1. Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 1.11, 1.14, 2.40, 2.66-2.67, 3.48, 3.55, 3.59, 4.14, 4.17, 4.61, 5.9-5.10, 5.18-5.19, 5.42-5.43, 6.19, 6.58, 7.18-7.19, 7.33, 8.23-8.27, 9.29, 10.25, 10.80-10.81, 11.21-11.23, 11.30, 12.6, 12.38, 13.6, 13.36, 14.4, 14.14, 14.28, 14.33, 14.35, 14.37, 14.44, 14.46, 15.1-15.2, 16.3 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.11. In those days lawless men came forth from Israel, and misled many, saying, "Let us go and make a covet with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them many evils have come upon us. 1.14. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom 2.40. And each said to his neighbor: "If we all do as our brethren have done and refuse to fight with the Gentiles for our lives and for our ordices, they will quickly destroy us from the earth. 2.66. Judas Maccabeus has been a mighty warrior from his youth; he shall command the army for you and fight the battle against the peoples. 2.67. You shall rally about you all who observe the law, and avenge the wrong done to your people. 3.48. And they opened the book of the law to inquire into those matters about which the Gentiles were consulting the images of their idols. 3.55. After this Judas appointed leaders of the people, in charge of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens. 3.59. It is better for us to die in battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary. 4.14. and engaged in battle. The Gentiles were crushed and fled into the plain 4.17. and he said to the people, "Do not be greedy for plunder, for there is a battle before us; 4.61. And he stationed a garrison there to hold it. He also fortified Beth-zur, so that the people might have a stronghold that faced Idumea. 5.9. Now the Gentiles in Gilead gathered together against the Israelites who lived in their territory, and planned to destroy them. But they fled to the stronghold of Dathema 5.10. and sent to Judas and his brothers a letter which said, "The Gentiles around us have gathered together against us to destroy us. 5.18. But he left Joseph, the son of Zechariah, and Azariah, a leader of the people, with the rest of the forces, in Judea to guard it; 5.19. and he gave them this command, "Take charge of this people, but do not engage in battle with the Gentiles until we return. 5.42. When Judas approached the stream of water, he stationed the scribes of the people at the stream and gave them this command, "Permit no man to encamp, but make them all enter the battle. 5.43. Then he crossed over against them first, and the whole army followed him. All the Gentiles were defeated before him, and they threw away their arms and fled into the sacred precincts at Carnaim. 6.19. So Judas decided to destroy them, and assembled all the people to besiege them. 6.58. Now then let us come to terms with these men, and make peace with them and with all their nation 7.18. Then the fear and dread of them fell upon all the people, for they said, "There is no truth or justice in them, for they have violated the agreement and the oath which they swore. 7.19. Then Bacchides departed from Jerusalem and encamped in Beth-zaith. And he sent and seized many of the men who had deserted to him, and some of the people, and killed them and threw them into a great pit. 7.33. After these events Nicanor went up to Mount Zion. Some of the priests came out of the sanctuary, and some of the elders of the people, to greet him peaceably and to show him the burnt offering that was being offered for the king. 8.23. May all go well with the Romans and with the nation of the Jews at sea and on land for ever, and may sword and enemy be far from them. 8.24. If war comes first to Rome or to any of their allies in all their dominion 8.25. the nation of the Jews shall act as their allies wholeheartedly, as the occasion may indicate to them. 8.26. And to the enemy who makes war they shall not give or supply grain, arms, money, or ships, as Rome has decided; and they shall keep their obligations without receiving any return. 8.27. In the same way, if war comes first to the nation of the Jews, the Romans shall willingly act as their allies, as the occasion may indicate to them. 9.29. Since the death of your brother Judas there has been no one like him to go against our enemies and Bacchides, and to deal with those of our nation who hate us. 10.25. So he sent a message to them in the following words:"King Demetrius to the nation of the Jews, greeting. 10.80. Jonathan learned that there was an ambush behind him, for they surrounded his army and shot arrows at his men from early morning till late afternoon. 10.81. But his men stood fast, as Jonathan commanded, and the enemys horses grew tired. 11.21. But certain lawless men who hated their nation went to the king and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel. 11.22. When he heard this he was angry, and as soon as he heard it he set out and came to Ptolemais; and he wrote Jonathan not to continue the siege, but to meet him for a conference at Ptolemais as quickly as possible. 