A. M. 3841, Ant. Chris. 163, &c. or 164. During these divisions and disturbances Hyrcanus laid hold on the opportunity, not &c. or 5247. only to enlarge his own territories, but to shake off the Syrian yoke likewise, and make himself wholly independent. He built the stately tower, or rather castle of Baris †, upon a steep rock, that was fifty cubits high, and on all sides inaccessible except towards the temple. He took several cities, which the great draughts of men the kings of Syria had made for their foreign expeditions, had left unprovided with garrisons: He subdued Shechem, the chief seat of the sect of the Samaritans, and destroyed their temple which Sanballat had built them on Mount Gerazzim: (a) He conquered the Idumæans, and prevailed with them all to become proselytes +2 to the Jewish religion, so that thenceforward they were incorporated into the same church and nation, and in time lost the name of Idumæans or Edomites, and were called Jews: He renewed the alliance with the Romans, and, by a decree * from them, obtained greater privileges and advantages than the Jews ever had before: And now, being much increased in riches and power, he sent his two sons, Aristobalus and Antigonus, to besiege Samaria, who on this occasion gave good proofs of their valour and conduct. The place held out for a whole year; but being forced to surrender at last, by the direction of Hyrcanus it was utterly demolished: for he caused not only the houses and walls to be pulled down and razed, but trenches to be dug every way cross the ground whereon it stood, and to be filled with water that it might never again be built. She was at first married to Alexander Balas, and af- Anno 127. The word Baris, which is originally Chaldee, signifies properly an house or castle enclosed on every side, as this was encompassed with the wall which Simon built to stop the communication between the temple and the fortress of Acra. Here it was that Hyrcanus built an apartment for the safe keeping of his pontifical robes and ornaments, whenever he undressed himself; and here the Asmonean princes took up their abode, and made it their royal palace, until Herod ascended the throne; and having rebuilt, enlarged, and beautified it, gave it the name of Antonia, in honour of his friend M. Antony. Universal History, lib. ii. c. 11. (a) Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. c. 17. Among the Jews there were two sorts of prose lytes, viz. the proselytes of the gate, and the prose lytes of justice. 1. The proselytes of the gate were so called, because they were permitted to dwell with the Jews in the same cities; and the occasion of their name seems to have been taken from that expression in the fourth commandment," the strangers which are within thy gates" where the word ger, which we render strangers, does every whit as properly signify proselytes. Now this kind of proselytes was obliged only to renounce idolatry, and to worship God according to the law of nature, which the doctors of the Talmud reduced to seven articles, called by them the "seven precepts of the sons of Noah." Whoever performed these were looked upon as in a state of ac ceptance with God; and allowed not only to live quietly in their cities, but to resort likewise to their temple, there to offer up their prayers; but then they were permitted to enter no farther than into the outer court, which was called the court of the Gentiles. 2. The proselytes of justice were so called, because they took upon them to observe the whole law, both moral and ceremonial; in the latter of which some of the Jews, and especially the Pharisees, made justification to consist. The former sort of proselytes had no form of initiation, but these were admitted by baptism, sacrifice, and circumcision; and when they were thus admitted, they were received into the Jewish church, and to all the rights and privileges of church-membership, in the same manner as if they had been natural Jews. Preface Generale sur le Nov. Test, par de Beausobre, and Lenfant, and Prideaux's Connection, Anno 129. *The ambassadors whom Hyrcanus sent to Rome to renew the league, which his father Simon had made with the senate, made their complaint,—That Antiochus Sidetes had made war upon the Jews, contrary to what the Romans had in their behalf decreed in that league; that they had taken from them several cities, and made them become tributary to them for others, and forced them to a dishonourable peace by besieging Jerusalem: whereupon the senate decreed, that whatever of this kind had been done against them since the time of the late treaty with Simon should be all null and void; that all the places which had either been taken from them, or made tributary by the Syrians, should be restored, and made free from all homage, tribute, and other services; that for the future, the Syrian kings should have no right to march their armies through the Jewish territories; that, for all the damages which the Syrians had done the Jews, reparation should be made them; and that ambassadors should be sent from Rome to see this decree put in execution. Jewish Antiq. 