CHAPTER II.

B.C.E.B.C.E.Death of Alexander323Onias I, High Priest332Division of Alexander'sEmpire into four Kingdoms323Judea part of Greco-Egyptianrealm (Ptolemaic)301Simon the Just, HighPtolemy II, Philadelphus285Priest300The Septuagint (translationof the Bible intoGreek) begun at Alexandriaabout250Ptolemy III Euergetes247Joseph, Governor of Palestine230Ptolemy IV Philopator222Judea part of Greco-Syrian real203Ptolemy VI Philometor181Onias IV, builds a Templeat Leontopolis, Egypt160Ben Sirach visits Egypt132

The Greeks and the Jews have been the greatest contributors toward the higher civilization of mankind, the Greek in the intellectual and artistic realm, the Jew in the religious and moral. Therefore we discern the hand of Providence in bringing them together for they influenced each other. The meeting of Greek and Jew is one of the great events of history, greater than many of the battles that have decided the fates of empires. Greece had already lived her most thrilling epoch when the meeting began, but Plato, disciple of the moral philosopher, Socrates, had but recently passed away and Aristotle, profoundest philosopher of antiquity, still lived.

Macedonia had absorbed other Greek principalities and Alexander, now sole master, carried his army eastward in the hope of founding a universal empire. Whenever he conquered a land, he colonized it with Greeks andthus spread Greek civilization. Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, and ultimately Ethiopia and India fell successively before his triumphant approach.

The Persian empire that had been fast decaying, was included in the great array of conquests. Tired of the intriguing adventurer placed over them in the last years, the Jews gladly welcomed the conqueror. Legend weaves a pretty story of the Jewish High Priest, Onias, going forth with a company clad in white to meet Alexander, and that in this picture Alexander saw the fulfilment of a dream. It is certain that the Jews hailed this change of masters and many settled in several of the new Greek colonies he founded. In this rise and fall of empires a new grouping of the countries took place. The rebellious Samaritans were quelled and Alexander gave their land to the Judeans, to whom he further showed his favor by freeing them from taxation during the Sabbatic year. (see Lev. xxv.)

Another reason for Alexander's kindness to our ancestors may be the fact that some Jews already settled in many places outside Judea became his guides and interpreters when he entered the unfamiliar realm of Asia. Indeed, this broad-minded conqueror was a second Cyrus to the Jews; but there was no Isaiah now to immortalize his advent in the grandeur of prophetic address, or to interpret his triumphant advance in terms of divine purpose.

All too soon, in the midst of his ambitions, Alexander died. Conflict among his generals followed, and the great empire was dismembered. In one of the many warswhich followed, the Jews showed their religious fidelity by submitting to slaughter rather than defend themselves on the Sabbath day. Finally, the empire was divided into the following four kingdoms: The Greco-Syrian, the Greco-Egyptian, the Thracian and the Macedonian. Greco-Syria, including the greater part of Western Asia, with Persia as its centre, was claimed by one of Alexander's generals named Seleucus. He introduced the Seleucidan era named after him beginning with the year 312. This calendar was used by the Jews when they later came under Seleucidan sway; for this name, too, came to be applied to the kingdom itself. Many Jews were invited to settle in the new capital—Antioch, on its Mediterranean border. The next kingdom fell to Ptolemy Lagos and included Egypt and the adjoining Asiatic lands, one of which was Cælo-Syria, with boundaries from Lebanon to Egypt, really corresponding to Palestine. Thus the Jews first came under the Ptolemaic regime. It will be well to keep these geographical divisions distinctly in mind. The remaining two divisions of the empire, Thrace and Macedonia, hardly enter into this history.

