Читать книгу A Class-Book of New Testament History - G. F. Maclear - Страница 14

THE death of their great leader was a terrible blow to the hopes of the Jewish patriots, and for a short time their plans were totally disorganized. The Syrians regained their ascendancy everywhere, Alcimus was reinstated in the high-priesthood, and Bacchides wreaked his vengeance on the adherents of Judas with unrelenting cruelty. All the advantages which that brave chieftain had gained during six years of incessant warfare, seemed to have been utterly thrown away, and the national cause to be on the verge of destruction.

At length, however, the Maccabæan party rallied, and offered the command to Jonathan, surnamed Apphus (the wary), the youngest son of Mattathias. In view of the present desperate circumstances of the nation, the new leader did not attempt to operate in the open country, but retired to the wilderness of Tekoa, where the Syrian general in vain endeavoured to surprise and capture him. Thence, crossing the Jordan, he carried on a guerilla warfare, while Bacchides resolving to keep the Jews in subjection, employed himself in strengthening the fortifications of Emmaus, Beth-horon, Gazara, and Beth-zur. At the same time he furnished the garrison in the Acra, which commanded the city and temple of Jerusalem, with fresh supplies of arms and provisions, and placed there the children of several of the chief Jewish families as hostages. Meanwhile Alcimus, bent on his plan of fusing Jew and Gentile, gave orders that the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary should be pulled down, and was in the act of seeing them carried out, when he was suddenly struck with paralysis, and died in great misery.

Upon this, Bacchides returned to Antioch, and Jonathan re-appearing from his hiding-place, established himself in Judæa, where, for upwards of two years, he was left unmolested by the Syrians, in accordance with orders from Demetrius, who by this time had received the commands of the Roman senate forbidding all hostilities towards their new allies. This condition, however, of tranquillity by no means fell in with the views of the large Hellenizing party in Judæa, and they invited Bacchides to return once more and crush their enemy. Accordingly the Syrian commander re-entered Judæa at the head of a considerable army, and Jonathan retiring as before into the wilderness, maintained a desultory warfare, while his brother Simon occupied the fortress of Beth-basi, in the Jordan valley, not far from Jericho. Though he attacked it with all his forces, Bacchides was utterly unable to reduce this stronghold, and at length, wearying of a campaign which brought little glory and less profit, he turned against those who had advised the expedition, and sought means to secure an honourable retreat. Informed of the altered feelings of his foe, Jonathan thereupon sent envoys, and succeeded in concluding a peace, agreeing to acknowledge Bacchides as governor under the Syrian king, and obtaining a promise from that general that he would not enter the land again.

On these terms, hostilities were suspended, and the authority of Jonathan as deputy governor of Judæa was publicly recognised. Establishing himself at Michmash (1 Macc. ix.73), he ruled the people according to the law of Moses, though Jerusalem and many of the stronger towns were still retained by garrisons of Syrians or apostate Jews.

After the lapse, however, of a very few years, a revolution took place in Syria, which produced a surprising change in his fortunes. About the year B.C.153, Demetrius retired to a new palace he had built at Antioch, and there gave himself up to pleasure, and various luxurious excesses38. This, added to other causes, made him extremely unpopular with his subjects, and gave rise to a conspiracy which was fostered by Ariarathes king of Cappadocia, Attalus king of Pergamus, and especially by Ptolemy Philometor king of Egypt, from whom Demetrius had taken the island of Cyprus. By their connivance, a young man named Balas39 was persuaded to give himself out as the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and to claim the Syrian throne. Through the intrigues of Heraclides, a former treasurer of Epiphanes, his claim was admitted by the Romans, and on his landing at Ptolemais after a visit to Rome, the place was betrayed by the garrison, and his standard was joined by numerous disaffected subjects of Demetrius, B.C.152.

