THE FIRST BOOK OF MACHABEES
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
These books are so called, because they contain the history of the people of God under the command of Judas Machabeus and his brethren: and he, as some will have it, was surnamed Machabeus, from carrying in his ensigns, or standards, those words of Exodus 15.11, Who is like to thee among the strong, O Lord: in which the initial letters, in the Hebrew, are M. C. B. E. I. It is not known who is the author of these books. But as to their authority, though they are not received by the Jews, saith St. Augustine, (lib. 18, De Civ. Dei, c. 36,) they are received by the church: who, in settling her canon of the scriptures, chose rather to be directed by the tradition she had received from the apostles of Christ, than by that of the scribes and Pharisees. And as the church has declared these two Books canonical, even in two general councils, viz., Florence and Trent, there can be no doubt of their authenticity.
1 Machabees Chapter 1
The reign of Alexander and his successors: Antiochus rifles and profanes the temple of God: and persecutes unto death all that will not forsake the law of God, and the religion of their fathers.
1:1. Now it came to pass, after that Alexander the son of Philip the Macedonian, who first reigned in Greece, coming out of the land of Cethim, had overthrown Darius, king of the Persians and Medes:
1:2. He fought many battles, and took the strong holds of all, and slew the kings of the earth:
1:3. And he went through even to the ends of the earth: and took the spoils of many nations: and the earth was quiet before him.
1:4. And he gathered a power, and a very strong army: and his heart was exalted and lifted up:
1:5. And he subdued countries of nations, and princes; and they became tributaries to him.
1:6. And after these things, he fell down upon his bed, and knew that he should die.
1:7. And he called his servants, the nobles that were brought up with him from his youth: and he divided his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive.
Divided his kingdom, etc... This is otherwise related by Q. Curtius; though he acknowledges that divers were of that opinion, and that it had been delivered by some authors, lib. 10. But here we find from the sacred text, that he was in error.
1:8. And Alexander reigned twelve years, and he died.
1:9. And his servants made themselves kings, every one in his place:
1:10. And they all put crowns upon themselves after his death, and their sons after them, many years; and evils were multiplied in the earth.
1:11. And there came out of them a wicked root, Antiochus the Illustrious, the son of king Antiochus, who had been a hostage at Rome: and he reigned in the hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.
Antiochus the Illustrius... Epiphanes, the younger son of Antiochus the Great, who usurped the kingdom, to the prejudice of his nephew Demetrius, son of his elder brother Seleucus Philopater.-Ibid. Of the kingdom of the Greeks... Counting, not from the beginning of the reign of Alexander, but from the first year of Seleucus Nicator.
1:12. In those days there went out of Israel wicked men, and they persuaded many, saying: Let us go and make a covenant with the heathens that are round about us: for since we departed from them, many evils have befallen us.
1:13. And the word seemed good in their eyes.
1:14. And some of the people determined to do this, and went to the king: and he gave them license to do after the ordinances of the heathens.
1:15. And they built a place of excercise in Jerusalem, according to the laws of the nations:
1:16. And they made themselves prepuces, and departed from the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the heathens, and were sold to do evil:
1:17. And the kingdom was established before Antiochus, and he had a mind to reign over the land of Egypt, that he might reign over two kingdoms.
1:18. And he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great number of ships:
1:19. And he made war against Ptolemee king of Egypt; but Ptolemee was afraid at his presence and fled, and many were wounded unto death.
1:20. And he took the strong cities in the land of Egypt: and he took the spoils of the land of Egypt.
1:21. And after Antiochus had ravaged Egypt, in the hundred and forty- third year, he returned and went up against Israel.
1:22. And he went up to Jerusalem, with a great multitude.
1:23. And he proudly entered into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition, and the pouring vessels, and the vials, and the little mortars of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden ornament that was before the temple: and he broke them all in pieces.
1:24. And he took the silver and gold, and the precious vessels: and he took the hidden treasures, which he found: and when he had taken all away, he departed into his own country.
1:25. And he made a great slaughter of men, and spoke very proudly.
1:26. And there was great mourning in Israel, and in every place where they were:
1:27. And the princes, and the ancients mourned, and the virgins and the young men were made feeble, and the beauty of the women was changed.
1:28. Every bridegroom took up lamentation: and the bride that sat in the marriage bed, mourned:
1:29. And the land was moved for the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was covered with confusion.
1:30. And after two full years, the king sent the chief collector of his tributes to the cities of Juda, and he came to Jerusalem with a great multitude.
The chief collector, etc... Apollonius.
1:31. And he spoke to them peaceable words in deceit; and they believed him.
1:32. And he fell upon the city suddenly, and struck it with a great slaughter, and destroyed much people in Israel.
1:33. And he took the spoils of the city, and burnt it with fire, and threw down the houses thereof, and the walls thereof round about:
1:34. And they took the women captive, and the children, and the cattle they possessed.