The Jews did not suffer in the change of rule. They were as free as before to live their own life, and with even greater political independence than under Persian rule. The High Priest continued as the head of the Jewish community, the centre of which was still Jerusalem. Alexandria, a seaport named after the conqueror, was made the capital of Greco-Egyptian kingdom. Many Jews settled there, and it gradually became the most important Jewish community outside of Palestine, both intellectually and religiously. If there were Jews in Greek towns, so also were there Greeks in Jewish towns.This meant a mingling of the two races and a lessening of Jewish isolation. Alexander had brought the Greek tongue to the East; it became the international language; and even the commercial interchange of commodities brought necessarily with it an interchange of ideas. The Orient was becoming Hellenized (p. 31).

The first man of achievement to hear from in this epoch was the High Priest, Simon the Just. That he was called "The Just" tells much in a word. Like Aristides the Good he really earned his title. He rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, ravaged by war, and improved the water supply. Ben Sirach (one of the writers of the Apocrypha) speaks of Simon in these words of exalted praise:

How was he honored in the midst of the peopleIn his coming out of the sanctuary!He was as the morning star in the midst of a cloud,And as the moon at the full;As the sun shining upon the temple of the Most HighAnd as the rainbow giving light in the bright clouds:And as the flower of roses in the spring of the year,As lilies by the rivers of waters,And as the branches of the frankincense tree in the time of summer;As fire and incense in the censer,And as a vessel of beaten gold set with all manner of precious stones;And as a fair olive tree budding forth fruit,And as a cypress tree which groweth up to the clouds.When he put on the robe of honour,And was clothed with the perfection of glory,When he went up to the holy altar,He made glorious the precincts of the Sanctuary.

Here is one of his maxims: "The world rests on three pillars, on the Law, on worship, and on Charity." He took a broad and moderate view of life. When over-zealous souls would wish to impose upon themselves the abnegations of the Nazarite (see Numbers vi) he discouraged such extremes. "Why voluntarily renounce gifts that God in his love has bestowed for our joy?" That voices the spirit of Judaism. It is said that certain wondrous manifestations of Divine grace ceased with his death. These are but legends, but they show how much he was revered and loved.

Joseph, the nephew of Onias, a man of resources, was appointed tax-gatherer of the Palestinian lands. A tax-gatherer was given a military retinue to enforce his claims. It was a position of great importance, and made him practically governor of all Palestine with title of Satrap. He exercised his power with severity. Still he brought wealth and improvement to Judea and awakened in the Jews a greater confidence in themselves.

Certainly contact with the Greeks widened the horizon of the Jews, furthered their culture, and gave them a taste for the arts of architecture and sculpture. The Greeks also inculcated love of freedom, the dignity of man, and intellectual research in the realms of science and philosophy. But Greek civilization had perils as well as advantages. Nor was it transplanted to the East in its noblest form. The best of Greek thought was evolved in Athens, not in Alexandria. Then too, the Greeks everywhere were fond of conviviality, so often the stepping-stone to immorality. That was why the prophets, from Samuel on so frowned upon Canaanitish revelries.Some Jews quickly imitated this pagan frivolity and dissipation. Joseph, the satrap, in order to please Ptolemy Philopater, the Greco-Egyptian monarch, introduced the festivities of Dionysus (Bacchus) into Jerusalem; these really meant drunken orgies. Next he imported to the Jewish capital dissolute dancing-women. These associations began to loosen the adherence of the people to Judaism's strictly moral code. Epicureanism, that had become a sanction for indulgence, was beginning to take its place.

In the meantime the greed and ambition of kings changed the map once more. Antiochus the Great, of Syria, seized Egypt and its Asiatic possessions in 203. This transferred Judea from the Egyptian to the Seleucidan rule. Warring nations had played battledore and shuttlecock with the land of our ancestors since the year 600. Antiochus was checked by the newly rising power of Rome from retaining all the Greco-Egyptian dominions, but Celo-Syria including Judea remained under his sway. In the struggle some Jews sided with the Egyptian and some with the Seleucidan party.

