MACCABEE
698
MACCABEE
dedicated to Olympian Jove, and his altar erected upon the altar of burnt-of!cTin,£C, which the first book of Mac- cabees, apparently quoting Daniel, calls the setting up of the abomination of desolation. When, therefore, Apel- les. the king's ofhcer (Josephus, Ant. xii, G, 2), came to Jlodin to put in force the royal edict against the nation- al religion, he made splendid offers to Mattathias if he would comply. The old man, however, not only refused, but publicly declared his determination to live and die in the religion of his fathers ; and when a certain Jew came forward openly to sacrifice in obedience to the edict, he slew him upon the altar. He slew, moreover, the king's commissioner, and destroyed the altar. Then, ottering himself as a rallying-point for all who were zealous for the law, he fled to the mountains. Many others, with their wives and children, followed his ex- ample, and fled. The}' were pursued, however, by the officers of Antiochus, and, refusing even to defend them- selves on the Sabbath day, were slain to the number of 1000. On this occasion the greatness of Mattathias displayed itself in the wise counsel he gave his compan- ions and countrymen, which passed subsequently into the ordinary custom, that they should not forbear to light upon the Sabbath day in so far as to defend them- selves. While in this position, he was joined by the more austere of the two parties which had sprung up among the Jews after the return from the captivity, viz. the Assidreans, i. e. the Hasidim, or pious [see Cha- sidim] ; and the Puritans, who subsequently became the Pharisees. They not only observed the written lav/, but superadded the constitutions and traditions of the elders, and other rigorous observances. The other party were called the Tsaddikim, or righteous, who contented themselves with that only which was written in the Mosaic law. Thus strengthened, Mattathias and his comrades carried on a sort of guerrilla warfare, and ex- erted themselves as far as possible to maintain and en- force the observance of the national religion. Feeling, however, that his advancing age rendered him unfit for a life so arduous, while it warned him of his approaching end, he gathered his sons together like the ])atriarchs of old, exhorted them to valor in a speech of great piety and faithfulness, and having recommended Simon to the office of counsellor or father, and Judas to that of captain and leader, died in the year 1G6, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers at Modin. The speech which he is said to have addressed to his sons before his death is remarkable as containing the first distinct allusion to the contents of Daniel, a book which seems to have ex- ercised the most powerfid influence on the jMaccabaan conflict (1 Mace, ii, GO ; comp. Josephus, Ant. xii, G, 3).
2. Mattathias himself named Judas, apparent!}' his third son, as his successor in directing the war of inde- pendence (1 ]Macc. ii, GG). The energy and skill of" the Maccabee" (o MaKKajicnog), as Judas is often called in 2 Mace, fully justified his father's preference. It ap- pears that he had already taken a prominent part in the first secession to the mountains (2 Mace, v, 27, where Mattathias is not mentioned), and on receiving the chief command lie devoted himself to the task of combining for common action those who were still faithful to the religion of their fathers (2 Mace, viii, 1). His first en- terprises were night-attacks and sudden surprises, which were best suited to the troops at his disposal (2 Mace, viii, G, 7), and, when his men were encouraged by these means, he ventiu'cd on more important oiierations, and met Apollonius (1 Mace, iii, 10-12), the king's general, who had gathered a large army at Samaria, of which place he was governor, in the open field. He totally de- feated his army, and slew him. He then divided the spoils, and took the sword of Apollonius for a trophy, which he used all his life afterwards in batt-le. Exas- perated at the defeat of Apjillonius, Seron (1 Mace, iii, 13-24), who was general of the army of t'cele-Syria, got together a force, partly composed of Jews, and came against Judas as far as Bethhoron, where he pitched his camp. This place, which had been rendered memorable