2. Septuagint, 1 Maccabees, 1.28, 10.18-10.20, 10.24-10.45, 11.30-11.37, 12.39-12.42, 12.45-12.53, 13.36-13.40, 15.2-15.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.28. Even the land shook for its inhabitants,and all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame. 10.18. King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greeting. 10.19. We have heard about you, that you are a mighty warrior and worthy to be our friend. 10.20. And so we have appointed you today to be the high priest of your nation; you are to be called the kings friend" (and he sent him a purple robe and a golden crown) "and you are to take our side and keep friendship with us. 10.24. I also will write them words of encouragement and promise them honor and gifts, that I may have their help. 10.25. So he sent a message to them in the following words:"King Demetrius to the nation of the Jews, greeting. 10.26. Since you have kept your agreement with us and have continued your friendship with us, and have not sided with our enemies, we have heard of it and rejoiced. 10.27. And now continue still to keep faith with us, and we will repay you with good for what you do for us. 10.28. We will grant you many immunities and give you gifts. 10.29. And now I free you and exempt all the Jews from payment of tribute and salt tax and crown levies 10.30. and instead of collecting the third of the grain and the half of the fruit of the trees that I should receive, I release them from this day and henceforth. I will not collect them from the land of Judah or from the three districts added to it from Samaria and Galilee, from this day and for all time. 10.31. And let Jerusalem and her environs, her tithes and her revenues, be holy and free from tax. 10.32. I release also my control of the citadel in Jerusalem and give it to the high priest, that he may station in it men of his own choice to guard it. 10.33. And every one of the Jews taken as a captive from the land of Judah into any part of my kingdom, I set free without payment; and let all officials cancel also the taxes on their cattle. 10.34. And all the feasts and sabbaths and new moons and appointed days, and the three days before a feast and the three after a feast -- let them all be days of immunity and release for all the Jews who are in my kingdom. 10.35. No one shall have authority to exact anything from them or annoy any of them about any matter. 10.36. Let Jews be enrolled in the kings forces to the number of thirty thousand men, and let the maintece be given them that is due to all the forces of the king. 10.37. Let some of them be stationed in the great strongholds of the king, and let some of them be put in positions of trust in the kingdom. Let their officers and leaders be of their own number, and let them live by their own laws, just as the king has commanded in the land of Judah. 10.38. As for the three districts that have been added to Judea from the country of Samaria, let them be so annexed to Judea that they are considered to be under one ruler and obey no other authority but the high priest. 10.39. Ptolemais and the land adjoining it I have given as a gift to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, to meet the necessary expenses of the sanctuary. 10.40. I also grant fifteen thousand shekels of silver yearly out of the kings revenues from appropriate places. 10.41. And all the additional funds which the government officials have not paid as they did in the first years, they shall give from now on for the service of the temple. 10.42. Moreover, the five thousand shekels of silver which my officials have received every year from the income of the services of the temple, this too is canceled, because it belongs to the priests who minister there. 10.43. And whoever takes refuge at the temple in Jerusalem, or in any of its precincts, because he owes money to the king or has any debt, let him be released and receive back all his property in my kingdom. 10.44. Let the cost of rebuilding and restoring the structures of the sanctuary be paid from the revenues of the king. 10.45. And let the cost of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and fortifying it round about, and the cost of rebuilding the walls in Judea, also be paid from the revenues of the king. 11.30. King Demetrius to Jonathan his brother and to the nation of the Jews, greeting. 11.31. This copy of the letter which we wrote concerning you to Lasthenes our kinsman we have written to you also, so that you may know what it says. 11.32. `King Demetrius to Lasthenes his father, greeting. 11.33. To the nation of the Jews, who are our friends and fulfil their obligations to us, we have determined to do good, because of the good will they show toward us. 11.34. We have confirmed as their possession both the territory of Judea and the three districts of Aphairema and Lydda and Rathamin; the latter, with all the region bordering them, were added to Judea from Samaria. To all those who offer sacrifice in Jerusalem, we have granted release from the royal taxes which the king formerly received from them each year, from the crops of the land and the fruit of the trees. 11.35. And the other payments henceforth due to us of the tithes, and the taxes due to us, and the salt pits and the crown taxes due to us -- from all these we shall grant them release. 11.36. And not one of these grants shall be canceled from this time forth for ever. 11.37. Now therefore take care to make a copy of this, and let it be given to Jonathan and put up in a conspicuous place on the holy mountain. 12.39. Then Trypho attempted to become king in Asia and put on the crown, and to raise his hand against Antiochus the king. 12.40. He feared that Jonathan might not permit him to do so, but might make war on him, so he kept seeking to seize and kill him, and he marched forth and came to Beth-shan. 12.41. Jonathan went out to meet him with forty thousand picked fighting men, and he came to Beth-shan. 12.42. When Trypho saw that he had come with a large army, he was afraid to raise his hand against him. 12.45. Dismiss them now to their homes and choose for yourself a few men to stay with you, and come with me to Ptolemais. I will hand it over to you as well as the other strongholds and the remaining troops and all the officials, and will turn round and go home. For that is why I am here. 12.46. Jonathan trusted him and did as he said; he sent away the troops, and they returned to the land of Judah. 12.47. He kept with himself three thousand men, two thousand of whom he left in Galilee, while a thousand accompanied him. 12.48. But when Jonathan entered Ptolemais, the men of Ptolemais closed the gates and seized him, and all who had entered with him they killed with the sword. 12.49. Then Trypho sent troops and cavalry into Galilee and the Great Plain to destroy all Jonathans soldiers. 12.50. But they realized that Jonathan had been seized and had perished along with his men, and they encouraged one another and kept marching in close formation, ready for battle. 12.51. When their pursuers saw that they would fight for their lives, they turned back. 12.52. So they all reached the land of Judah safely, and they mourned for Jonathan and his companions and were in great fear; and all Israel mourned deeply. 12.53. And all the nations round about them tried to destroy them, for they said, "They have no leader or helper. Now therefore let us make war on them and blot out the memory of them from among men. 13.36. King Demetrius to Simon, the high priest and friend of kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews, greeting. 13.37. We have received the gold crown and the palm branch which you sent, and we are ready to make a general peace with you and to write to our officials to grant you release from tribute. 13.38. All the grants that we have made to you remain valid, and let the strongholds that you have built be your possession. 13.39. We pardon any errors and offenses committed to this day, and cancel the crown tax which you owe; and whatever other tax has been collected in Jerusalem shall be collected no longer. 13.40. And if any of you are qualified to be enrolled in our bodyguard, let them be enrolled, and let there be peace between us. 15.2. its contents were as follows: "King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and ethnarch and to the nation of the Jews, greeting. 15.3. Whereas certain pestilent men have gained control of the kingdom of our fathers, and I intend to lay claim to the kingdom so that I may restore it as it formerly was, and have recruited a host of mercenary troops and have equipped warships 15.4. and intend to make a landing in the country so that I may proceed against those who have destroyed our country and those who have devastated many cities in my kingdom 15.5. now therefore I confirm to you all the tax remissions that the kings before me have granted you, and release from all the other payments from which they have released you. 15.6. I permit you to mint your own coinage as money for your country 15.7. and I grant freedom to Jerusalem and the sanctuary. All the weapons which you have prepared and the strongholds which you have built and now hold shall remain yours. 15.8. Every debt you owe to the royal treasury and any such future debts shall be canceled for you from henceforth and for all time. 15.9. When we gain control of our kingdom, we will bestow great honor upon you and your nation and the temple, so that your glory will become manifest in all the earth. |
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