For Jews were beginning to differentiate; they were not any more all of one mind either politically or religiously. Led by the unfortunate example of Joseph and his successors, some Jews began cultivating Hellenistic (from Hellas, Greece) habits to win favor with their surroundings. A Jewish leader of the Greek faction was one Joshua, who Grecized his name to Jason. This worldly man encouraged his people to neglect their Jewish ideals in favor of pagan standards of life. The safeguardsbuilt around the Jewish Law by the teachers of old were ruthlessly overthrown. But these traitorous extremes brought their own reaction. A pious party sprang up to counteract them and it zealously determined to fulfil the Jewish Law in its strictest interpretation. These were theChassidim(Greek, Assidean), meaning the pious.

Here then were two extreme parties in Israel—one, the Hellenists, whose mania for everything Greek made them almost traitors to the Jewish cause; and on the other hand the Chassidim, who observed the law with a rigidity greater than its own demands; and in the midst the great bulk of the people, who tried to avoid the extremes of both.

Read "Hebraism and Hellenism" in Matthew Arnold'sCulture and Anarchy.

Someone remarks, "The Greek praised the holiness of beauty: the Jew the beauty of holiness." Heine writes: "The Greeks were only beautiful youths, the Jews strong and steadfast men."

What was the significance of the defeat of Persia by Greece for civilization in general and for the Jew in particular?

B.C.E.B.C.E.Seleucidan Era begins312Judea under Greco-Syrian rule203Uprising under Mattathias168Antiochus III, the Great223Judas Maccabee167Antiochus IV Epiphanes175Book of Daniel written, about166Temple re-dedicated—Hanukkah165Antiochus V, Eupater164

Antiochus was succeeded by his son of the same name, an eccentric despot who claimed the title of Epiphanes, the "illustrious," though styled by his enemies Epimanes "the madman," and in rabbinic literatureHarasha, the "wicked." The rule of this ill-balanced tyrant was to bring woe to Judea, for which their own internal troubles were in a measure responsible. Indeed, it was these discords that drew his attention to this particular province. The Hellenists, who had grown to quite a party, sought his interference in their behalf. Jason offered the king a bribe to make him High Priest and depose Onias, his own brother. What a blasphemy on the holy office to fight for its material powers! The pity was that material power should be vested in a spiritual office, so the system was wrong as well as the man.

Imitation of Greek life went on apace. Olympic games,gymnasia, were now introduced into Judea. These games named from Olympia in Macedonia, Greece, where they first took place, were also religious festivals and were accompanied by sacrifices to the Greek god Zeus. Yet they involved immoralities, so contradictory were some ancient conceptions of religion.

Menelaus, another unscrupulous character, offered toAntiochus a still higher bribe for the priesthood and thus obtained it, regardless of the fact that it had already been sold to Jason. Like master, like man.

Led from crime to crime, Menelaus became a traitor to his people. He robbed the Temple of some of its treasures to pay his bribe and then slew the deposed but worthy Onias because he had denounced the sin. The outraged people rose against Menelaus, but an armed guard provided by the king enabled him to hold his office by force, and saved him for the time being.

At about this time (170) Antiochus IV, like his predecessor, attempted to seize Egypt. Some patriotic Jews in Alexandria showed active sympathy for the endangered nation. Therefore Antiochus on his return from the expedition seized Jerusalem, aided by the traitor Menelaus. This attack meant the slaughter of many souls and the desecration and plunder of the Temple. Not content with this, Antiochus spread slanders against Judaism to justify his excesses. The rumor went forth, for example, that a golden headed ass was found in the Temple.

Next year his further attack on Egypt was checked by Rome, rapidly becoming a great power. Again he vented his rage on the Jews and determined to exterminate the Jewish religion by attacking their most revered institutions, as the most complete means of erasing their distinct individuality. The predecessors of Antiochus Epiphanes had encouraged the spread of paganism among the Jews; but he, less intelligent and more despotic, tried to force it upon them. He did not realize that where persuasion may succeed, tyranny often fails. Apollonius,his general, cowardly attacked Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, when he knew religious scruples would prevent the Jews defending themselves. So it proved. Many more were slain and the women and children sold in slavery. A general plunder followed. The paganizing of Judea became now his avowed policy. Therefore a decree went forth forbidding the recognition of the God of Israel and His Law and commanding the worship of Greek divinities—"gods that were nothings," to quote Psalm xcvi. The Law was burned and the statue of Jupiter set up in the Temple. Jewish ceremonial, Sabbath, festivals, the Abrahamic rite, were replaced by the sacrifice of unclean animals. At the same time other methods were employed completely to subdue the people.

