Ahaliba StudioDid Judah Maccabee Succeed in Changing the Fate of the Jewish People?
The rise of Judah Maccabee provoked the anger of the Greeks. Judah Maccabee also concluded that the Acra fortress was like a thorn in their throat, with its Greek and Hellenized occupants interfering with the Temple service. Therefore, as mentioned, he imposed a siege on them until 162 BCE. Thus, for two years, Judah Maccabee managed to stabilize his rule in the region and position himself as a figure of authority among the people. However, Judah Maccabee’s image was not fully defined because he was not a king and did not establish an organized kingdom. Although he succeeded in driving out the Greeks, he did not introduce another governing body in their place; he did not collect taxes, and there was no structured administrative system. Judah Maccabee was a military leader at this stage, and Israel still had no kingdom.
In the Seleucid kingdom in Greece, there was no peace. After the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, his heir was his nine-year-old son, so the one responsible for the heir and his governance was the deputy to the king, Lysias. People from the besieged Acra managed to escape and reach Lysias and King Antiochus V, informing them of the situation at the Acra. They complained to him that all the people who had supported the Greeks were now under siege and would soon be killed if they were not allowed to leave. Lysias and the king decided to launch a military operation to suppress the revolt again and defeat Judah Maccabee. Lysias led the operation, following the same route he had taken in the Battle of Beth Zur, approaching Jerusalem from the south with a large army. According to Maccabees I, there were 100,000 soldiers, 20,000 cavalry, and 32 war elephants.
The Greek army’s operational method was fixed and organized. There was a square formation of a thousand soldiers, with cavalry on the flanks to protect the sides. The thousand soldiers within the square were arranged in rows, armed with spears and javelins and archers above them. In the center, there was usually a war elephant on which a fortress was built, and in that fortress were archers who fired arrows and were very difficult to hit. The battle between Lysias’s army and Judah Maccabee occurred in Beth Zacharia in the Gush Etzion region. In this battle, Judah Maccabee did not win; the number of soldiers he managed to strike was minimal—only 600. Judah Maccabee retreated to Jerusalem and fortified himself there. This battle is primarily remembered because of the story of Judah’s brother, Eleazar, who, during the battle, identified what he believed to be the largest elephant, thinking the king was there. When the king was killed in ancient times, the battle was decided, so Eleazar fought with a sword through a square of highly skilled Greek soldiers and managed to reach the elephant. Eleazar stabbed the elephant to kill it, but the elephant fell on him, and thus, he died heroically in battle.
Lysias followed Judah Maccabee to Jerusalem, but what saved Judah Maccabee and the city of Jerusalem was what happened in Greece. Lysias learned that one of his officers, who had been on a military campaign in the East, returned to Antioch and sought to seize Greek power. Therefore, Lysias made a pact with Judah and gave him a letter stating that King Antiochus V granted the Jews the right to govern according to their laws and religion. Lysias and the young king left Eretz Israel and hurried to Antioch to deal with kingdom affairs. This returned the situation of the Jews in Eretz Israel to what it was before the decrees of King Antiochus IV, with Jews in the region governing according to the laws of the Torah. However, the Acra still stood, housing Greek forces.
Peace did not last in the Greek kingdom. The nephew of Antiochus IV, Demetrius, who had been held captive in Rome, was released and arrived in Antioch, intending to seize power. Demetrius imprisoned Lysias and his cousin, King Antiochus V, who was ten years old and executed both, ascending to the throne of the Greek kingdom. This situation was exploited by a Hellenized priest named Alcimus (some identify him as the Yakin of Tzerorot, whom Chazal criticizes as a traitor who committed terrible acts against his people). He came and complained to King Demetrius, expressing his desire to become High Priest. He explained to the king that what was happening in Jerusalem was undermining everything the Greeks stood for. The king sent one of his leaders, Bacchides, and together, they set out for Jerusalem with an army led by Nicanor. Initially, Nicanor, the army commander, tried to use cunning. He arrived with Alcimus, and the Jews received them peacefully as they thought they were dealing with a Jewish priest. But Nicanor exploits this, arrests 60 of the Jewish leadership, and kills them. Nicanor appointed Alcimus as High Priest in Jerusalem, reigniting the revolt.
Judah Maccabee began again to gather his men. He encountered Alcimus’s men in the region of Judah and killed them. Nicanor decides to come himself to suppress the revolt. Nicanor arrived in Jerusalem but, instead of immediately going to war, first tried to outsmart Judah Maccabee and arranged a meeting with him. Judah and his brothers accepted the invitation and came to the meeting. At the last moment, Judah Maccabee identified the ambush and escaped. A certain battle occurred near the village of Shiloh (in modern-day Giv’at Ze’ev), and Judah won. At the same time, Nicanor fled back to Jerusalem, barricaded himself in the Acra, and issued an ultimatum to the Jews: if they did not hand Judah over to him, he would destroy the Temple. Nicanor also suffered from a shortage of human resources, so reinforcements—Aramean troops, that is, forces from Syria—were sent to him. He met them at Beth Horon, and the next battle took place in that area, called Hadasha.