1, xiii. c. 17. x. 14. and end of 1 and After the taking of Samaria, the remainder of his life Hyrcanus enjoyed in full quiet From 1 Macc. from all foreign wars; but (a) towards the conclusion of it, met with some trouble from v. 1. 2 Macc. the Pharisees, a prevailing sect among the Jews. They, by their pretences to extraor- Jos. lib. xii. dinary strictness in religion, had gained to themselves a great reputation and interest c. 14. to the among the common people; and for this reason Hyrcanus endeavoured to gain their 2 Macc. and esteem by all manner of favours. Having therefore one day invited several of their of Jos. lib. leading men to a splendid entertainment, when the banquet was over, he desired them. to tell him," If, in the conduct of his life, he had done any thing contrary to justice and religion, according to the maxims received and taught amongst them." As soon as he had ended his discourse, all began to praise his administration, and to give him all the commendations due to a brave man, and a just and worthy governor. When the rest had done their encomiums, Eleazar, who had hitherto said nothing, rose up, and directing his discourse to Hyrcanus, " Since you desire (said he) to have the truth freely told you, if you would shew yourself a just man, resign the high-priesthood, and content yourself with the civil government of the nation." Hyrcanus then asking him, for what reason he gave him that advice? "because (replied he) we are assured by the testimony of the ancients among us, that your mother was a captive taken in the wars, and being therefore the son of a strange woman, you are incapable of that high office and dignity." This was an allegation false in fact, and therefore all the company resented it with a just indignation; but Hyrcanus was so exasperated at it, that he resolved to be revenged in a very signal manner. This disposition one Jonathan, an intimate friend of his, but a zealous Sadducee, observing, took the opportunity to endeavour to set him against the whole sect of the Pharisees, (among whom Hyrcanus had been bred up) and to draw him over to that of the Sadducees. To this purpose he suggested to him,-"That this was not the single act of Eleazar, but most certainly a thing concerted by the whole party; that Eleazar, in speaking it out, was no more than the mouth of the rest; and that to satisfy himself in these particulars, he needed only refer it to them in what manner the calumniator deserved to be punished." Hyrcanus followed his advice and therefore consulting the chief leaders of the Pharisees with relation to the penalty which he might deserve, who had thus slandered the prince, and high priest of his nation, he received for answer,-" That as calumny was no capital crime, all the punishment that it merited could be only whipping † or imprisonment;" (b) which fully convinced Hyrcanus, that what Jonathan had suggested was true, and from that very mo ment he became a mortal enemy to the whole sect of the Pharisees. Their traditional constitutions he forthwith abrogated; he enjoined a penalty on all that should observe them; and himself, for ever renouncing their party, went over to that of the Sadducees. But notwithstanding this, he was an excellent governor, and from the time of his father's death, having had the administration of all affairs, both in church and state, for the space of nine and twenty years, at his death he left the high-priest-hood and sovereignty to Judas Aristobulus, who was the first that (in a formal manner) took upon him the title of a king by putting a diadem on his head. (a) Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. c. 18. This punishment among the Jews was not to exceed forty stripes, Deut. xxv. 3. and therefore the whip wherewith it was inflicted was made with three thongs, and as each blow gave three stripes, they never inflicted upon any criminal more than thirteen, because thirteen of these blows made thirty nine stripes, and to have added another blow would have been a transgression of the law, by inflicting xiii. c. 19. Ant. Chris. THE OBJECTION. A. M. 3841, " IN the Asmonæan family there was indeed a race of heroes, great warriors, and &c. or 5247. zealous defenders of their country's laws and liberties; and yet, if we look into their 163, &c. conduct, (even in those books that were wrote on purpose to aggrandise their fame, rather than give us the real history) we shall meet with several passages that will not bear examination. or 164. ANSWER. Judas Maccabæus was certainly the principal character among them; and yet, to say nothing of his prodigally throwing away both his own and his soldiers lives, by enga ging the enemy (contrary to the persuasion of his friends) with a force no ways competent, (a) with no more than eight hundred against two and twenty thousand; we cannot but think that the cruelty, (b) which he exercised upon the Ephraimites, in putting all the males to the sword, razing their city, and riding in triumph, as it were, over the dead bodies of the slain, merely for refusing to open their gates to his army, were actions unbecoming the spirit of a generous conqueror. To say nothing