The same policy was applied against Jews in Higher Syria and Phoenicia. But if some were weak enough to surrender their Faith, many were prepared to remain staunch to it. Eleazar in Antioch met a martyr's death. Hannah, a mother in Israel, taught her sons how to die for conscience's sake. Here are the words with which she exhorted them: "Doubtless the Creator of the world who formed the generations of man will also of His own mercy give you breath and life again as ye now regard not your own selves for His law's sake." Martyrdom such as that found its counterpart in many scattered places. Not succeeding by threats and persecutions Antiochus once more resorted to arms. Again followed an unresisted Sabbath slaughter. The walls of Jerusalem were leveled and Zion made a fortress with a Syrian garrison. Greek colonists were transplanted to Palestine for the purpose of Hellenizing Judea. The country was placed under rigid surveillance. If a copy of the Law was found on the monthly inspection the punishmentwas death. Participation in the festivals of Dionysius was now a compulsion.

Yet many dared resist. From the worldly point of view, opposition seemed madness, but religious zeal counts not the material cost.

In Modin, a town eighteen miles northwest of Palestine, lived Mattathias, with his five sons, John, Simon, Judas, Eleazar and Jonathan. Hither in the year 168 came officials of the tyrant with promises of a large bribe to Mattathias if he would make offering to an idol and with threats of punishment if he declined. Mattathias was a leading townsman and his example would bring many followers. Not only did he scorn the infamous proposal, but slew a coward who prepared to obey. That act was casting down the gauntlet to Antiochus; it was a declaration of war. With his brave sons around him, the aged hero sent this message to the people: "Whoever is zealous for the Lord and whosoever wishes to support the Covenant, follow me." That became the rallying cry. The little band deposed the Syrian overseer and the guard. Once more when attacked on the Sabbath, the Jews submitted to slaughter. Then they came to the realization that self-defense was their duty, even on that holy day. Were they not fighting for a holy cause? They began at first guerilla warfare on apostates and heathens. Avoiding regular attacks, they would swoop down with a bold clash on a town to punish and reform.

Next year Mattathias died. Simon became the counselor and Judas was chosen commander of the trusty band of revolutionists. He was Israel's greatest warriorsince David. The title given him was transmitted to his party—Maccabeus, the Hammer. But a something more than generalship was to decide this contest—faith. Judged by material standards, resistance seemed like a forlorn hope, but the intrepid bravery of this staunch band fightingpro aris et focis, "for their altars and their hearths," increased the number of their adherents and even won back the allegiance of some who had almost drifted from the fold.

The first victory over the Syrians was small, but Appolonius, the general who had been entrusted with carrying out the persecuting laws, was slain. In a second engagement the "rebels" were attacked at Beth Horon, north of Jerusalem, and Judas won here a still more decided success over an army much larger than his own. Antiochus became alarmed. He had not the means to raise a large army to meet this unexpected opposition, because all his resources were taxed to meet troubles in other quarters—Parthia, Armenia, Phoenicia.

Angered at the rebellion of this petty people, he now determined on their extermination, Hellenists and all. He sent Lysias with full power to Jerusalem to raze the city to the ground. To the Syrians the Jewish defeat seemed so certain that slave-dealers with money and chains followed the army, sure of a harvest in their repulsive trade. A horror like unto that of Shushan in Esther's days spread through the doomed city. But it raised champions, even among the Hellenistic Jews, who were still attached to their Faith when the decisive test came.

