpless and cowardly Philometor as his tool, and to rule Egypt through him. As the Romans were still involved in a Macedonian war, he thought he might venture to attack Egypt a second time (168). He entered the country without opposition, and pushed on as far as Alexandria; the king of Egypt had meanwhile despatched envoys to Rome to ask for help from the senate. Three Roman deputies, with instructions to tarry on the road until they heard the issue of the Macedonian war, were thereupon sent to Antiochus to bid him desist. After the successful battle of Pydna, the destruction of the Macedonian army, and the flight of King Perseus (June 22, 168), the three Roman deputies hurried to the camp of Antiochus, and brought him the command of the senate to leave Egypt. When the Syrian king asked for time to consider, Popillius Lænas, drawing a circle with his stick, sternly declared that, before stepping out of this circle, Antiochus was to state whether he wished for peace or war with Rome. Antiochus knew how inexorable were Roman commands, and therefore determined to depart immediately (end of June, 168).

Antiochus, "the Illustrious," returned to his capital. The knowledge of his humiliation tormented him the more, as he had to feign friendship and satisfaction before the Romans. He vented his secret anger in unparalleled cruelties upon the Judæans. They had, he said, shown pleasure at his degradation; they had proclaimed aloud that the God they worshipped humbled the haughty, and had therefore prepared this mortification for him. Apollonius, one of his princely subjects, and former governor of Mysia, entered the Judæan capital, accompanied by fierce troops, apparently with peaceful intentions. Suddenly, however, on a Sabbath, when resistance was impossible, the Greek or Macedonian mercenaries threw themselves on the inhabitants, killed men and youths, took women and children prisoners, and sent them to the slave markets. Apollonius also destroyed many houses in the capital, and pulled down the walls of Jerusalem, for he wished it to disappear from the list of important cities. What induced the madman and his wild troops to spare the Sanctuary? They did not destroy it, because Antiochus wanted the Temple for another purpose; but they gave vent to their anger by attacking its surroundings, burning the wooden gates, and destroying the halls "with hammer and axe." Within the Temple there was nothing left to steal. The inhabitants who had not met with death escaped, and only the most rabid Hellenists, the Syrian soldiers, and strangers remained in the deserted places. "Jerusalem became strange to her own children." The Temple was also abandoned, for the faithful priests and Levites had left, and the Hellenists did not trouble themselves about the sacred building; the Acra was their resort. Here was stationed the strong Syrian garrison, and here also dwelt the Hellenists. This place was protected against any attack by high, strong walls and towers overlooking the Temple, and it was filled with arms and provisions.

The desolation soon became unbearable to Menelaus, the instigator of all these horrors. Of what use was it to be high-priest if no worshippers came to the Temple, or to be ruler over the nation if the people turned their backs upon him? Hearing nothing but the echo of his own voice, he became gloomy. To free himself from this painful position he resorted to new infamy. Judaism, with its laws and customs, was to be abolished, and its followers were to be compelled to adopt the Greek faith. Antiochus, full of hatred and anger against both the Judæans and their religion, acceded to Menelaus's plan, and had it carried out with his usual inflexibility. The Judæans were to become Hellenised, and thereby reduced to obedience, or, if they opposed his will, to be put to death. He not only wished to become master of the Judæan people, but to prove to them the impotence of the God they served so faithfully. He, who disdained the gods of his ancestors, considered it mockery that the Judæans should still hope that their God would destroy him, the proud blasphemer, and he determined to challenge and defeat the God of Israel. Thereupon Antiochus issued a decree, which was sent forth to all the towns of Judæa, commanding the people to renounce the laws of their God, and to offer sacrifice only to the Greek gods. Altars and idols were to be erected everywhere for that purpose, and, in order to strike an effectual blow at Judaism, Antiochus ordained that unclean animals, particularly swine, should be used at the sacrifices. He forbade, under severe penalty, three religious rites which outwardly distinguished the Judæans from the heathen, namely, circumcision, the keeping of the Sabbath and the festivals, and the abstinence from unclean food. Officials were appointed to see that his orders were carefully carried out, and these officials were hard-hearted men, who punished with death any person infringing the royal commands. The Temple was first desecrated, and Antiochus himself sent a noble Antiochian thither to dedicate the Sanctuary to Jupiter. A swine was sacrificed on the altar in the court, and its blood was sprinkled in the Holy of Holies, on the stone which Antiochus had imagined to be the statue of Moses; the flesh was cooked, and its juice spilt over the leaves of the Holy Scriptures. The so-called high-priest Menelaus and the other Judæan Hellenists were to partake of the swine's flesh. The roll of the Law, which was found in the Temple, was not only bespattered, but burnt, because this teacher of purity and love for all humanity, – so Antiochus maintained, – inculcated hatred of mankind. This was its first baptism of fire. The statue of Jupiter, "the abomination of destruction," was then placed on the altar, and to him sacrifices were henceforth to be offered (17 Tammuz, July, 168).