11.23. When Jonathan heard this, he gave orders to continue the siege; and he chose some of the elders of Israel and some of the priests, and put himself in danger 11.30. King Demetrius to Jonathan his brother and to the nation of the Jews, greeting. 12.6. Jonathan the high priest, the senate of the nation, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people to their brethren the Spartans, greeting. 12.38. And Simon built Adida in the Shephelah; he fortified it and installed gates with bolts. 13.6. But I will avenge my nation and the sanctuary and your wives and children, for all the nations have gathered together out of hatred to destroy us. 13.36. King Demetrius to Simon, the high priest and friend of kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews, greeting. 14.4. The land had rest all the days of Simon. He sought the good of his nation;his rule was pleasing to them,as was the honor shown him, all his days. 14.14. He strengthened all the humble of his people;he sought out the law,and did away with every lawless and wicked man. 14.28. in Asaramel, in the great assembly of the priests and the people and the rulers of the nation and the elders of the country, the following was proclaimed to us: 14.33. He fortified the cities of Judea, and Beth-zur on the borders of Judea, where formerly the arms of the enemy had been stored, and he placed there a garrison of Jews. 14.35. The people saw Simons faithfulness and the glory which he had resolved to win for his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest, because he had done all these things and because of the justice and loyalty which he had maintained toward his nation. He sought in every way to exalt his people. 14.37. He settled Jews in it, and fortified it for the safety of the country and of the city, and built the walls of Jerusalem higher. 14.44. And none of the people or priests shall be permitted to nullify any of these decisions or to oppose what he says, or to convene an assembly in the country without his permission, or to be clothed in purple or put on a gold buckle. 14.46. And all the people agreed to grant Simon the right to act in accord with these decisions. 15.1. Antiochus, the son of Demetrius the king, sent a letter from the islands of the sea to Simon, the priest and ethnarch of the Jews, and to all the nation; 15.2. its contents were as follows: "King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and ethnarch and to the nation of the Jews, greeting. 16.3. But now I have grown old, and you by His mercy are mature in years. Take my place and my brothers, and go out and fight for our nation, and may the help which comes from Heaven be with you. |
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2. Septuagint, 2 Maccabees, 1.20, 4.24, 11.17 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.20. But after many years had passed, when it pleased God, Nehemiah, having been commissioned by the king of Persia, sent the descendants of the priests who had hidden the fire to get it. And when they reported to us that they had not found fire but thick liquid, he ordered them to dip it out and bring it.' 4.24. But he, when presented to the king, extolled him with an air of authority, and secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver.' 11.17. John and Absalom, who were sent by you, have delivered your signed communication and have asked about the matters indicated therein.' |
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3. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 12.138-12.144, 13.213-13.218, 13.255-13.258, 13.318, 13.428 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 12.138. “King Antiochus To Ptolemy, Sendeth Greeting. /p“Since the Jews, upon our first entrance on their country, demonstrated their friendship towards us, and when we came to their city [Jerusalem], received us in a splendid manner, and came to meet us with their senate, and gave abundance of provisions to our soldiers, and to the elephants, and joined with us in ejecting the garrison of the Egyptians that were in the citadel 12.139. we have thought fit to reward them, and to retrieve the condition of their city, which hath been greatly depopulated by such accidents as have befallen its inhabitants, and to bring those that have been scattered abroad back to the city. 12.141. And these payments I would have fully paid them, as I have sent orders to you. I would also have the work about the temple finished, and the cloisters, and if there be any thing else that ought to be rebuilt. And for the materials of wood, let it be brought them out of Judea itself and out of the other countries, and out of Libanus tax free; and the same I would have observed as to those other materials which will be necessary, in order to render the temple more glorious; 12.142. and let all of that nation live according to the laws of their own country; and let the senate, and the priests, and the scribes of the temple, and the sacred singers, be discharged from poll-money and the crown tax and other taxes also. 12.143. And that the city may the sooner recover its inhabitants, I grant a discharge from taxes for three years to its present inhabitants, and to such as shall come to it, until the month Hyperberetus. 