It was in the year 166 that Lysias, the viceroy of Antiochus, sent an army of four thousand men into Judea under the generals Ptolemy, Nicanor and Gorgias. ButJudas Maccabeus had now a well organized force, although it consisted of but six thousand men. Before the struggle began he called a solemn assembly at Mizpah, where Samuel had gathered Israel nine hundred years earlier, ordered a fast, conducted a service of prayer and read the Law. In reading the story of the Puritan war against Charles I of England and their singing hymns before the battle, we are reminded of the religious earnestness of these Maccabees. "When they saw the host coming to meet them, they said to Judas, how shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong.... Judas answered: with the God of heaven it is all one to deliver with a great multitude or a small company." The usual proclamation of the Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy xx), was now read, excusing certain classes from the ranks; this reduced the army still more. Then the struggle once more began. By a clever stratagem Judas Maccabeus met the Syrian army on a plain near Emmaus, not far from the capital. With the words of the Law on his lips and with an encouraging appeal to fight for the holy cause, he gave the signal to advance. Defeating the first contingent of the enemy before the main army came up, the next battalion fled without fighting.

The moral effect of this decisive victory was most valuable, apart from the fact that the booty obtained supplied arms to the Maccabees—the "sinews of war" both in a literal and metaphoric sense. But Lysias dared not be beaten. He therefore sent a big army against Judas, whose force had meanwhile increased to some ten thousand, proving again that nothing succeeds like success. The Syrians chose a new route to Beth Horon, but only to meet the old defeat. This was the turningpoint in the war. The struggle was not over, but confidence was restored and a respite gained.

Judas Maccabeus marched to the capital and a sorry picture of desolation met his gaze. His first work was to remove all signs of idolatry and desecration. A new altar was built, the Temple was repaired and cleaned and on Kislev the 25th in the year 165, it was reconsecrated. The ceremony recalls Solomon's consecration of the first Temple; not as splendid a ceremonial perhaps, but it meant far more. Solomon's Temple had cost treasure, but this had cost blood. It was more than a civil victory; it was that least, it was a triumph of the divine cause expressed in Israel's mission. They fought for Zion as an idea rather than Zion as a city—the "Zion from which goeth forth the law." They proved again that ideals can conquer battalions. This great lesson is always brought home to us when we celebrate our festival of Hanukkah (re-dedication) instituted by the Great Council—the successor of the "Great Synagogue"—to celebrate the victory. The Syrian had been defeated. He was the enemy without. But a greater foe had to be conquered, the enemy within—religious indifference, that lurked among the Hellenist worldlings and many faint-hearted souls throughout the land.

The legend runs that when Judas Maccabeus wished to consecrate the Temple, but one flask of pure oil bearing the priestly seal had been left after the enemy's ravage. It was a measure that would last for a day, but—marvelous to tell—it served for eight, by which time new oil was prepared. The story is immortalized in the second name "Feast of Lights," given to the Hanukkahfestival. The ceremony of kindling lights begins with one on the first night, continues with two lights on the second and thus progresses till the eighth and last night is reached. What is the meaning of the ceremonial and the story? It is the Maccabean victory told in symbol; for it was a story of advance from strength to strength. First, Mattathias stood alone for Judaism's cause, a solitary light. Next came his sons; then a tiny army growing instead of lessening with each conflict, from two thousand to six thousand, from six to ten, then victory crowned their efforts; and with the conquest on the field rose the faith in the hearts of the people in the same progressive way. The tiny embers became a flame, and the flame burst into a conflagration. This miracle is often found repeated in Israel's history.

The Feast of Lights is called a Minor Festival in our calendar, for reasons accidental rather than intrinsic. It is hard to institute a new observance after a religion is crystallized. It is still harder to give it the old sanction. So the rabbis did not venture then to place Hanukkah or Purim on a par with Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Yet in very truth Hanukkah is a great festival. None question its authority—all are thrilled by its stirring story.

In seeking to realize this critical time of "storm and stress," we shall be aided somewhat by taking a glimpse at its literature. For here we see pictured the struggles and sufferings experienced and the alternate hopes and fears that swayed the heart of the nation, far better than in the record of the historian.