Roused at last from his lethargy, that monarch collected an army, and prepared to defend his crown. Both kings had an equal interest in securing the friendship of Jonathan, who could render essential service to whichever side he joined. The promises of Demetrius were lavish even to desperation. He offered to make Jonathan commander-in-chief over Judæa, to allow him to levy soldiers, and also undertook to release the Jewish hostages held by the Syrian garrison in the Acra. Jonathan read the letter containing these offers to the soldiers in the citadel, and they straightway delivered up the hostages, while the garrisons retired from most of the stronger towns, save those of Beth-zur and Jerusalem, which were chiefly composed of apostate Jews (1 Macc. x. 3–9, 12–14), who dreaded to leave their places of refuge. The power of the Maccabæan chief was thus greatly extended; he levied troops, and supplied them with arms; he rebuilt and repaired the walls of Jerusalem, particularly around Mount Zion, which were strongly fortified, and took up his own abode in the capital (1 Macc. x. 10,11).

It was now the turn of Balas to court the alliance of the Jewish prince, and he resolved to outdo Demetrius in the liberality of his promises. Accordingly, he wrote a letter in which he saluted Jonathan as his “brother” (1 Macc. x.18), conferred upon him the high-priesthood, which had now been vacant seven years, and sent him the purple robe, and the crown of an ethnarch, or independent prince of Judæa. Jonathan accepted all that the other conferred, and without openly espousing the cause of either king, assumed the pontifical robes at the Feast of Tabernacles (1 Macc. x.21), and with them the purple. Thus the high-priesthood, which had remained in the family of Jozadak ever since the time of Cyrus, was transferred to that of Joiarib, and the reign of the Priest-kings of the Asmonean line commenced, B.C.153.

As soon as Demetrius was informed of the offers of Balas, he wrote a second time to Jonathan, and made him the most extravagant promises if he would espouse his cause. But the Jews, remembering what they had suffered at his hands, could not be convinced of his sincerity, and threw all the weight of their influence into the cause of his rival. At first the efforts of Balas were unsuccessful, but eventually, B.C.150, he succeeded in completely routing the army of Demetrius, mounted the Syrian throne, and at Ptolemais was united in marriage with Cleopatra, the daughter of Philometor, king of Egypt. On this occasion Jonathan also repaired to that city, where he was received by Balas with every mark of friendship and regard, raised to the rank of meridarch, or ruler of a part of the empire (1 Macc. x.65), and invested with regal honours.

But the prosperity of the usurper of the Syrian throne was shortlived. So long as the contest with the late king continued, he evinced both energy and courage, but no sooner was his power confirmed, than he gave himself up without restraint to the indulgence of the worst passions, and became only an object of contempt to his subjects. At this time Demetrius, surnamed afterwards Nicator, was at Cnidus. Hearing of the feelings with which Balas was regarded, he landed in Cilicia at the head of a considerable force, and rapidly gained over a number of adherents, and amongst them Apollonius, governor of Cœlesyria, who openly revolted and espoused his cause. Jonathan, however, still remained faithful in his allegiance, and attacking Apollonius near Azotus, completely defeated him, laid that city in ashes, and returned to Jerusalem with rich spoils. This complete suppression of the revolt in Cœlesyria excited the warmest gratitude in the heart of Balas, who sent his faithful ally a rich gold chain, such as was worn by none but princes of the highest rank (1 Macc. x. 88,89), and bestowed upon him the city and territory of Ekron as a free gift.

But though checked in Cœlesyria, the rebellion made such progress in other parts of his dominions, that he shut himself up in the city of Antioch, and appealed for aid to Philometor, the father of his wife Cleopatra.

Accordingly, B.C.146, that monarch set out attended by a fleet and a numerous army to assist his son-in-law. As he proceeded along the coast of Palestine, every city threw open its gates in token of friendship, and at Joppa he was met by Jonathan, who escorted him as far as the river Eleutherus (1 Macc. xi. 1–7). No sooner, however, had he reached Antioch, than he threw off the mask, and wrote to Demetrius offering to support his claims, and to unite him in marriage with his daughter. Demetrius eagerly accepted his offer, and, though not without some difficulty, was acknowledged as king. Early in the following year Balas made a determined effort to recover his crown, but being defeated in battle, fled to Abæ in Arabia, where five days after he was murdered by a native chief named Zabdiel, who sent his head to Demetrius (1 Macc. xi.17).