HYRCANUS RECEIVES THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD, AND EJECTS PTOLEMY OUT OF THE COUNTRY. ANTIOCHUS MAKES WAR AGAINST HYRCANUS AND AFTERWARDS MAKES A LEAGUE WITH HIM. FJAJ 13.56
1. SO Ptolemy retired to one of the fortresses that was above Jericho,
which was called Dagon
But Hyrcanus having taken the high priesthood that
had been his father's before, and in the first place propitiated God by
sacrifices, he then made an expedition against Ptolemy; and when he made
his attacks upon the place, in other points he was too hard for him, but
was rendered weaker than he, by the commiseration he had for his mother
and brethren, and by that only; for Ptolemy brought them upon the wall,
and tormented them in the sight of all, and threatened that he would throw
them down headlong, unless Hyrcanus would leave off the siege
And as he
thought that so far as he relaxed as to the siege and taking of the place,
so much favor did he show to those that were dearest to him by preventing
their misery, his zeal about it was cooled
However, his mother spread
out her hands, and begged of him that he would not grow remiss on her account,
but indulge his indignation so much the more, and that he would do his
utmost to take the place quickly, in order to get their enemy under his
power, and then to avenge upon him what he had done to those that were
dearest to himself; for that death would be to her sweet, though with torment,
if that enemy of theirs might but be brought to punishment for his wicked
dealings to them
Now when his mother said so, he resolved to take the
fortress immediately; but when he saw her beaten, and torn to pieces, his
courage failed him, and he could not but sympathize with what his mother
suffered, and was thereby overcome
And as the siege was drawn out into
length by this means, that year on which the Jews used to rest came on;
for the Jews observe this rest every seventh year, as they do every seventh
day; so that Ptolemy being for this cause released from the war, (19)
Hence we learn, that in the days of this excellent high priest, John Hyrcanus,
the observation of the Sabbatic year, as Josephus supposed, required a
rest from war, as did that of the weekly sabbath from work; I mean this,
unless in the case of necessity, when the Jews were attacked by their enemies,
in which case indeed, and in which alone, they then allowed defensive fighting
to be lawful, even on the sabbath day, as we see in several places of Josephus,
Antlq. B. XII. ch. 6. sect. 2; B. XIII. ch. 1. sect. 2; Of. the War, B.
I. ch. 7. sect. 3. But then it must be noted, that this rest from war no
way appears in the First Book of Maccabees, ch. 16., but the direct contrary;
though indeed the Jews, in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, did not venture
upon fighting on the Sabbath day, even in the defense of their own lives,
till the Asamoneans or Maccabees decreed so to do, 1 Macc. 2:32-41; Antiq.
B. XII. ch. 6. sect. 2.
he slew the brethren of Hyrcanus, and his mother; and when he had so done,
he fled to Zeno, who was called Cotylas, who was then the tyrant of the
city Philadelphia. FJAJ 13.57
2. But Antiochus, being very uneasy at the miseries that Simon had brought
upon him, he invaded Judea in the fourth years' of his reign, and the first
year of the principality of Hyrcanus, in the hundred and sixty-second olympiad.
(20)
Josephus's copies, both Greek and Latin, have here a gross mistake, when
they say that this first year of John Hyrcanus, which we have just now
seen to have been a Sabbatic year, was in the 162nd olympiad, whereas it
was for certain the second year of the 161st. See the like before, B. XII.
ch. 7. sect. 6.
And when he had burnt the country, he shut up Hyrcanus in the city, which
he encompassed round with seven encampments; but did just nothing at the
first, because of the strength of the walls, and because of the valor of
the besieged, although they were once in want of water, which yet they
were delivered from by a large shower of rain, which fell at the setting
of the Pleiades (21)
This heliacal setting of the Pleiades, or seven stars, was, in the days
of Hyrcanus and Josephus, early in the spring, about February, the time
of the latter rain in Judea; and this, so far as I remember, is the only
astronomical character of time, besides one eclipse of the moon in the
reign of Herod, that we meet with in all Josephus; the Jews being little
accustomed to astronomical observations, any further than for the uses
of their calendar, and utterly forbidden those astrological uses which
the heathens commonly made of them.
However, about the north part of the wall, where it happened the city was
upon a level with the outward ground, the king raised a hundred towers
of three stories high, and placed bodies of soldiers upon them; and as
he made his attacks every day, he cut a double ditch, deep and broad, and
confined the inhabitants within it as within a wall; but the besieged contrived
to make frequent sallies out; and if the enemy were not any where upon
their guard, they fell upon them, and did them a great deal of mischief;
and if they perceived them, they then retired into the city with ease.