A work reflecting these times, the Book of Daniel, isperhaps the latest of the Bible books. The book throws light on the epoch and the epoch is the key to the book. Daniel is written in the form of a revelation of events that were to happen centuries later, made known through dream and vision to the God-fearing Daniel, one of the Babylonian exiles. These visions are presented as foretelling the main incidents after the exile. The pictures grow in detail as they reach the Maccabean uprising (168B.C.E.), showing that the author probably belonged to this time.

The first picture is the dream of King Nebuchadrezzar, which Daniel—who is as wise as he is good—is able to interpret. The dream presented an image with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, the lower limbs of brass and iron mixed with clay. A stone cut without hands destroyed the image and then grew to a mountain that filled the earth. In the light of later events, it is thus explained: The golden head was Babylon, the silver breast and arms the kingdom of Media, the bronze trunk Persia, the lower limbs of baser metal and clay represented the Greek empire, split up into many principalities, thus bringing the picture down to the rule of Antiochus Epiphanes. What did the "stone" represent? It expresses the faith of the writer in Israel's eventual triumph and the spread of Judaism over the world. But it was doubtless written when the outcome was still uncertain, perhaps in the very height and heat of the struggle.

The same march of events is later repeated in visions to Daniel himself. The four empires are depicted in the figures of beasts that give the same assurance of Israel's ultimate victory. "The greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saintsof the Most High; his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey Him."

In another vision our attention is focused on the events nearer the Maccabean time. First a ram with two horns is the Medo-Persian empire. Next a he-goat represents Greece, its horn Alexander the Great. Four horns that uprose in its place are the four kingdoms into which his empire was split—Macedonia, Thrace, Syria and Egypt, while a little horn that overthrows Judah's sanctuary is none other than Antiochus Epiphanes.

A last vision drops metaphor and mentions the kingdoms by actual name. The persecutions under Antiochus are vividly depicted:

"They shall profane the Sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering; and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries; but the people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits. They that be wise among the people shall instruct many. Yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil many days. Now when they shall fall they shall be helped with a little help (the Maccabees).... And some of them that be wise shall fall, to refine them and to purge and to make them white."

AntiochusANTIOCHUSEPIPHANES.

ANTIOCHUSEPIPHANES.

The last reference indicates the ennobling influence of martyrdom touchingly depicted also in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah.

The death of these noble souls deepened the belief of this writer in the future life, as demanded by divine justice:

"Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."

The book was certainly written by a patriotic and pious author to inspire his brethren during that dark struggle, to urge them to be loyal to God and His Law with the staunch conviction that all would come right in the end. It is an appeal to the faith and courage of Israel, with Daniel held up as a thrilling exemplar. He is portrayed as unswerving in his determination to be steadfast to the God of his fathers; on one occasion daring a fiery furnace and on another a lion's den, and his faith saves him from both perils.

Who can say how many may have been nerved to be loyal and to "wait for God's salvation" by these impassioned pictures? So, next to Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the Hanukkah story, let us enshrine in our hearts and memories the unknown author of the Book of Daniel who fed the faith and the courage of Israel in their days of sorrow and darkness.

This was the title of a special day set aside by theChurch to commemorate the martyrdom of the Jewish mother and her seven sons.

Immortality. In addition to the quotation from Daniel on immortality, here are appended further Biblical quotations that express this belief: Isaiah xxvi, 19; xxv, 8; Ezekiel xxxvii, 1-14; Psalm xvi, 10, 11; xvii, 15; Proverbs xii, 28; Ecclesiastes xii, 7. Montefiore,The Bible for Home Reading, Part II, section v, chapter ii. Driver, "Daniel,"Cambridge Bible, (Cambridge University Press.)