Thus the Temple in Jerusalem, the only place of holiness on earth, was thoroughly desecrated, and the God of Israel was apparently unseated by the Hellenic Zeus. How will the people bear this unparalleled violation? Will they submit to the stern edict of the heartless king and his officials, and allow themselves to be deprived of their nationality and their God? It was a severe and momentous ordeal. Death threatened all those who openly confessed Judaism, and they dared not even call themselves Judæans. But the persecuted people came out of their trial victoriously, and the blood of martyrs sealed their union with God and His Law.

The Judæans who were dispersed in Syrian and Phœnician towns, in closest proximity to the Greeks, and were included in this forced conversion, affected submission to the order, sacrificed to the Greek gods, and concealed or denied their religion. But even amongst these some remained faithful, and gave their lives in testimony of the truth of the Law. In Antioch an aged man named Eleazar suffered a martyr's death rather than partake of the idolatrous sacrifices. It was related in Jewish circles outside of Judæa, that a mother and seven sons, defying threats and persuasion, cheerfully went into death for the Law. These heroic martyrs, both young and old, set a noble example to the Judæans, and the number of those who suffered for their faith increased from day to day. The overseers whom Antiochus had appointed to carry out his decrees directed their attention to the smaller towns, whither the inhabitants of Jerusalem had fled. Here they built altars, and summoned the people in the name of the king to offer swine to Jupiter, and then to eat the flesh, and to break the Sabbath by working on the day of rest. They particularly insisted that sacrifices should be offered every month on the date which corresponded to that of Antiochus's birthday. On the bacchanalian festival of Dionysus, the celebration of which consisted in opening barrels of wine, they were compelled to deck themselves with ivy, like the Greeks, to institute processions, and to utter wild cries of joy in honour of the Greek Bacchus. When one of the officials came into a country town, and called the people together to give proofs of their secession from Judaism, he found but few to meet him. Many had fled and sought shelter in the caves and ravines of the Judæan mountains, or in the waste land near the Dead Sea. Antiochus was greatly irritated by this resistance, and he issued command upon command, recommending the utmost cruelty in the punishment of the disobedient people. The officials therefore continued their persecutions with redoubled zeal. They tore and burnt the rolls of the Law whenever they found them, and killed those who were found to seek strength and consolation in their perusal. They destroyed all houses of worship and education, and if they found women in confinement who, in the absence of their husbands, circumcised their sons themselves, these barbarians hanged them with their babes on the walls of the city.

But all such cruelties, instead of intimidating the people, only increased their determined resistance. Death had lost its terrors. Many preferred even death to violating the dietary laws. This noble firmness was particularly encouraged by the strictly religious sect of Chasidim. Some of these emerged from their hiding-places, and entering towns and villages, called the inhabitants together, spoke with warmth and conviction, and incited them to be steadfast and constant. Their preaching was all the more effective as they gave proof of indomitable courage in the face of death.

Before long, however, the Syrian commanders in Jerusalem discovered the leaders of this courageous resistance; some reprobate Hellenists had probably betrayed the hiding-place of the Chasidim. Thereupon the Phrygian Philip, commander of the garrison, went in search of the concealed fugitives. On a Sabbath he and his soldiers surrounded the caves in which thousands of men, women and children had sought refuge, he summoned them to come out in obedience to Antiochus's commands, and promised them safety if they submitted voluntarily to his orders. They answered unanimously, "We will not obey your command to break the Sabbath." Then Philip ordered his troops to commence the attack. The Chasidim looked on with undaunted courage, but did not try to defend themselves, nor to raise a stone to close the entrance to the caves, for fear of desecrating the Sabbath. Thus calling heaven and earth to witness their innocence, all the people perished in the caves by the hands of the murderous followers of Philip. Some were killed by the firebrands thrown into the caves, whilst others were suffocated by the smoke, which had penetrated into the interior.

Great was the grief of the faithful Judæans when they learned the horrible death of the men who had been to them a light and an example. The most courageous lost heart. What was to be the outcome of this unbearable position? The faithful were bowed down by the thought that Heaven vouchsafed them no visible sign of hope in this, their unparalleled trial; no prophet rose up to foretell when this fearful ordeal was to end.

When the bloody persecution of the Judæan people had reached such a height that either the destruction of the whole nation, or their submission from exhaustion and despair seemed imminent, an open rebellion took the place of passive resistance.

