HOW JONATHAN TOOK THE GOVERNMENT AFTER HIS BROTHER JUDAS; AND HOW HE, TOGETHER WITH HIS BROTHER SIMON, WAGED WAR AGAINST BACCHIDES. FJAJ 13.3
1. BY what means the nation of the Jews recovered their freedom when
they had been brought into slavery by the Macedonians, and what struggles,
and how great battles, Judas, the general of their army, ran through, till
he was slain as he was fighting for them, hath been related in the foregoing
book; but after he was dead, all the wicked, and those that transgressed
the laws of their forefathers, sprang up again in Judea, and grew upon
them, and distressed them on every side
A famine also assisted their wickedness,
and afflicted the country, till not a few, who by reason of their want
of necessaries, and because they were not able to bear up against the miseries
that both the famine and their enemies brought upon them, deserted their
country, and went to the Macedonians
And now Bacchides gathered those
Jews together who had apostatized from the accustomed way of living of
their forefathers, and chose to live like their neighbors, and committed
the care of the country to them, who also caught the friends of Judas,
and those of his party, and delivered them up to Bacchides, who when he
had, in the first place, tortured and tormented them at his pleasure, he,
by that means, at length killed them
And when this calamity of the Jews
was become so great, as they had never had experience of the like since
their return out of Babylon, those that remained of the companions of Judas,
seeing that the nation was ready to be destroyed after a miserable manner,
came to his brother Jonathan, and desired him that he would imitate his
brother, and that care which he took of his countrymen, for whose liberty
in general he died also; and that he would not permit the nation to be
without a governor, especially in those destructive circumstances wherein
it now was
And where Jonathan said that he was ready to die for them,
and esteemed no inferior to his brother, he was appointed to be the general
of the Jewish army. FJAJ 13.4
2. When Bacchides heard this, and was afraid that Jonathan might be
very troublesome to the king and the Macedonians, as Judas had been before
him, he sought how he might slay him by treachery
But this intention of
his was not unknown to Jonathan, nor to his brother Simon; but when these
two were apprized of it, they took all their companions, and presently
fled into that wilderness which was nearest to the city; and when they
were come to a lake called Asphar, they abode there
But when Bacchides
was sensible that they were in a low state, and were in that place, he
hasted to fall upon them with all his forces, and pitching his camp beyond
Jordan, he recruited his army
But when Jonathan knew that Bacchides Was
coming upon him, he sent his brother John, who was also called Gaddis,
to the Nabatean Arabs, that he might lodge his baggage with them until
the battle with Bacchides should be over, for they were the Jews' friends.
And the sons of Ambri laid an ambush for John from the city Medaba, and
seized upon him, and upon those that were with him, and plundered all that
they had with them
They also slew John, and all his companions
However,
they were sufficiently punished for what they now did by John's brethren,
as we shall relate presently. FJAJ 13.5
3. But when Bacchides knew that Jonathan had pitched his camp among
the lakes of Jordan, he observed when their sabbath day came, and then
assaulted him, [as supposing that he would not fight because of the law
for resting on that day]: but he exhorted his companions [to fight]; and
told them that their lives were at stake, since they were encompassed by
the river, and by their enemies, and had no way to escape, for that their
enemies pressed upon them from before, and the river was behind them
So
after he had prayed to God to give them the victory, he joined battle with
the enemy, of whom he overthrew many; and as he saw Bacchides coming up
boldly to him, he stretched out his right hand to smite him; but the other
foreseeing and avoiding the stroke, Jonathan with his companions leaped
into the river, and swam over it, and by that means escaped beyond Jordan
while the enemies did not pass over that river; but Bacchides returned
presently to the citadel at Jerusalem, having lost about two thousand of
his army
He also fortified many cities of Judea, whose walls had been
demolished; Jericho, and Emmaus, and Betboron, and Bethel, and Tinma, and
Pharatho, and Tecoa, and Gazara, and built towers in every one of these
cities, and encompassed them with strong walls, that were very large also,
and put garrisons into them, that they might issue out of them, and do
mischief to the Jews
