Copyright 2019-2023 USCCB, please review our Privacy Policy. The young put onimpressive military uniforms.10Simon supplied the towns with foodand with the means for defense.His fame spread to the ends of the earth.11He established peacethroughout the land,and Israel had great joy.12All the people sat under their own vines and fig trees. 15He spoke with them peacefully and swore to them, We will not seek to injure you or your friends. (N) 23It has pleased our people to receive these men with honor and to put a copy of their words in the public archives, so that the people of the Spartans may have a record of them. At the age of twenty-five Demetrius fled secretly from Rome and, with the support of the Syrians, overcame his rival Antiochus V and put him to death. Part 1 (ch. [12] Jason, the brother of Onias, bribed Antiochus to make him High Priest instead of Onias. [1] Timarchus, who had distinguished himself by defending Media against the emergent Parthians, seems to have treated Demetrius' accession as an excuse to declare himself an independent king and extend his realm into Babylonia. Demetrius also dispatched an expedition under Bacchides which broke Maccabee influence over the Judean cities. 37 I have received the gold crown and the gold palm branch which you sent, and I am prepared to make a peace treaty with you and to instruct our tax officials to grant you exemptions. 16It was heard in Rome and as far away as Sparta that Jonathan had died, and they were deeply grieved. II Maccabees focuses on the Jews' revolt against Antiochus and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 bce by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work. xiii. 6They made this accusation to the king against the people: Judas and his brothers have destroyed all your friends and have driven us out of our land. until his renown spread to the ends of the earth. He killed them and threw them into a great cistern. 8-15) describes the felicity of the people in glowing colors, adhering closely to the . There he successfully gained the support of the local aristocracy and was welcomed back on the Syrian throne around November 162 BC. 35To those whom the king favored, he distributed many benefits he received. (X) 34He also fortified Joppa, which is by the sea, and Gazara, which is on the borders of Azotus, where the enemy formerly lived. * [7:34] Defiled them: spitting on the priests caused them to become legally defiled. The feast day of these saints is 1 August in both the Eastern Orthodox Church (for which 1 August is also the first day of the Dormition Fast) and the Catholic Church. The statement (xiv. The Hasmonean dynasty ended in 37BCE when the Idumean Herod the Great became king of Israel,[12] designated "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate,[16][34] effectively transforming the Hasmonean Kingdom into the Herodian Kingdom a client kingdom of Rome. 2May God do good to you and remember his covenant with his faithful servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 45The Jews pursued them a days journey from Adasa to near Gazara, blowing the trumpets behind them as signals. 43Everyone should obey him. He was sent to Rome as a hostage at a young age during the reign of his father Seleucus IV Philopator[1] and his mother Laodice IV. The country now enjoyed a lasting peace, and the author of the First Book of Maccabees (xiv. (AD) 40For he had heard that the Jews were addressed by the Romans as friends and allies and brothers and that the Romans[h] had received the envoys of Simon with honor. 6, 7; Strabo, p. 759). 25-30; "Ant." [16] As a result, one explanation of the name Maccabees is based on the Aramaic word for "hammer", because they "strike hammer blows against their enemies".[29]. They accepted him as king and he began to reign there. 21The envoys who were sent to our people have told us about your glory and honor, and we rejoiced when they came. [10] Other scholars argue that, while the rising began as a religious rebellion, it was gradually transformed into a war of national liberation. [33] Although the Maccabees won autonomy, the region remained a province of the Seleucid Empire and Simon was required to provide troops to Antiochus VII Sidetes, the brother of Demetrius II. 49-52; comp. 27Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a large force and deceitfully sent to Judas* and his brothers this peaceable message: Demetrius is recorded as sending a new High Priest to Judea, Alcimus, shortly after his reign started. After the material for the sacrifices had been prepared, Nehemiah ordered the priests to sprinkle the wood and what lay on it with the liquid. King Ptolemy: Ptolemy VI Philometor, ruler of Egypt from 180 to 145 B.C. No software to install. 