In this seventh battle of Judah Maccabee, he enjoyed a military advantage. Some say he used a military tactic, approaching from the opposite direction they expected. The outcome was clear—Judah won the Battle of Hadasha against the Greek army and killed Nicanor. This day became known as “Nicanor’s Day,” a holiday for the Jews on the 13th of Adar, as brought in Megillat Taanit: “Nicanor, one of the generals of the Greek kings, used to pass by Alexandria every day, raising his hand against Jerusalem and the Temple, blaspheming and cursing, and saying, ‘When will it fall into my hands so I can destroy this tower?’ And when the Hasmonean kingdom prevailed and defeated them, they entered his camps, killing until they reached his carriage, cut off his head, and chopped off the thumbs of his hands and feet, and hung them opposite Jerusalem, and wrote beneath them, ‘The mouth that spoke in pride, and the hands that were raised against Judah and Jerusalem and the Temple, this is the vengeance that shall be done to them.’ And on that day, they made it a festive day.”
After this battle, Judah Maccabee, hearing of the rise of the Roman kingdom and its victories against the Greeks, decided to make peace with Rome. He sent two envoys to the Romans and formed a friendship pact. Demetrius, the Greek king, heard that Nicanor had fallen in battle and that Judah was making contact with the Romans, and he decided that he must end the Hasmonean revolt. Demetrius again sent Bacchides to Jerusalem, this time with a large army. At that time, the wars the Seleucid kingdom had been fighting in the East had ended. Hence, the expanded Seleucid army was available to battle in Jerusalem against Judah Maccabee and his men. The Seleucid army that ascended to Jerusalem was enormous, professional, and skilled, and this time, they approached from a new direction, through the Gilgal from the Jordan Valley.
Was Judah Maccabee’s Last Battle His Greatest Act of Heroism—or His Most Tragic Defeat?
Judah’s men saw the size and strength of the Greek army and were frightened; many deserted Judah, leaving him with a small group of 800 men who tried to convince him not to fight, as they understood they had no chance. They were facing a huge, skilled army, and the area’s topography was unfavorable for battle. Judah told his men they must fight because the danger of not fighting and the implications of surrendering to the Greeks were worse, saying, “If we are destined to die, we will die in battle and not in any other way.” They went out to fight. At the beginning of the battle, Judah identified where the leaders were on the right flank of the Greek force and attacked that flank. Initially, he succeeded in outflanking them and forcing them to retreat, but then, in a pincer movement, the left flank closed in on Judah, and there he met his death along with many of his fighters.
The entire people mourned Judah’s death, and the defeat in the battle plunged the Jews back into a very bad situation against the Greeks. The burden of Greek oppression and taxes weighed heavily on the Jews, compounded by a severe famine. According to the description in Maccabees: “And Bacchides chose the prominent men and set them as rulers of the land, and they sought and searched and destroyed those who loved Judah and brought them to Bacchides, and he avenged himself on them and tormented them, and there was great trouble in Israel, such as had not been seen since the day no prophet appeared to them.”
However, the Hasmonean revolt did not end. The one who rallied the remaining people was Jonathan, the youngest brother of Judah, son of Mattathias. Bacchides, the Greek military leader in Eretz Israel, learned of this and pursued Jonathan and his brother, Simon, who was also involved. The brothers were forced to flee to the area of the Tekoa Desert, where they continued to operate. Jonathan and Simon took their money and sent it across the Jordan to the Nabataeans through their brother John, but on the way, it was seized by another tribe. Jonathan and Simon did not give up and set out on a revenge campaign to retrieve their money and avenge the death of John, who was killed by that tribe. Bacchides went after them and cornered them in a difficult spot, surrounding them with only the Jordan River behind them, leaving them with no escape. Jonathan and Simon fought him and managed to cross the Jordan and escape.
Bacchides decided that his way of dealing with the Hasmonean revolt was by establishing fortified cities. He built several fortified cities around Jerusalem to ensure control over those areas and prevent the rebels from reaching Jerusalem. Simon and Jonathan fortified a desert city called Beth Bazi, turning it into a stronghold. Bacchides arrived and besieged the city, but they did not surrender. Jonathan, inside the besieged city, fought Bacchides’s men from within, while outside, Simon, with additional forces, carried out local attacks on the Greeks, burning their siege machines, destroying their equipment, and causing significant damage until, finally, Bacchides grew weary of fighting the Hasmoneans and changed his approach. He decided to make peace with them and restore the situation to what it had been. Bacchides distanced himself from the Hellenized Jews, realizing they were causing him a lot of trouble and wasting manpower and resources, and he returned all the Jewish prisoners. Jonathan became the leader in Israel and began to fight the Hellenized Jews.