He also fortified the citadel at Jerusalem more than
all the rest
Moreover, he took the sons of the principal Jews as pledges,
and hut them up in the citadel, and in that manner guarded it. FJAJ 13.6
4. About the same time one came to Jonathan, and to his brother Simon, and told them that the sons of Ambri were celebrating a marriage, and bringing the bride from the city Gabatha, who was the daughter of one of the illustrious men among the Arabians, and that the damsel was to be conducted with pomp, and splendor, and much riches: so Jonathan and Simon thinking this appeared to be the fittest time for them to avenge the death of their brother, and that they had forces sufficient for receiving satisfaction from them for his death, they made haste to Medaba, and lay in wait among the mountains for the coming of their enemies; and as soon as they saw them conducting the virgin, and her bridegroom, and such a great company of their friends with them as was to be expected at this wedding, they sallied out of their ambush, and slew them all, and took their ornaments, and all the prey that then followed them, and so returned, and received this satisfaction for their brother John from the sons of Ambri; for as well those sons themselves, as their friends, and wives, and children that followed them, perished, being in number about four hundred. FJAJ 13.7
5. However, Simon and Jonathan returned to the lakes of the river, and
abode there
But Bacchides, when he had secured all Judea with his garrisons,
returned to the king; and then it was that the affairs of Judea were quiet
for two years
But when the deserters and the wicked saw that Jonathan
and those that were with him lived in the country very quietly, by reason
of the peace, they sent to king Demetrius, and excited him to send Bacchides
to seize upon Jonathan, which they said was to be done without any trouble,
and in one night's time; and that if they fell upon them before they were
aware, they might slay them all
So the king sent Bacchides, who, when
he was come into Judea, wrote to all his friends, both Jews and auxiliaries,
that they should seize upon Jonathan, and bring him to him; and when, upon
all their endeavors, they were not able to seize upon Jonathan, for he
was sensible of the snares they laid for him, and very carefully guarded
against them, Bacchides was angry at these deserters, as having imposed
upon him, and upon the king, and slew fifty of their leaders: whereupon
Jonathan, with his brother, and those that were with him, retired to Bethagla,
a village that lay in the wilderness, out of his fear of Bacchides
He
also built towers in it, and encompassed it with walls, and took care that
it should be safely guarded
Upon the hearing of which Bacchides led his
own army along with him, and besides took his Jewish auxiliaries, and came
against Jonathan, and made an assault upon his fortifications, and besieged
him many days; but Jonathan did not abate of his courage at the zeal Bacchides
used in the siege, but courageously opposed him
And while he left his
brother Simon in the city to fight with Bacchides, he went privately out
himself into the country, and got a great body of men together of his own
party, and fell upon Bacchides's camp in the night time, and destroyed
a great many of them
His brother Simon knew also of this his falling upon
them, because he perceived that the enemies were slain by him; so he sallied
out upon them, and burnt the engines which the Macedonians used, and made
a great slaughter of them
And when Bacchides saw himself encompassed with
enemies, and some of them before and some behind him, he fell into despair
and trouble of mind, as confounded at the unexpected ill success of this
siege
However, he vented his displeasure at these misfortunes upon those
deserters who sent for him from the king, as having deluded him
So he
had a mind to finish this siege after a decent manner, if it were possible
for him so to do, and then to return home. FJAJ 13.8
6. When Jonathan understood these his intentions, he sent ambassadors
to him about a league of friendship and mutual assistance, and that they
might restore those they had taken captive on both sides
So Bacchides
thought this a pretty decent way of retiring home, and made a league of
friendship with Jonathan, when they sware that they would not any more
make war one against another
Accordingly, he restored the captives, and
took his own men with him, and returned to the king at Antioch; and after
this his departure, he never came into Judea again
Then did Jonathan take
the opportunity of this quiet state of things, and went and lived in the
city Michmash; and there governed the multitude, and punished the wicked
and ungodly, and by that means purged the nation of them. FJAJ 13.9