Alexander Appoints Jonathan High Priest
1 Maccabees 10, verse 1. Then in the one hundred and sixtieth year, Alexander, the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, went forth and conquered Ptolemais. They made him welcome, and he reigned there. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 2. But when Demetrius the king learned this, he gathered a huge army and went out to battle him. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 3. Demetrius also sent a letter to Jonathan with peaceful words to flatter him. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 4. For he said, “Let us act with foresight to make peace with him before he sides with Alexander against us. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 5. For he will recall the evils we carried out against him, and against his brothers and his nation.” 1 Maccabees 10, verse 6. So the king gave authority to Jonathan to assemble an army, prepare weapons, and be his ally. He also ordered the hostages in the citadel to be released to him. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 7. Then Jonathan entered Jerusalem and read the letter in the presence of all the people and those in the citadel. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 8. They were very frightened when they heard the king had given Jonathan authorization to assemble an army. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 9. So the men in the citadel returned the hostages to Jonathan, and he brought them back to their parents. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 10. Soon, Jonathan settled in Jerusalem and began to reconstruct the city. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 11. He also told the workers to build the walls to surround Mount Zion with square-cut stones for fortification, which they did. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 12. Then the foreigners who had been in their fortresses built by Bacchides fled. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 13. Each one left his place and departed into his own land. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 14. Only some in Beth-zur who had forsaken the law and the commandments remained, for it was a place of refuge. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 15. When King Alexander heard about the proposals Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and was told about the battles and the courageous deeds done by Jonathan and his brothers (as well as what they had suffered), 1 Maccabees 10, verse 16. he said, “Where will we find another like this man? Let us make him our friend and our ally.” 1 Maccabees 10, verse 17. So he wrote a letter and sent it to him, saying: 1 Maccabees 10, verse 18. “Alexander the king to Jonathan his brother, greetings. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 19. We have heard you are a mighty warrior and suitable to be our friend. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 20. So now we appoint you today as high priest of your people and command that you be called a friend of the king (he also sent him a purple robe and a golden crown). We ask you to agree with our interests and maintain friendship with us.” 1 Maccabees 10, verse 21. So Jonathan, in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year, put on the holy robe at the Feast of Tabernacles. Then he gathered an army and stockpiled many weapons.
Demetrius I Writes to Jonathan
1 Maccabees 10, verse 22. When Demetrius heard these reports, he was disturbed and said, 1 Maccabees 10, verse 23. “What is this that we have done? Alexander has upstaged us by forming a friendship with the Jews for support! 1 Maccabees 10, verse 24. I also will write them words of encouragement and promise them glory and gifts, that they may be my support.” 1 Maccabees 10, verse 25. So he sent them the following message: “King Demetrius to the nation of the Jews, greetings. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 26. Since you have kept your agreements with us and maintained our friendship, and have not sided with our enemies, we have learned of this and rejoice. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 27. Even now, do continue to keep faith with us, and we will repay you good things for your deeds. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 28. We will grant you many prerogatives and give you gifts. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 29. “At this time I am releasing and exempting all Jews from tribute and salt taxes and from crown levies. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 30. Furthermore, instead of handing over to me a third of the harvest and half of the fruit of the trees, which I am due, I cancel them from this day forward and beyond. I will not extract them from those of Judah, nor from the three provinces annexed to them from Samaria and Galilee from now on. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 31. In addition, let Jerusalem and her vicinities be set apart and released from tithes and taxes. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 32. I am also releasing my control of the citadel in Jerusalem, and I give it to the high priest, that he may place men in it whom he himself chooses to guard it. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 33. So every soul of the Jews taken captive from the land of Judah into all my kingdom I release freely without payment. Let all officials also cancel the duties on their livestock. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 34. “Moreover, all the feasts, the Sabbaths, the new moons, the appointed days, as well as the three days prior to the feast and three after the feast, let all these days be established as exempt and released for the Jews in my kingdom. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 35. No one will have the power to exact anything from them or to trouble any of them about anything. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 36. “Let the number of Jews in the army of the king be limited to thirty thousand men, and let the stipend that is due to all the troops of the king be paid to them. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 37. Some of them are to be established in the great fortresses of the king, and some are to be set in positions of trust wherever the kingdom has need. Let their officers and leaders be taken from them, and let them live by their own laws, as the king commanded in the land of Judah. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 38. “As for the three provinces added to Judea from the country of Samaria, let them be considered as one, so it may not be subject to any other authority than the high priest. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 39. I have given Ptolemais and the land adjoining it as gifts to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, for regular expenses in the sanctuary. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 40. I also grant fifteen thousand silver shekels yearly out of the king's revenues from the appropriate places. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 41. Even all the surplus the officials did not pay as in the first years, from now on they will give for the works of the temple. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 42. Moreover, the five thousand shekels of silver which the officials received every year from the incomes of the sanctuary, these are also cancelled, because they belong to the priests who minister there. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 43. Further, whoever takes refuge at the temple in Jerusalem or in any of its vicinities because he owes a royal payment or any debt, let him be released and receive back all his property in my kingdom. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 44. “The expense of rebuilding and restoring the structures of the sanctuary is also to be paid from the king's revenue. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 45. Then too, the expenses of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and the fortifications around it are to be paid from the king's revenue, and also the rebuilding of the walls in Judea.”