Meanwhile, there was no peace in the Seleucid kingdom. A man named Alexander Balas arose, claiming he was the son of Antiochus and entitled to the kingdom. A struggle began between Alexander Balas and Demetrius. In the Hasmonean kingdom, a period of navigating between two powers began. There were power struggles over the throne in the Seleucid kingdom, and the question for the House of Hasmonean was who among the claimants to back. They had much to gain if they could bet on the right horse; otherwise, they risked making a Greek king their enemy. Therefore, Jonathan and Simon had to navigate carefully.
Alexander Balas and Demetrius wanted Jonathan on their side because they understood the power, strength, and importance of having the Jews as the kingdom’s supporters rather than opponents. Therefore, both claimants to the Greek throne made great promises to Jonathan. They promised to renew the priesthood, permit him to operate the High Priesthood according to Jewish law, and authorize him to establish his independent army. They also sent him letters to this effect. Ultimately, Jonathan decided to support Alexander Balas in his struggle. Still, Demetrius did not give up and sent Jonathan far-reaching promises beyond what Alexander Balas had offered—promising a large contribution to the Temple, amnesty for all the king’s enemies, funds for repairing the Temple, and additional territorial areas under Jonathan’s control. However, Jonathan does not believe him, so he sides with Alexander Balas, and he is right because Alexander Balas succeeds in taking the throne and defeating Demetrius. Alexander’s pact with Jonathan proved itself, and the new Greek king honored Jonathan and kept his promises. Alexander appointed Jonathan as High Priest, and Jonathan brought much prosperity to the Jewish people during that period.
However, after Demetrius, another Demetrius rose—Demetrius II—who ascended to the Greek throne. However, Jonathan read the political map correctly and made peace agreements with him, so he enjoyed prosperity even under the rule of Demetrius II. As a token of gratitude for his support, Demetrius II gave Jonathan additional parts of the land and exempted him from paying taxes for three years. When he saw that affairs in Eretz Israel were running well under Jonathan’s rule, he even withdrew all Greek military presence from Eretz Israel, making Eretz Israel entirely under Jonathan’s rule. It should be noted that Demetrius II also benefited from this move, as there was an attempt at a revolt against him in Greece, and Demetrius called on Jonathan for help. Jonathan sent 3,000 soldiers who helped Demetrius II suppress the revolt against him in Antioch.
At a certain point, the friendship between the two deteriorated. Jonathan also approached the Romans simultaneously, aiming to renew the pact that Judah had tried to secure with them, which was not well-received by Demetrius II. Meanwhile, a Greek named Tryphon took the son of Alexander Balas and sought to place him on the throne. He fought Demetrius II and defeated him, thus installing Antiochus VI. Despite the change in the Greek kingdom, the attitude toward Jonathan remained positive; everyone wanted Jonathan on their side. The new king gave him more territories and appointed Jonathan’s brother Simon as governor of the coastal mountains from Tyre to Egypt. Simon and Jonathan continued their conquests and expansion of their state, becoming a significant regional power.
When Tryphon saw that he had succeeded against Demetrius II, he decided he wanted to be king and feared that Jonathan would not support him. Therefore, he decided to try to rid himself of Jonathan through cunning. Tryphon invited Jonathan to a courtesy visit in Beth Shean. Jonathan arrived for the visit with many soldiers, but Tryphon told him, “Why do you need so many soldiers? We have peace between us.” Jonathan listened to him and released the soldiers back, feeling very secure in the situation, remaining with only a small group. After Jonathan entered the city for the meeting, the city was closed off, and Tryphon took him captive. When Simon heard what had happened to Jonathan, he immediately took the reins and began leading the army. Therefore, Tryphon went to war against Simon with a large army, taking the captive Jonathan with him to the battle. When they met in battle, Tryphon told Simon, “If you want your brother, Jonathan, give me 100 talents of silver and two of Jonathan’s sons.” There was a great debate among Simon and his men about how to proceed. On the one hand, Simon knew Tryphon would not keep his word; on the other hand, he feared people would say he caused Jonathan’s death to become the ruler. After consulting with his army, Simon decided, to avoid any accusations, to try to carry out the deal Tryphon proposed. They gave him the money and two of Jonathan’s sons, and Tryphon took them and the money and returned to his base, killing Jonathan along the way.
Simon continued Jonathan’s path of leading the people and navigating between the powers against the Greek kingdom. The first thing Simon did was to make a pact with Demetrius II, who had been ousted from the throne by Tryphon, and he also deepened his alliance with the Romans. In 142 BCE, the kingdom of Judah received independence from the Greek kingdom for the first time, with Demetrius II granting autonomy, meaning they no longer had to pay taxes to the king. They were no longer a province of the Greek kingdom but a completely independent kingdom.
