The Maccabean Wars
The oppressed Jews were not long in finding a champion. When the emissaries of Antiochus arrived at the village of Modin, about fifteen miles west of Jerusalem, they expected the aged kohen-(priest), Mattathias, to set a good example to his people by coming forward to offer a pagan sacrifice. When Mattathias refused, a timid Jew came forward to perform the sacrifice. The enraged kohen approached the altar and slew both the apostate Jew and the emissary of Antiochus. With his five sons, Mattathias destroyed the heathen altar and then fled to the hills to avoid reprisal. Others of orthodox persuasion joined the family of Mattathias in waging guerilla warfare on the Syrians and the Hellenistic Jews who supported them. The orthodox would not fight on the Shabbat-(Sabbath) day, with the result that they were at a distinct military disadvantage. On one Shabbat a band of the orthodox was surrounded and slaughtered, for they would not defend themselves. Following this episode Mattathias suggested the principle that fighting in self-defense is permissible on the Shabbat day.
Soon after the beginning of the war, Mattathias died. He had urged his followers to choose as military leader his third son Judas ( Hebrew Judah ) known as the "Maccabee," a word usually interpreted to mean "the hammer." The choice was a good one, for more and more Jews rallied to the cause. The Maccabees, as the followers of Judas were called, were able to hold their own against a series of Syrian armies thrown against them. By a surprise night attack, Judas annihilated an army of Syrians and Hellenistically minded Jews at Emmaus, and then marched toward Jerusalem with the booty he had seized. The Maccabees entered the city and took everything except the Akra. They entered the Tabernacle and removed all the signs of paganism which had been installed there. The altar dedicated to Jupiter was removed and a new altar erected to Israel's ABBA-(FATHER). The statue of Jupiter was ground to dust. Beginning with the twenty-fifth of Kislev (December) they celebrated an eight day Feast of Dedication, known as Hanukkah the Festival of Lights. In this way they marked the end of the three-year period during which the Tabernacle had been desecrated.
Peace was
short-lived, however. The Syrian general Lysias defeated the
Maccabees in a battle near Jerusalem, and besieged the city itself. During the
siege, however, Lysias learned of trouble at home and made an offer of peace to
the Jews. The laws against the observance of Judaism would be repealed and
Syria would refrain from interference in the internal affairs of Judea. Menelaus
was to be removed from office and the high ke hunnah-(priesthood) given to a mild Hellenizer
named Alcimus. Lysias promised that Judas and his followers would not be
punished. The walls of Jerusalem would be razed, however.
A
council comprising Maccabean army officers, respected scribes, and elders of the
orthodox party was convened at Jerusalem to determine the action to be taken.
Against the counsel of Judas the peace terms were accepted. Alcimus became High
Kohen-(Priest); Menelaus was executed, and Judas left the city with a few
followers. The fears of Judas proved correct, however, for Alcimus seized and
executed many of the orthodox party. Loyal Jews again turned to Judas and the
civil war was renewed. Judas, with an ill-equipped army of eight hundred
men, met a large Syrian army and died in battle. Thus the first phase of the
Maccabean struggle was ended.
Jonathan, a brother of Judas, fled across the Jordan with several hundred Maccabean soldiers. They were ill-equipped to wage battle, but the next victories were in the field of diplomacy. Two pretenders to the Syrian throne each sought help from the Jews. They saw in Jonathan the man best able to raise and lead a Jewish army. By playing a delaying action, Jonathan was able to support the winning candidate and at the same time make treaties with Sparta and Rome. Before the war was over, Jonathan was High Kohen, governor of Judea, and a member of the Syrian nobility. His brother Simon became governor of the Philistine coastal area. Jonathan was able to promote the internal prosperity of Judah, and when he died his brother Simon succeeded him as ruling High Kohen.
Simon was advanced in years when he came to the throne. His major victory was in the field of diplomacy, for by recognizing Demetrius as rightful king of Syria he secured for the Jews immunity from taxation which amounted to an acknowledgment of independence. Simon was able also to starve out the Syrian garrison at the Akra and to occupy the cities of Joppa and Bethsura. In recognition of his wise rule, the leaders in Israel named Simon, "leader and High Kohen for ever, until there shall arise a faithful prophet." Simon was the last of the sons of Mattathias, and this act legitimized a new dynasty which is termed Hasmonaean, presumably derived from an ancestor of the Maccabees named Asmonaeus or, in Hebrew, Hashmon. In 134 B.C., Simon and two of his sons were murdered by an ambitious son-in-law. A third son, John Hyrcanus, managed to escape and succeed his father as hereditary head of the Jewish state.