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 exercise 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.
1:35. And they built the city of David with a great and strong wall,
and with strong towers, and made it a fortress for them:
The city of David. . .That is, the castle of Sion.
1:36. And they placed there a sinful nation, wicked men, and they
fortified themselves therein: and they stored up armour; and victuals,
and gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem;
1:37. And laid them up there: and they became a great snare.
1:38. And this was a place to lie in wait against the sanctuary, and an
evil devil in Israel.
An evil devil. . .That is, an adversary watching constantly to do harm,
as the evil spirit is always watching and seeking whom he may devour.
1:39. And they shed innocent blood round about the sanctuary, and
defiled the holy place.
1:40. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled away by reason of them and
the city was made the habitation of strangers, and she became a
stranger to her own seed, and her children forsook her.
1:41. Her sanctuary was desolate like a wilderness, her festival days
were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach, her honours were
brought to nothing.
1:42. Her dishonour was increased according to her glory, and her
excellency was turned into mourning.
1:43. And king Antiochus wrote to all his kingdom, that all the people
should be one: and every one should leave his own law.
1:44. And all nations consented, according to the word of king
Antiochus.
1:45. And many of Israel consented to his service, and they sacrificed
to idols, and profaned the sabbath.
1:46. And the king sent letters by the hands of messengers to
Jerusalem, and to all the cities of Juda; that they should follow the
law of the nations of the earth.
1:47. And should forbid holocausts and sacrifices, and atonements to be
made in the temple of God.
1:48. And should prohibit the sabbath, and the festival days to be
celebrated.
1:49. And he commanded the holy places to be profaned, and the holy
people of Israel.
1:50. And he commanded altars to be built, and temples, and idols, and
swine's flesh to be immolated, and unclean beasts,
1:51. And that they should leave their children uncircumcised, and let
their souls be defiled with all uncleannesses, and abominations, to the
end that they should forget the law, and should change all the
justifications of God.
1:52. And that whosoever would not do according to the word of king
Antiochus, should be put to death.
1:53. According to all these words he wrote to his whole kingdom: and
he appointed rulers over the people that should force them to do these
things.
1:54. And they commanded the cities of Juda to sacrifice.
1:55. Then many of the people were gathered to them that had forsaken
the law of the Lord: and they committed evils in the land:
1:56. And they drove away the people of Israel into lurking holes, and
into the secret places of fugitives.
1:57. On the fifteenth day of the month, Casleu, in the hundred and
forty-fifth year, king Antiochus set up the abominable idol of
desolation upon the altar of God, and they built altars throughout all
the cities of Juda round about:
The abominable idol, etc. . .Viz., the statue of Jupiter Olympius.
1:58. And they burnt incense, and sacrificed at the doors of the houses
and in the streets.
1:59. And they cut in pieces, and burnt with fire the books of the law
of God:
1:60. And every one with whom the books of the testament of the Lord
were found, and whosoever observed the law of the Lord, they put to
death, according to the edict of the king.
1:61. Thus by their power did they deal with the people of Israel, that
were found in the cities month after month.
1:62. And on the five and twentieth day of the month they sacrificed
upon the altar of the idol that was over against the altar of God.
1:63. Now the women that circumcised their children were slain
according to the commandment of king Antiochus,
1:64. And they hanged the children about their neck in all their
houses: and those that had circumcised them, they put to death.
1:65. And many of the people of Israel determined with themselves, that
they would not eat unclean things: and they chose rather to die, than
to be defiled with unclean meats:
1:66. And they would not break the holy law of God and they were put to
death:
1:67. And there was very great wrath upon the people.