of those prodigious elephants (c), which, with strong wooden towers on their backs, could carry thirty-two men and their arms, (a paradox which Bochart (d) himself looks upon as incredible), we cannot but think that Eleazar's exposing himself to certain death by killing one of these elephants, even though he could not but foresee that it would infallibly fall upon him and crush him, was an act of fool-hardiness, which the end he proposed (e) "of delivering his people, and getting himself a perpetual name," could no more justify than the pretence (ƒ) "of not falling into the hands of the wicked," could acquit Razis (in stabbing himself, pulling out his bowels, and casting them among his enemies) from the imputation of rage, madness, and selfmurder. Reasons of state, we allow, may sway princes in their alliances, their friendships and negociations; but in the illustrious house of the Asmonæans, to find Jonathan (g) joined in league with two known impostors against the rightful heirs of the crown of Syria; to find Hyrcanus destroying the famous city of Samaria, and laying the whole place desolate, merely because it was the seat of a contrary sect; and, notwithstanding this, to find him, (h) upon a slender disgust, turning Sadducee, and adjoining himself to a set of people who had renounced all belief of a resurrection and future state, shews, as if neither had had any great sense of honour, humanity, or religion, but in what they did consulted chiefly their interest and advantage, their resentment and revenge." THE name of Maccabees relates not only to Judas and his brothers, but to all those that joined with them in the same cause; and not only to them, but also to all others who suffered in the like cause under any of the Grecian kings, whether of Syria or Egypt, though some of them lived long before them. Thus those who suffered under Ptolemy Philopater at Alexandria, fifty years before the time of Judas, were afterwards called Maccabees, as were likewise Eleazar, and the mother and her seven sons, though (a) 1 Maccab. ix. 6. &c. (b) Chap. v. 46, &c. (c) Chap. vi. 37, &c. (d) De (e) 1 Maccab. vi. 43. &c. (ƒ) 2 Maccab. xiv. 42. (h) Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. c, 18. they suffered likewise before Judas erected the standard, which gave occasion to the From 1 Mace. name. v. 1. 2 Macc. x. 11. and end of 1 and (a) As therefore those books which give us the history of Judas and his brethren, and Jos. lib. xii. their wars against the Syrian kings, in defence of their religion and liberties, are called c. 14. to the the First and Second Books of the Maccabees; so that which gives us the history of those 2 Mace. and who in the like cause, under Ptolemy Philopater, were exposed to his elephants at of Jos. lib. Alexandria, is called the Third Book of the Maccabees; as that which contains the account of the martyrdom of Eleazar, and of the seven brothers and their mother, is called the Fourth. (b) According to the order of time, indeed, and the subject-matter which they treat of, these books are wrong placed; for the third should be set first, the second placed before the first, and the fourth immediately after it; so that (to reduce them to right order) the first should be put in the place of the third, and the third in the place of the first. Grotius indeed is of opinion, that the third book, though it treats of matters antecedent to what is the subject of the first and second, was nevertheless wrote after them, even after the book of Ecclesiasticus, and upon that account had the name of the third book given it; but the true reason of its being postponed is,-That being of less repute and authority than the two former, it has always been reckoned after them, according to the order of dignity, though it be before them in the order of time. The first of these books (c) was originally written in the Chaldee † language of the Jerusalem dialect, which was the only language spoken in Judea after the return from the Babylonish captivity, and is a very accurate and excellent history, coming nearest to the style and manner of the sacred historical writings of any extant. The second is a compilation of several pieces; of two epistles from the Jews at Jerusalem to those of Alexandria, (d) which seem to be spurious †2; of a preface preceding the history; and of the history itself, which is an abridgment of a larger work, composed by one Jason, an hellenist Jew of Cyrene; but the whole is by no means equal to the excellence and accuracy of the first. The third, †3 which seems to have been written by an Alexandrian Jew, in the Greek language, is set off with enlargements and embellishments (a) Prideaux's Connection, Anno 216. It was extant in this language in the time of St Jerom; for he tells us, that he had seen it, and that the title which it then bore was Sharbit sar bene El, i. e. the sceptre of the prince of the sons of God," a title which well suited Judas, who was so valiant a commander of God's people then under persecution. From the Chaldee it was translated into Greek by Theodotian, as some think, though others account that version elder; and