It was brought about by a family whose members combined the purest piety with courage, wisdom and prudence; this was the family of the Hasmonæans or Maccabees. An aged father and five heroic sons brought about a revolution, and kindled a spirit of enthusiasm which secured the existence of Judaism for all time. The aged father, Mattathias, was the son of Johanan, son of Simon Hasmonai, an Aaronide; he had left Jerusalem in consequence of the desecration of the Temple, and had established himself in the small town of Modin, three miles north of Jerusalem. His five sons, who all helped to raise the people from its deep degradation, and found their death in defending their country, bore Aramaic names: Johanan Gadi, Simon Tharsi, Judas Maccabi, Eleazar Hawran, and Jonathan Haphus. This family of Hasmonæans, who had many followers, on account of the consideration in which they were held, felt the miserable condition of their country with poignant sorrow. "What is life to us, now that the Sanctuary is desecrated and Judæa has become a slave?" Thus spoke Mattathias to his sons, and he determined not to remain quiet and sorrowing in his hiding-place, but either to help the good cause or to die courageously for it.

When Apelles, one of the Syrian overseers, reached Modin, to summon the inhabitants to abandon the Law and to become idolaters, Mattathias and his sons intentionally appeared, and when commanded to set an example of submission, the former answered: "If all the people in the kingdom obey the order of the monarch, to depart from the faith of their fathers, I and my sons will abide by the Covenant of our forefathers." When one of the Judæans approached the altar to sacrifice to Jupiter, Mattathias could no longer restrain his wrath, but rushed upon the apostate, killing him at the altar. His sons, armed with long knives, fell upon Apelles and his troops, killed them, and destroyed the altar. This act proved the turning-point; it set an example of courageous resistance as against inactive despair. Immediately after this attack upon the officers of Antiochus, Mattathias cried out: "Whosoever is zealous for the Law, and whosoever wishes to support the Covenant, follow me." Thereupon the inhabitants of Modin and the vicinity followed him to a secure hiding-place which he selected for them in the mountains of Ephraim; and there the remainder of the Chasidim, who had escaped death in the caves, and all those who had fled from oppression joined him.

The number of resolute defenders of their country daily increased. Mattathias did not conceal from them that they would have to fight hard battles, but exhorted them to be ready to face death. Warned by the exaggerated piety of the Chasidim, who had scrupled to move a stone on the Sabbath in their own defence, the assembly which surrounded the aged Hasmonæan decided to repulse with arms any attack made upon them even on the day of rest. The Chasidim accepted this decision, and the men of peace, hitherto entirely absorbed in the Holy Scriptures, now prepared to wage war. A commander who inspires confidence creates warriors. There was a recurrence of the hopeless condition which had prevailed at the time of the Judges and at the beginning of Saul's reign. Some of the inhabitants were hiding themselves in caves, others went over to the enemy, and only a small number were willing to sacrifice their lives for their country; they had no arms, and knew nothing of warfare. Victory seemed more hopeless now than in those olden days. Mattathias was careful not to wage open war against the Syrians with his small band. Well acquainted with every inch of the country, he entered the towns unexpectedly with his sons and followers, destroyed the idolatrous temples and altars, punished the inhabitants who sided with the enemy, chastised the Hellenists whenever he came upon them, and admitted into the Covenant the children that had been left uncircumcised. From time to time he routed small troops of Syrian soldiers whom he happened to encounter, but whenever the commander of the garrison of Jerusalem sent a larger detachment to pursue the rebellious Judæans, the latter disappeared as suddenly as they had come. In short, Mattathias waged a kind of petty warfare against the enemy, such as can be carried on only in mountainous districts, but may wear out the most powerful enemy.

When the death of the aged Mattathias drew nigh (167), his followers had no need to be anxious about his successor; the only difficulty was the choice of one from amongst his five heroic sons. The dying father designated Simon as a wise counsellor, and Judas as the commander, and exhorted them all to sacrifice their lives for the Covenant of their forefathers, and to fight God's battle. As soon as Judas Maccabæus was in command, matters took a favourable turn. He was a warrior such as the house of Israel had not known since the time of David and Joab, than whom he was nobler and purer. Invisible strength seemed to emanate from his hero-soul, which imbued all who surrounded him with the same dauntless courage. He was endowed with the instincts of a general, and this enabled him to fight at the right moment, to take advantage of his enemy's weakness, and to deceive him by means of feigned attacks. In the hour of battle, "he was like a lion in his rage," and when at rest, like a dove in gentleness and simplicity. He was as resigned to the will of God as the holiest men of old in Israel, and relied not on his sword, but on God's help, praying to Him before each decisive action. Judas Maccabæus was a true hero of Israel, who only resorted to bloodshed when compelled by necessity in order to recover lost freedom, and to raise a humbled people. He gave his name to the whole epoch.