Offer Rejected, Demetrius Killed
1 Maccabees 10, verse 46. But when Jonathan and the people heard these words, they did not believe or accept them, because they remembered the great wrongs Demetrius had done in Israel and how badly he had afflicted them. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 47. So they favored Alexander, because he was the first to offer peaceable words to them; therefore, they remained allied with him all his days. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 48. Now King Alexander assembled a large army and took position opposite Demetrius. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 49. The two kings met in battle, and the army of Demetrius fled. Alexander took pursuit and defeated them. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 50. He fought very hard until sunset, and Demetrius fell on that day.
Alexander Weds Cleopatra
1 Maccabees 10, verse 51. Then Alexander sent envoys to Ptolemy the king of Egypt with the following message: 1 Maccabees 10, verse 52. “Since I returned to my kingdom and have taken the throne of my fathers and established my rule (for I defeated Demetrius and secured control of my country; 1 Maccabees 10, verse 53. I faced him in war and he and his forces were destroyed by us; and we indeed have sat down upon the throne of his kingdom), 1 Maccabees 10, verse 54. now let us build a friendship with each other. Give me your daughter in marriage, and I will become your son-in-law. I will give you gifts worthy of both you and her.” 1 Maccabees 10, verse 55. Then Ptolemy the king answered, saying: “It was a good day when you went back to your fathers’ homeland and occupied the throne of their kingdom. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 56. Now I will do for you what you requested, so meet me at Ptolemais, that we might see each other; and I will be your father-in-law, as you asked.” 1 Maccabees 10, verse 57. Then Ptolemy left Egypt along with his daughter Cleopatra, and reached Ptolemais in the one hundred and sixty-second year. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 58. King Alexander met him there, and Ptolemy gave him his daughter Cleopatra in marriage. He celebrated her wedding in Ptolemais with great pageantry, in royal manner.
Jonathan Made Governor
1 Maccabees 10, verse 59. Then King Alexander wrote for Jonathan to meet him. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 60. So he journeyed with splendor to Ptolemais and there met the two monarchs. He offered them silver and gold, and gave their friends numerous gifts. Thus he found favor with them. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 61. Then some troublemakers from Israel, lawless men, also gathered against Jonathan to accuse him, but the king paid no attention to them. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 62. The king then gave command to remove Jonathan's clothes and robe him in purple; and they did. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 63. Then the king seated him with himself and said to his leaders, “Go out with him into the midst of the city and proclaim that no one should accuse him concerning any matter; and let no one trouble him for any cause.” 1 Maccabees 10, verse 64. So it was that when his accusers saw the honor given him according to the proclamation, and saw him robed in purple, they fled. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 65. Thus the king honored him and inscribed him among his close friends. He also appointed him general and provincial governor. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 66. Then Jonathan departed to Jerusalem with peace and gladness of heart.
Demetrius II Appoints Apollonius
1 Maccabees 10, verse 67. Now in the one hundred and sixty-fifth year, Demetrius, the son of Demetrius, traveled from Crete to the land of his fathers. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 68. When King Alexander heard it, he was very distressed and went back to Antioch. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 69. Then Demetrius appointed Apollonius governor of Coele-Syria. Apollonius gathered a large army and marched against Jamnia. He sent word to Jonathan the high priest, saying: 1 Maccabees 10, verse 70. “You alone rose up against us, but I was ridiculed and disgraced because of you. Why do you maintain authority over us in the hill country? 1 Maccabees 10, verse 71. Now therefore, if you trust in your army, come down against us in the plain, and let us judge together for ourselves there, for I have an army of the cities. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 72. Inquire and learn who I am, and the others who help us. They tell us there is no place for your foot to stand before us, because your fathers were put to flight twice in their land. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 73. Even now, you shall not be able to withstand such a cavalry and army in the plain, where there is neither stone nor pebble nor any place to flee.”
Jonathan Defeats Apollonius
1 Maccabees 10, verse 74. But when Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was moved to action. He chose ten thousand men and departed from Jerusalem, and his brother Simon joined to help him. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 75. He took up a position at Joppa, but the men of that city shut its gates; for Apollonius had a band of soldiers in Joppa. So Jonathan attacked them. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 76. Then the men of Joppa became fearful and opened the gates; and Jonathan captured Joppa. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 77. When Apollonius got word of it, he gathered three thousand cavalry and a sizable army and marched into Azotus, as though he were going beyond. But he went ahead into the plain, since he had a large cavalry and trusted in it. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 78. Jonathan chased him to Azotus, and there the armies joined in battle. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 79. But Apollonius secretly had left a thousand cavalry behind. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 80. Jonathan discovered there was an ambush behind him, for they encircled his army and shot arrows at his troops from morning till sundown. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 81. But his army stood their ground, as Jonathan had ordered, and their cavalry grew tired. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 82. Then Simon brought in his army and confronted the phalanx in battle (for the cavalry had grown tired); and they were crushed by him and fled. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 83. When the cavalry was scattered on the plain, they retreated to Azotus, entering Beth-dagon, their pagan temple, to hide. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 84. Then Jonathan set Azotus and the surrounding cities on fire and took spoils from them. The temple of Dagon and those who took refuge in it were burned up in the fire. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 85. So eight thousand men fell by the sword along with those who were killed by the fire. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 86. Then Jonathan left there and camped opposite Ashkelon, and the men of the city came out with great ceremony to meet him. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 87. Jonathan and the men with him later went back to Jerusalem with many spoils. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 88. Thus when King Alexander heard these reports, he proceeded to honor Jonathan again. 1 Maccabees 10, verse 89. So he sent him a golden buckle, as was customary to give to the relatives of kings. He also gave to him Ekron and all its regions as his possession.