12.144. We also discharge them for the future from a third part of their taxes, that the losses they have sustained may be repaired. And all those citizens that have been carried away, and are become slaves, we grant them and their children their freedom, and give order that their substance be restored to them.” 13.213. 7. But Simon, who was made high priest by the multitude, on the very first year of his high priesthood set his people free from their slavery under the Macedonians, and permitted them to pay tribute to them no longer; which liberty and freedom from tribute they obtained after a hundred and seventy years of the kingdom of the Assyrians, which was after Seleucus, who was called Nicator, got the dominion over Syria. 13.214. Now the affection of the multitude towards Simon was so great, that in their contracts one with another, and in their public records, they wrote, “in the first year of Simon the benefactor and ethnarch of the Jews;” for under him they were very happy, and overcame the enemies that were round about them; 13.215. for Simon overthrew the city Gazara, and Joppa, and Jamnia. He also took the citadel of Jerusalem by siege, and cast it down to the ground, that it might not be any more a place of refuge to their enemies when they took it, to do them a mischief, as it had been till now. And when he had done this, he thought it their best way, and most for their advantage, to level the very mountain itself upon which the citadel happened to stand, that so the temple might be higher than it. 13.216. And indeed, when he had called the multitude to an assembly, he persuaded them to have it so demolished, and this by putting them in mind what miseries they had suffered by its garrison and the Jewish deserters, and what miseries they might hereafter suffer in case any foreigner should obtain the kingdom, and put a garrison into that citadel. 13.217. This speech induced the multitude to a compliance, because he exhorted them to do nothing but what was for their own good: so they all set themselves to the work, and leveled the mountain, and in that work spent both day and night without any intermission, which cost them three whole years before it was removed, and brought to an entire level with the plain of the rest of the city. After which the temple was the highest of all the buildings, now the citadel, as well as the mountain whereon it stood, were demolished. And these actions were thus performed under Simon. 13.218. 1. Now a little while after Demetrius had been carried into captivity, Trypho his governor destroyed Antiochus, the son of Alexander, who was also called The God, and this when he had reigned four years, though he gave it out that he died under the hands of the surgeons. 13.255. However, it was not till the sixth month that he took Medaba, and that not without the greatest distress of his army. After this he took Samega, and the neighboring places; and besides these, Shechem and Gerizzim, and the nation of the Cutheans 13.256. who dwelt at the temple which resembled that temple which was at Jerusalem, and which Alexander permitted Sanballat, the general of his army, to build for the sake of Manasseh, who was son-in-law to Jaddua the high priest, as we have formerly related; which temple was now deserted two hundred years after it was built. 13.257. Hyrcanus took also Dora and Marissa, cities of Idumea, and subdued all the Idumeans; and permitted them to stay in that country, if they would circumcise their genitals, and make use of the laws of the Jews; 13.258. and they were so desirous of living in the country of their forefathers, that they submitted to the use of circumcision, and of the rest of the Jewish ways of living; at which time therefore this befell them, that they were hereafter no other than Jews. 13.318. He was called a lover of the Grecians; and had conferred many benefits on his own country, and made war against Iturea, and added a great part of it to Judea, and compelled the inhabitants, if they would continue in that country, to be circumcised, and to live according to the Jewish laws. 13.428. Now the eiders of the Jews, and Hyrcanus with them, went in unto the queen, and desired that she would give them her sentiments about the present posture of affairs, for that Aristobulus was in effect lord of almost all the kingdom, by possessing of so many strong holds, and that it was absurd for them to take any counsel by themselves, how ill soever she were, whilst she was alive, and that the danger would be upon them in no long time. |
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4. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 1.50, 5.139 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 5.139. However, in those times when the Asamoneans reigned, they filled up that valley with earth, and had a mind to join the city to the temple. They then took off part of the height of Acra, and reduced it to be of less elevation than it was before, that the temple might be superior to it. |
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