At first he followed the example of his father, and sallied out only secretly or at night to punish the apostates, to win over the wavering, and to harass small bands of Syrian troops. But as the number of his followers steadily increased, augmented by pretended converts to heathendom, who were glad to throw off their masks, and by those who were cured of their love for the Greeks by the cruelty and despotism of the latter, Judas ventured to confront a Syrian army under Apollonius. The latter had united the garrison at Samaria with other troops which he had collected in order to fight the rebels, for he had deemed it imprudent to withdraw the soldiers from Jerusalem, or rather, from the Acra. This was the first open battle which Judas fought, and success rewarded his valour. Apollonius was killed, and his soldiers were either slain on the battle-field, or sought safety in flight. Though the number of the defeated Syrians was small, still this victory encouraged the Judæans. They had met the cruel foe face to face, and their daring had triumphed; they considered it a proof that God had not abandoned His people, but still watched over and protected them. Judas took the sword which had dropped from the hand of Apollonius, and fought with it until his death.

A Syrian commander named Heron, guided by some treacherous Hellenists, pursued Judas and his followers into the mountains, and hoped to crush them with his overwhelming numbers. When the Judæan soldiers first saw the great numbers of men assembled near Bethhoron, they cried out, "How can we wage war against such an enemy?" But Judas knew how to calm their fears, and reminded them of the precious treasures they were called upon to defend, – their lives, their children, and the Law. A vigorous attack was made on the Syrians, who were totally defeated. Eight hundred men of Heron's army remained dead on the battle-field, and the others fled westward into the land of the Philistines. This first decisive victory of Judas, at Bethhoron, over a much larger army than his own (166), inspired the Judæans with confidence, and filled their enemies with terror; they were amazed both at the bravery and the strategical skill of the Maccabee, and at the endurance of the people.

What was Antiochus, the author of all these calamities, doing meanwhile? At first he troubled himself little about the Judæans, foolishly believing that his decrees would suffice to subdue and convert them. But when he learned of the losses of his army, and when the fame of Judas reached his ear, he at last admitted that he had underrated his enemy's power of resistance. In the first moment of anger he determined to send forth a large army, and make an end of his refractory opponents. But he was unable to carry out his plans immediately; he had few troops left, and would have been compelled to obtain mercenaries. For this purpose he needed money, and his treasury was but scantily supplied; for his extravagant expenditures were greatly in excess of his revenues, and owing to the war with Judas, the taxes were not collected in Judæa. Other embarrassments were added to these, for alarming news reached him from the east and the north. Arsaces, his satrap of Parthia, had revolted against the Syrio-Babylonian Empire, and had freed himself and his people. Artaxias, king of Armenia, totally ignored his fealty to Antiochus, and acted like an independent sovereign. The inhabitants of Aradus, and other Phœnician towns, also refused to obey him, and thus his revenues decreased steadily. In order to replenish his treasury he would have been compelled to wage war against these revolted nations, but to carry on this war he needed money. Thus he fell from one trouble into another; but, somehow, the half-insane Antiochus managed to hire some mercenary troops for a year. Intending to lead half of the troops himself against the rebellious provinces beyond the Euphrates, he placed the other half under the command of Lysias, a man of royal parentage, whom he appointed his lieutenant for the country between the Euphrates and the Egyptian border. To Lysias also he entrusted the education of his son. Antiochus's intentions regarding Judæa were now quite altered. Hellenisation was no longer thought of. His plan of changing the Jews into Greek citizens had been frustrated. They had shown themselves incorrigible, and quite unworthy of the benefit he wished to confer upon them. He therefore determined that they should be exterminated. He commissioned Lysias to march against Judæa with the troops left in his charge, and, after conquering the Judæans, to destroy and uproot every remnant of Israel and every trace of Jerusalem; and the land was to be colonised by foreign tribes, and divided among them. The Judæan Hellenists were likewise comprised in this plan of destruction. Antiochus gave them up to their fate. He did not care for the small number who slavishly adhered to his commands. As soon as this plan became known, all the Judæans were seized with terror and despair, especially those who lived among other nations, outside of Judæa. Would the small but heroic army, under the guidance of the Maccabees, be able to resist the onslaught of a numerous horde, provided with elephants? "In every town, and in every country, where the king's commands became known, great terror filled the hearts of the Judæans, and they fasted and wept. The Elders dressed themselves in their penitential garb, and lay in ashes." But this unprecedentedly cruel plan of destroying a whole people, men, women and children, roused new champions for the defence of their country. Even the more worldly-minded men among the Judæans, and those who, though anxious for innovation, had not entirely fallen away from Judaism, now joined the Maccabees, for they had no other alternative.