SYRIA.JUDEA.B.C.E.B.C.E.Demetrius I, Soter162Alliance with Rome161Judas Maccabeus died160Jonathan, High Priest and Tributary Prince152Alexander Balas150Demetrius II, Nicator145Simon—Judea independent142-135

This Temple consecration (forever memorable through the Feast of Hanukkah) was the climax of the Maccabean story, but it was by no means its close. But this event was chosen as the occasion for the institution of the Festival of Hanukkah, not the independence—that was won later. Israel took up arms to defend its Faith, not to win back a separate nation. But its triumph for a spiritual cause awakened the possibility of wresting Judea from the Syrian grasp. For a while swords rested in their scabbards; but it was only an "armed peace." Judas Maccabeus had to build new fortifications against possible invasion. The petty nations around all looked on with ill-concealed jealousy at Judah's victories. Those who in many instances had become Syrian allies had now to be met on the field. The alert and energetic Judas marched out once more and subdued the Idumeans and Ammonites and won peace and security for his people dwelling on their borders. Appeals from brethren whose possessions had been despoiled and their families slain reached him from many sides. With the aid of his brother Simon, whom he despatched to Galilee while he marched to Gilead, these heathen raids were suppressed. Jewish refugees were brought to Judea. So there were new rejoicings at these victories on his return next year (164).

The fight for the restoration of the Jewish faith wasnow over, but the fight for the restoration of the Jewish nation had only just begun.

Not for very long was Judas allowed to rest. It is far easier to take up the sword than to lay it down. The never-sleeping Syrians were again in the field, defeating two of his generals. But once more victory crowned his arms. In the same year Antiochus, humiliated with defeats in Parthia and Persia as well as in Judea, came to a sad end. The powerful monarch had now to

"Meet face to face a greater potentate,King Death, Epiphanes, the illustrious."

His death left two rival governors for the regency of the Syrian kingdom.

The obstinate Hellenist party within Israel had not yet learned their lesson, and appealed to the new monarch, Antiochus Eupator, to take up their cause. So war broke out again in 163. It was the Sabbatic year, when nothing is sown and the land lies fallow. (See Leviticus xxv.) So these circumstances added further embarrassment to the usual evils of war. It meant scarcity of provisions and the terror of long siege. A brave fight in the open field against large odds brought reverse to the Maccabees. One of the brothers, Eleazar, died on the field, a martyr to his bravery. He stabbed an elephant supposed to bear the king, though like Samson, he fell in the overthrow he designed. The army retreated before the second siege was begun. Meanwhile Philip, the rival regent of Syria, raising an army against Lysias, compelled this general's withdrawal from Jerusalem. So Lysias concluded an honorable peace with the Judeans,allowing them the religious liberty for which they had at first taken up arms.

The blessings of peace were now theirs for a space. Judas Maccabeus was made for the time being High Priest. He was not of the priestly line, but the office involved the wielding of temporal as well as spiritual authority. For the former, none more fitted than he. Yet the more strict were not satisfied that it should pass from the traditional priestly family! The Hellenist menace had not yet disappeared, though Jason and Menelaus, its fathers, were now both dead. This party now supported a new Syrian claimant for the throne against the one endorsed by the Maccabees—Demetrius (162), whose agent, Bacchides, appointed one of these very Hellenists, Alcimus, as High Priest. Thus discord was sown anew in Israel.

The Syrians with large armies twice repulsed the small army of Judas, but Nicanor, the cruel general of Demetrius, was slain in a brilliant victory by the Jews. This brought such relief to the Jews that "Nicanor Day" was celebrated in Judæa for some years as a day of rejoicing. Judas was certainly at the head of the commonwealth now, even though deprived of the High Priest's office. Hearing of Rome's great power and recognizing that it exercised a kind of sovereignty over Syria, Judas entered into an alliance with it, but too late for its interference to be of aid. For with a meagre force, discouraged by persistent war and overwhelming odds, he had now to meet a large avenging army under Bacchides. With but a few hundred men he went forth to meet the picked thousands of his foes, as brave and as determinedas the Greeks of Thermopylæ. When defeat was certain he yet stood fighting and undaunted till wounded unto death. So died a great man who had wrought salvation for Israel. He had made Judah a nation of warrior heroes exalted by religious zeal. His name, his spirit, continued to inspire them to determined resistance against foes without and within. Their religious liberty gained at such fearful cost, even Demetrius, though now holding Judea in subjection, no longer dared defy.