1 Maccabees chapter 9 KJV (King James Version) 1 Furthermore, when Demetrius heard the Nicanor and his host were slain in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus into the land of Judea the second time, and with them the chief strength of his host:. [2] Two years later, Antiochus V was greatly weakened because Rome sent an emissary to sink his ships and hamstring his elephants using the terms of the Treaty of Apamea as cause. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! 24he went about all the borders of Judea and took revenge on the men who had deserted, preventing them from going out into the country. 29Plant your people in your holy place, as Moses said.e, 30Then the priests sang hymns. Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! 1a In the one hundred and fifty-first year,* Demetrius, son of Seleucus, set out from Rome, arrived with a few men at a coastal city, and began to rule there. Since Trypho could gain nothing by force, he craftily demanded a ransom for Jonathan and the surrender of Jonathan's sons as hostages. 28Let there be no fight between me and you. Regarding the dates in 1 and 2Maccabees, see note on 1Mc 1:10. [24], According to 1 Maccabees, Antiochus banned many traditional Jewish and Samaritan[15] religious practices: he made possession of the Torah a capital offense and burned the copies he could find;[25][26] sabbaths and feasts were banned; circumcision was outlawed, and mothers who circumcised their babies were killed along with their families;[27] and traditional Jewish ritual sacrifice was forbidden. But he arrested sixty of them and killed them in one day, according to the words that he wrote:*. Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name Dmtrios ( ), meaning "Demetris" - "devoted to goddess Demeter ". 41h When they who were sent by the king* blasphemed, your angel went out and killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand of them.i They preserved the sanctuary and the Law, and they brought great honor to their nation. CHAPTER 7. He settled Jews there and provided whatever was needed to restore the towns. 7So now, send a man whom you trust to go and see all the destruction Judas has wrought on us and on the kings territory, and let him punish them and all their supporters.. [19] According to Joseph P. Schultz, modern scholarship "considers the Maccabean revolt less as an uprising against foreign oppression than as a civil war between the orthodox and reformist parties in the Jewish camp",[20] but John J. Collins writes that while the civil war between Jewish leaders led to the king's new policies, it is wrong to see the revolt as simply a conflict between Hellenism and Judaism, since "[t]he revolt was not provoked by the introduction of Greek customs (typified by the building of a gymnasium) but by the persecution of people who observed the Torah by having their children circumcised and refusing to eat pork. Flavius Josephus, The War of the Jews, Book 1.1 2, The author of the First Book of Maccabees regarded the Maccabean revolt as a rising of pious Jews against the Seleucid king (who had tried to eradicate their religion) and against the Jews who supported him. They wept and said: 7, 4). Who was Demetrius in the Book of Maccabees? This phase of Demetrius's life is unusually well-chronicled, as Polybius was an active participant and advisor to Demetrius, and his book The Histories survived out of antiquity rather than being a lost book. They offered their indirect support and encouragement to any who would seek to divide the Seleucid Empire, and hence weaken it. [16] After Mattathias' death about one year later in 166BCE, his son Judah Maccabee led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the Seleucid dynasty in guerrilla warfare, which at first was directed against Hellenizing Jews, of whom there were many. Heracleides convinced the Roman Senate to support the young pretender against Demetrius I. Balas's mercenary army landed and occupied Ptolemais, and started a reign proclaiming himself as king of the Seleucids in Seleucid year 160 (153152 BC). 1Mc 12:6. ; second son of Mattathias. He sought what was good for his nation. v. 4, 1) of the laborious demolition of the citadel, which took three years. So they made him their leader and high priest, because he had done all these things and had acted toward his nation with justice and loyalty. 