Antiochus Epiphanes and renegade Jews

From these descendants sprouted a sinful root—Antiochus Epiphanes. He was a son of King Antiochus, and he had been brought up in Rome as a hostage. Antiochus Epiphanes began to rule in the year 137 according to the calendar of the Greek kingdom.

At that time, some renegade Israelites emerged. These people went against their ancestral laws and encouraged many other Jews to join them. They spoke up, saying, “Let’s make an agreement with the Gentiles around us, because many horrible things have happened to us since we separated ourselves from them.”

The proposal pleased their fellow Jews.

Oppression of the Jews

After he conquered Egypt, Antiochus returned in the year 143. He went up to Israel and entered Jerusalem with a strong force.

The agent spoke peaceably and the Jews believed him, but he was deceitful. Without warning, he attacked the city, dealt it a brutal blow, and killed many Israelites.

Many Jews also willingly adopted the king’s religion. They sacrificed to idols and violated the Sabbath.

The king sent messengers carrying letters to Jerusalem and the surrounding towns of Judah. He directed Jews to follow customs that had been unknown in the land.

Jews were no longer to circumcise their sons. They were supposed to make themselves repulsive to God by doing unclean and improper acts.

They saw that their army had been put to flight and that the Jews were burning the camp, as evident from the smoke over the area.

Liberation of Galilean Jews

Then the Gentiles in Gilead gathered together against the Israelites who lived in their territory, planning to destroy them. So the Jews fled to the fortress of Dathema.

Then he took the Jews of Galilee and Arbatta, together with their wives and children and all they owned, and led them to Judea with great rejoicing.

Lysias, who had gone first with a strong force, had turned and run from the Jews. The Jews then grew stronger when they took weapons, supplies, and abundant spoils from the armies they defeated.

They came through Idumea and camped against Beth-zur. For many days, they fought and constructed war engines. But the Jews would go out and burn the war engines with fire and continued to fight bravely.

As the Jews experienced the might and the fierce attack of the king’s forces, they turned away and fled.

The Jews made war engines to match theirs, and they battled for many days.

This speech pleased the king and the commanders, so he sent the Jews an offer of peace, which they accepted.

The king and his commanders gave their word, so the Jews left the fortress.

The Jews pursued them a day’s journey, from Adasa to Gazara. As they followed them, they kept blasting the battle call on the trumpets.

Then the Jews seized the spoils and the goods left behind. They cut off Nicanor’s head and his right hand, which he had arrogantly stretched out. They brought them and displayed them just outside Jerusalem.

May all go well with the Romans and with the nation of the Jews at sea and on land forever. May sword and enemy stay away from them.

In the same way, if war comes first to the nation of the Jews, the Romans will willingly act as their allies, as the occasion may indicate to them.

Regarding the bad things that King Demetrius is doing to them, we have written to him, “Why have you made your yoke so heavy on our friends and allies the Jews?

Then those who were with Jonathan ambushed them and began killing them. They wounded and killed many. The rest fled to the mountain, and the Jews took all their goods.

So he was very angry at the renegade Jews who had advised him to return to the country. He killed many of them before he decided to go back to his own land.

Only in Beth-zur did some Jews remain who had neglected the Law and the commandments, because Beth-zur was a place of refuge.