But because Hyrcanus discerned the inconvenience of so great a number of
men in the city, while the provisions were the sooner spent by them, and
yet, as is natural to suppose, those great numbers did nothing, he separated
the useless part, and excluded them out of the city, and retained that
part only which were in the flower of their age, and fit for war
However,
Antiochus would not let those that were excluded go away, who therefore
wandering about between the wails, and consuming away by famine, died miserably;
but when the feast of tabernacles was at hand, those that were within commiserated
their condition, and received them in again
And when Hyrcanus sent to
Antiochus, and desired there might be a truce for seven days, because of
the festival, be gave way to this piety towards God, and made that truce
accordingly
And besides that, he sent in a magnificent sacrifice, bulls
with their horns gilded, (22)
Dr. Hudson tells us here, that this custom of gilding the horns of those
oxen that were to be sacrificed is a known thing both in the poets and
orators.
with all sorts of sweet spices, and with cups of gold and silver
So those
that were at the gates received the sacrifices from those that brought
them, and led them to the temple, Antiochus the mean while feasting his
army, which was a quite different conduct from Antiochus Epiphanes, who,
when he had taken the city, offered swine upon the altar, and sprinkled
the temple with the broth of their flesh, in order to violate the laws
of the Jews, and the religion they derived from their forefathers; for
which reason our nation made war with him, and would never be reconciled
to him; but for this Antiochus, all men called him Antiochus the Pious,
for the great zeal he had about religion. FJAJ 13.58
3. Accordingly, Hyrcanus took this moderation of his kindly; and when
he understood how religious he was towards the Deity, he sent an embassage
to him, and desired that he would restore the settlements they received
from their forefathers
So he rejected the counsel of those that would
have him utterly destroy the nation, (23)
This account in Josephus, that the present Antiochus was persuaded, though
in vain, not to make peace with the Jews, but to cut them off utterly,
is fully confirmed by Diodorus Siculus, in Photiua's extracts out of his
34th Book.
by reason of their way of living, which was to others unsociable, and did
not regard what they said
But being persuaded that all they did was out
of a religious mind, he answered the ambassadors, that if the besieged
would deliver up their arms, and pay tribute for Joppa, and the other cities
which bordered upon Judea, and admit a garrison of his, on these terms
he would make war against them no longer
But the Jews, although they were
content with the other conditions, did not agree to admit the garrison,
because they could not associate with other people, nor converse with them;
yet were they willing, instead of the admission of the garrison, to give
him hostages, and five hundred talents of silver; of which they paid down
three hundred, and sent the hostages immediately, which king Antiochus
accepted
One of those hostages was Hyrcanus's brother
But still he broke
down the fortifications that encompassed the city
And upon these conditions
Antiochus broke up the siege, and departed. FJAJ 13.59
4. But Hyrcanus opened the sepulcher of David, who excelled all other
kings in riches, and took out of it three thousand talents
He was also
the first of the Jews that, relying on this wealth, maintained foreign
troops
There was also a league of friendship and mutual assistance made
between them; upon which Hyrcanus admitted him into the city, and furnished
him with whatsoever his army wanted in great plenty, and with great generosity,
and marched along with him when he made an expedition against the Parthians;
of which Nicolaus of Damascus is a witness for us; who in his history writes
thus: "When Antiochus had erected a trophy at the river Lycus, upon
his conquest of Indates, the general of the Parthians, he staid there two
days
It was at the desire of Lyrcanus the Jew, because it was such a festival
derived to them from their forefathers, whereon the law of the Jews did
not allow them to travel." And truly he did not speak falsely in saying
so; for that festival, which we call Pentecost, did then fall out
to be the next day to the Sabbath
Nor is it lawful for us to journey,
either on the Sabbath day, or on a festival day (24)
The Jews were not to march or journey on the sabbath, or on such a great
festival as was equivalent to the sabbath, any farther than a sabbath day's
journey, or two thousand cubits, see the note on Antiq. B. XX. ch. 8. sect.
6.
But when Antiochus joined battle with Arsaces, the king of Parthin, he
lost a great part of his army, and was himself slain; and his brother Demetrius
succeeded in the kingdom of Syria, by the permission of Arsaces, who freed
him from his captivity at the same time that Antiochus attacked Parthin,
as we have formerly related elsewhere. FJAJ 13.60