11Since we have been saved by God from grave dangers, we give him great thanks as befits those who fought against the king;* Jonathan did not accept the offer, whether from trust in Balas, distrust in Demetrius, belief that Balas was likely to win the civil war, or a combination of all three. Jason subsequently drove out Menelaus and became High Priest again. After the victory, the Maccabees entered Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleansed the Temple, reestablishing traditional Jewish worship there and installing Jonathan Maccabee as high priest. Answer There are two men named Demetrius in the Bible: 1) a rabble-rousing silversmith in Acts 19:23-41, and 2) a Christian of good repute in 3 John 1:12. But it is strange that there are no coins, so far as known, of the years 6 and 7, although Simon was ruling then. 17They also heard that Simon his brother had become high priest in his place and that he was ruling over the country and its towns. All rights The independence of Simon may be indicated also by the coins which he minted, for many Jewish shekels and half-shekels bear in Old Hebrew characters the inscription "Holy Jerusalem," and are dated variously "the year 1," "2," "3," "4," or "5," these dates being referred by many scholars to the era of Simon. * [7:31] Capharsalama: a village north of Jerusalem whose precise location is disputed. Its commander Lysias, preoccupied with internal Seleucid affairs, agreed to a political compromise that restored religious freedom. The Maccabees (/mkbiz/), also spelled Machabees (Hebrew: , Makkabbm or , Maqabbm; Latin: Machabaei or Maccabaei; Ancient Greek: , Makkabaioi), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. CHAPTER 11. 3 In the first month of the one hundred and fifty-second year, * they encamped . . CHAPTER 10. . Simon Maccabees is honored. It was said that an idol of Olympian Zeus was placed on the altar of the Temple and that Israelites set up altars to Greek gods and sacrificed "unclean" animals on them. 2023 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 12A group of scribes, however, gathered about Alcimus and Bacchides to ask for a just agreement. While the Jews were a minor part of Demetrius I's empire, their story was unusually well preserved. Jonathan led and the rest responded with Nehemiah. Simon was still confronted with the task of securing his position in the country. 32Then Simon rose up and fought for his nation. He was succeeded by his son John Hyrcanus I. Following the re-dedication of the temple, the supporters of the Maccabees were divided over the question of whether to continue fighting or not. After his ascension Antiochus took care to maintain good relations with the Roman Republic, sending an embassy to Rome in 173 BC with a part of the unpaid indemnity still owed from the 188 BC Treaty of Apamea. (G)9Old men sat in the streets;they all talked together of good things,and the youths put on splendid military attire.10He supplied the towns with foodand furnished them with the means of defense,until his renown spread to the ends of the earth. (AB), 38In view of these things King Demetrius confirmed him in the high priesthood,(AC) 39made him one of his Friends, and paid him high honors. 41; Josephus, "Ant." Demetrius' downfall may be attributed to Heracleides, a surviving brother of the defeated rebel Timarchus, who championed the cause of Alexander Balas, a boy who claimed to be a natural son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It forms a historical document of the highest importance. These they brought and displayed in the sight of Jerusalem. [11], When Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ca. One explanation of the name's origins is that it derives from the Aramaic maqqa, "the hammer", in recognition of Judah's ferocity in battle. He marched into Media to find help, in order to wage war against Trypho. "Thus the yoke of the heathen was taken away from Israel in the hundred and seventieth year" of the Seleucid era (143-142 B.C. Hasmonean prince and high priest; died 135 B.C. Try it FREE. * [7:32] City of David: the citadel occupied by the Seleucid garrison in Jerusalem. 44None of the people or the priests can annul these decisions or oppose what he says. In 135 B.C. (T) 30Jonathan rallied the[d] nation, became their high priest, and was gathered to his people. They are not included in the Old Testament books in most Protestant Bibles since most Protestants consider the books apocryphal. An alliance ("amicitia") between the Romans and the Jews is, however, mentioned in other sources (Justin, "Apologia," xxxvi. Start for FREE. Bacchides and his forces defeated and killed the rebel leader Judas Maccabaeus at the Battle of Elasa in 160 BC, restoring Seleucid control to the province for a number of years. In I Macc. appointed Simon strategus, or military commander, of the coast region from the Ladder of Tyre to Egypt. 37He settled Jewish troops in the elevated fortress and fortified it for the safety of the country and of the city, and built the walls of Jerusalem higher. Demetrius (biblical figure) The name Demetrius occurs in two places in the New Testament : a Diana -worshipping silversmith who incited a riot against the Apostle Paul in the city of Ephesus. 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