"He put on a breast place as a giant and girt his warlike armor about him. He battled like a lion and the wicked shrunk for fear of him. He cheered Jacob by his mighty acts and his memorial is blessed forever."

With Judas the Great and his brother John both dead, with Alcimus, the Hellenist, High Priest, and with Syrian garrisons in the capital and all the surrounding places, there was more or less conflict and demoralization. The outlook was not promising. But Jonathan, another of Mattathias' five sons, a worthy brother of Judas, kept the Hasmonean party together. The obnoxious Alcimus died, and there was no religious or political head for seven years. But confidence in Jonathan quietly grew; until eventually he filled both offices. He strengthened his forces sufficiently to withstand a new uprising and even to make it advisable for the Syrians to sue for peace. So when the Syrian throne was seized by a new claimant, Alexander Balas, he realized sufficiently the importance of Jonathan to appoint him High Priest and Tributary Prince in 152; though the deposed Demetrius, who still maintained a partial sway, now sought Jonathan's aid too. The tables were turned and Jonathan heldsomething like a balance of power. Jonathan showed his foresight in remaining loyal also to Alexander Balas, his son, who became Antiochus VI. The Hellenist party quietly died out; it never had the people behind it.

Loaded with honors, Jonathan was now given the golden clasp of independence, and his brother Simon made a Syrian commander. Enemies had become allies. Loyalty to the Syrians meant hard fighting again for the Jews, but the opportunity was given now to strengthen the defences of Jerusalem and to enable the city and the people to recover from the ravages consequent on a long series of wars. Judea had now an army of forty thousand men. They stood by Alexander Balas when all deserted him. Even then concessions were obtained from the new king, Demetrius II., showing that the Syrian power was broken.

The treachery of Tryphon, a general of the new king, led to Jonathan's death and the massacre of a thousand of his men. Thus passed another of the patriot brothers. It is hard to say to whom Israel owed the greater debt, Judas or Jonathan. Judas saved the nation at a perilous hour; Jonathan reorganized it and gave it an abiding strength.

Simon, the last brother, now stepped forward to rally and save Judea. This persistence (characteristic of the resolution of this great family) where only the non-resistance of despair was looked for, completely upset Tryphon's scheme and saved Judea from disaster. Like Jonathan, Simon became at once by popular choice the religious and civil head of his people with the title High Priest included. He felt the time had come to throw offthe weak rule of the unreliable, vacillating Syrian power, though this was far beyond the original expectation when the revolt began and far beyond its aims. Yet the march of events made it a logical sequence. He decided to recognize Demetrius II. against Tryphon on condition that Jewish independence be recognized in turn. The terms were accepted—"We release you from the crown which you owe us and we remit the taxes that we laid on Jerusalem." Verily, the yoke of the heathen was taken away from Israel.

The Seleucidan Era (see page 28) was now given up with the Seleucidan sway, and the reckoning of years began anew from 142 with the accession of Simon as High Priest, Commander of the Army and Prince of the Nation. This marked again the independence of Judah, that had been lost since the year 600B.C.E., when Nebuchadrezzar overthrew Jerusalem and its Temple and took the Jews into Babylonian exile.

In the Jewish calendar to-day time is reckoned from the traditional year of the world's creation.

Fighting first against the oppression of an overlord and winning independence as an unexpected outcome—has many historic parallels. In this way the American colonies threw off their allegiance to Great Britain in 1776.

half shekelHalf Shekel, Simon Maccabeus, 141-135B. C. E.

Half Shekel, Simon Maccabeus, 141-135B. C. E.

The issuing of coins marked one of the rights of Judea's independence. See illustrations of these coins, some of which are still in existence.

Had the Hasmoneans the right to assume the office of High Priest?

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