from the Greek both the Latin translation and our English did proceed. Prideaux's Connection, Anno 166. (d) Prideaux's Connection, Anno 166. The former of these epistles calls the feast of the dedication Exnvonnyia iv Kaosheù, i. e. the feast of making tabernacles or booths in Cisleu. Now as the month Cisleu fell in the middle of winter, it can hard ly be presumed that the people could either lie abroad in these booths, or find green boughs enough at this time of the year wherewith to make them. This is an incongruity enough to explode the former epistle. And then, as to the second, it is not only written in the name of Judas Maccabæus, who was slain six and thirty years before the date which it bears, but also VOL. II. +3 This book, though it is in most of the ancient Pri To this day it is extant in most of the ancient manuscript copies of the Greek Septuagint; as particularly in the Alexandrian manuscript in our king's library, and in the Vatican manuscript at Rome. But as it was never inserted into the vulgar Latin version of the Bible, and as that version was the only one in use through the whole Western church, until the rẻ. formation, it thence came to pass, that in the first 4 L. xiii. c. 19. Ant. Chris. or 164. A. M. 3841, of the author's own invention; but as to the main ground-work of it, or the reality of &c. or 5247. such a persecution raised against the Jews at Alexandria, it is undoubtedly true; and 163, &c. though its style be a little too theatrical, its sentiments, in many places, are both beautiful and sublime. The fourth, † which is generally allowed to be the same with what is ascribed to Josephus, the Jewish historian, under the title of "the Governing Power of Reason," is designed to enlarge and adorn the history of old Eleazar, and of the seven brothers, who with their mother suffered martyrdom under Antiochus, as it is related more succinctly in the second book of (a) Maccabees. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews (b) has stamped some authority upon these books, by alluding to their history, and the punishment which the Maccabees were made to undergo; but we must not therefore receive them as canonical, because, according to the report of St Jerom, neither the Jewish nor the Christian church ever looked upon them in that capacity. "Maccabæorum libros legit quidem ecclesia, sed eos inter canonicas Scripturas non recipit :" They read them as books which contained lessons of wholesome instruction, and excellent examples of worthy patriots, and glorious martyrs, suffering manfully in the defence of their religion and liberty, and (c) "not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection." (d) In the whole compass of history, where can we find a pattern in all respects equal to Judas Maccabæus? Most of the commanders we read of were carried away with their ambition, vanity, or vain-glory; and, while they valued themselves upon the subduction of others, had no rule or command over their own passions. But in this Jewish leader, we find all the characters of a great hero; courage and intrepidity, guided by counsel and wisdom, and without any allay either of rashness or pride. And what a profound knowledge he had of the laws of God, and the principles of true morality, every speech that he makes to his men, when he is animating them to the combat, and inspiring them with a contempt of the greatest dangers, is a sufficient indication. He died, indeed, a little unfortunately, and when his army had forsook him, encountered his enemies with an incompetent strength; but as he had all along fought under the protection of God's good Providence, he had no more reason to be diffident at this time than he had been formerly. In his first engagement with the Syrians, when he was to encounter (e) "forty thousand horse and seven thousand foot," he made proclamation in the camp, that all such (ƒ) " as had betrothed wives, or were building houses, or planting vineyards, or were any ways afraid," might return home, which could not but reduce his army considerably; and yet we find him, with this handful of men, routing three generals that were sent against him at once; forcing and burning their camp; defeating their troops, and returning loaded with their spoils. His notion was, that God could save with a few as well as with a multitude; and therefore he might look on the desertion of his forces as a providential thing, to make the victory more conspicuous, and to magnify the Divine interposition in his deliverance. (g) "The people that are with thee, says the Lord to Gideon, are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine hand hath saved me: proclaim therefore in the tents of the people, that whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return, and depart from Mount Gilead;" which reduced the Jewish army to ten thousand, and these again, by another expedient, were re translations which we have of the Bible in the Eng. This book, in like manner, though it be found in met with in any of our Latin Bibles, and has there- (a) Chap. vi. and vii. (d) Calmet's Commentary on 3 Maccab. ix. 18. (g) Judges vii. 2, &c. |