Simon expanded his conquests, capturing Jaffa and Gezer, and for the first time, he also conquered the Acra fortress, which the Greeks had used throughout their rule. The People’s Council convened and issued a decision, as brought in a letter: “And the Jews and the priests decided that Simon should be their ruler and High Priest forever until a faithful prophet comes.” Simon was the first of the House of Hasmonean who could be called “king,” so from 142 BCE, it is appropriate to begin counting the era of the “Hasmonean Kingdom.”
Even during the reign of Antiochus VII, Demetrius’s successor, Simon’s status remained as it was. However, after Antiochus VII succeeded in defeating Tryphon, who constantly aspired to the throne, the relationship slightly changed, and Antiochus began making demands of Simon. Antiochus was angry at Simon for conquering Jaffa, Gezer, and the Acra, claiming these were his territories and that Simon had not paid taxes on them, demanding their return. Simon responded to Antiochus VII with statements that became foundational over the years and were quoted in many periods in Jewish history: “And Simon answered and said to him, ‘We did not take foreign land nor the property of strangers, but the inheritance of our fathers, which our enemies unjustly seized at one time. And we, when the time was right for us, restored the inheritance of our fathers.'” This was Simon’s perception and the perception of the Maccabees, sons of Mattathias, in general.
Ptolemy, son of Habub, was a great, wealthy man and the governor of the Jericho region. He married Simon’s daughter and became Simon’s son-in-law. In 134 BCE, in Shevat, Ptolemy invited his father-in-law, Simon, and his family to a great feast in Jericho. When Simon arrived at the feast with two of his sons, in the middle of the meal, Ptolemy’s men attacked and killed him and his two sons. Ptolemy, who had plotted this with Antiochus, sought his help after the murder and sent envoys to Gezer to kill the only remaining son of Simon, who had not attended the feast—John Hyrcanus.
Read About The War of Antiochus Against Judaism Here
Did John Hyrcanus, Hero of Independence, Become the Greatest Enemy of His People?
John Hyrcanus was one of Simon’s most prominent sons and served as the military leader. While Ptolemy called for help from King Antiochus, help that was delayed, John arrived and laid siege to Beth Dagon’s fortress (in the Beth Shean area), where Ptolemy was holed up. Ptolemy held John Hyrcanus’s mother and two brothers captive, preventing John from capturing the fortress. Eventually, John made a deal with Ptolemy: John would let Ptolemy go if Ptolemy released John’s mother and brothers. Only John kept the agreement and allowed Ptolemy to leave, but Ptolemy went and killed John’s mother and fled to Syria to Antiochus.
John Hyrcanus ascended to power after the murder of his father. He strengthened his rule and deepened international ties with Rome and Egypt, which angered Antiochus VII, who ruled in Syria. In 132 BCE, Antiochus launched a campaign to conquer Judah. Antiochus arrived in Jerusalem and managed to besiege it. John barricaded himself inside Jerusalem during a two-year siege. Eventually, the siege ended when they reached an agreement that caused John Hyrcanus to give Antiochus money and several cities, and he became a king subordinate to Antiochus, who then lifted the siege.
After the death of Antiochus VII, who was killed in his battles against the Parthians, John Hyrcanus raised his head and began to mint the first coins as a sign of independence. He was appointed ruler and High Priest, and the Seleucid kingdom entered a spiral of succession struggles, which John exploited to conquer Samaria, the southern Judea Desert, and the Negev, tripling the size of the Judean kingdom. John Hyrcanus also converted the kingdoms he conquered, such as the Idumeans in the Negev, and he ruled his kingdom for 31 years, during which times were good for the Jews.
John the High Priest is mentioned positively by Chazal (the sages) for most of his life, as he walked in the straight path, but in his later years, he became a Sadducee, strayed from the right path, and became a symbol of a righteous man who turned wicked. Chazal said of him: “Do not trust yourself until the day of your death.” Chazal considered his son, Alexander Jannaeus, a wicked and corrupt Jewish king. The difference between father and son was that John was righteous from the start (but turned wicked), while Jannaeus was wicked from the start (but repented at the end of his days). In his later years, John allied with the Sadducees, canceled some of the laws the Pharisees had transmitted to the people, and punished those who observed those laws. John died a natural death around 104 BCE and was the first Hasmonean leader to die of natural causes. John Hyrcanus left behind five sons—Judah Aristobulus I, Antigonus I, Alexander Jannaeus, Absalom, and another son whose name is unknown.
Credit: Written and edited from the series of lessons by Rabbi Zvi Haber, “Azi Bami Hashmanim.”
