Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Argumentum
I presuppose that these two books are Canonical, as the Council of Trent defines, session IV; the Third Council of Carthage, Canon 47; Innocent III, epistle 3, to Exuperius; Gelasius and others. Among the Hebrews they are not Canonical, both because they do not exist in Hebrew — whence they are unknown by the Hebrews — and because they were written after the Canon of the sacred books issued by the Synagogue in the time of Ezra. See Bellarmine, book I, On the Word of God, chapter V; Sixtus of Siena, book VIII of the Bibliotheca, and Serarius here.
There exists moreover a third book of Maccabees, and among some a fourth; but the Church did not admit these within the Canon. Therefore these two are similar to the third and fourth books of Ezra.
The subject of the first and second books of Maccabees is to record the deeds and battles of Judas, Jonathan, and Simon, the Maccabee brothers, against Antiochus and other enemies. These two books therefore contain the history of the Synagogue, that is, of Israel and the people of God; for Ezra ends with Jeddoa or Jaddo the High Priest, who met Alexander the Great, from which the first book of Maccabees begins, and continues the history of Israel through the successors of Alexander, namely the kings of Asia and the kings of Egypt, who were sometimes allied with the Jews and sometimes waged bloody wars against them, in which the wonderful fortitude of the Maccabees shone forth, along with the singular direction and protection of God who gave them victory. Incidentally and briefly it touches upon the deeds of Alexander the Great and his successors up to Antiochus Epiphanes, who began to persecute and wage war against the Jews: whence it narrates at length the deeds of him and his successors, namely Antiochus Eupator, who was the son of Epiphanes, of King Demetrius and Alexander, and of another Antiochus who was the son of Demetrius, who waged wars with Judas, Jonathan, and Simon the Maccabees. It therefore embraces the deeds of about sixty years.
Who the author was is unknown. It is likely that he was one of the priests or high priests; for to them was given the care of weaving together the history of their nation, as Josephus testifies, book II Against Apion. It is probable that the first book was written by John Hyrcanus, the son of Simon, the brother of Judas Maccabaeus. For he succeeded his father Simon in both the principate and the pontificate, and was present at nearly all the deeds of his father and uncle; whence an illustrious mention of him is made at the end of book I. Add that he himself was also a Prophet, as Josephus asserts, book XIII, chapter X, whom hear: "Hyrcanus dies in the 31st year of his rule; having been deemed worthy by God of three very great honors: the principate of the Jewish nation, the pontificate, and prophecy. For he enjoyed divine colloquies; whence he acquired such foreknowledge of future events that he predicted that his two eldest sons would not long remain in possession of their father's principate." He likewise asserts that he predicted the present victory of his sons fighting far away. Finally, he presided over Israel for 31 years and cultivated peace with his neighbors, and therefore had abundant leisure for writing these things. So Sanchez. He therefore wrote up the heroic battles and deeds of his grandfather Mattathias, his father Simon and his uncles Judas and Jonathan, as the exploits of his own family, and therefore ended at the death of his father Simon.
The histories of the second book were written at length by Jason of Cyrene in five books, which a chief priest condensed into an epitome and produced the second book, and this at the command of the Synagogue. For the entire second book was written in the name of the Synagogue, as if a letter to the Jews scattered throughout Egypt, to comfort them with news of better things, afflicted as they were by the persecution of Antiochus and his successors, as is clear from its beginning: "The brothers who are in Jerusalem, he says, send greetings to the brothers who are Jews throughout Egypt." Among these was Judas, not Maccabaeus, as Bellarmine and others would have it: for he had already died, but another man, either a prophet or a prince of the people and Senate, in whose name the letter was written, about whom more in book II, chapter I, 10 and chapter II, 24. Whence Serarius thinks that this Judas was the author of the letter, and calls him an Essene.
The first book of Maccabees existed in Hebrew in the time of St. Jerome, as he himself acknowledges in the Prologus Galeatus. That the second also existed in Hebrew is suggested by Eusebius in the Chronicle at the year of the world 4800: "The history of the Maccabees, he says, was found in Hebrew." So Sanchez.
Prolegomena to the Books of Maccabees
here reckons the kingdom of the Greeks; but these books are not found among the divine Scriptures" — understand, by the Hebrews. And reason supports this. For it was written to the Jews scattered throughout Egypt: and the native and mother tongue of the Jews was Hebrew; indeed many of them knew no other language.
Moreover, the authors of the Greek edition of these books cannot be the Seventy Translators, because they flourished under Ptolemy Philadelphus, who preceded Antiochus Epiphanes, whose persecutions are described here, by a hundred years.
You ask first: Who and what sort of men were the Maccabees, and why were they so called? Josippus Bengorion writes that Judas the brother of Jonathan was the first to be called Maccabee on account of his courage, for his father Mattathias on his deathbed had addressed him thus: "O my son Judas, who on account of your strength shall be called Maccabee," namely from the root macha, which means to extinguish, to kill, to destroy, so that "Maccabeus" means the same as "extinguisher and slayer of enemies." So Eusebius, book 3 of the History, chapter 10, saying: "They entitled the book 'of the Maccabees,' because it contains the contests and struggles endured for piety by the Maccabees." This is supported by what Mattathias says on his deathbed, chapter 2:66, exhorting all to the defense of their law and nation and to war: "Let Judas Maccabeus, strong in valor from his youth, be your commander of the army." Again, Pagninus in the Hebrew Names derives the name Maccabi (for so he thinks it should be written) from maccabi, that is, "a blow through me," for nacha means to strike, to hit, to kill, so that Maccabi means the same as "striker, slayer," which Judas Maccabeus and his companions were.
These two etymologies are apt, so that there is scarcely any doubt they are being alluded to. Others derive "Maccabeus" from the Greek verb machoumai, that is, "I fight," as if to say fighter, athlete, combatant. Isidore of Pelusium, book 3, epistle 4: "Maccabeus," he says, "in the Persian language means lord." Furthermore, others derive Maccabeus from caab, that is, "to grieve"; whence in the Hiphil form macib, that is, "causing grief, tormenting" the enemies of Israel. Others derive it from chabab, that is, "to love," as if from ardent love of God Judas was called Maccabeus, that is "lover" or "Amadeus" (beloved of God). Others from mackeba, that is, "hammer." For Judas was the hammer of the nations.
But the Hebrews and Latins generally report that Judas was called Maccabee because he had taken as the watchword of the holy war against the faithless followers of Antiochus that song of Moses after the defeat of Pharaoh, Exodus 15:11: mi camocha baelim Jehova, that is: "Who is like You among the mighty, O Lord?" and therefore, for the sake of brevity, he inscribed the initial letters of these words on his banners, namely the letters which, with vowel points supplied and combined into one word, make machabi, that is Maccabeus, so that machabi is virtually the same as Michael, that is, "who is like God"; which name he then transmitted to his companions and successors. That this is so is clear from the following deeds and battles of Judas, in which Judas always places all hope of victory in God alone, and therefore, invoking Him, rushes upon the enemies like a lion and overthrows them, and he did the same before his father's death from his youth, as the father himself asserts, chapter 2:66, where for this reason he appoints him leader of the war and of the people. Therefore before his father's death his emblem was: Mi camocha baelim Jehova, that is: "Who is like You among the mighty, O Lord?" and thence by abbreviation he was called Machabi, that is, "Maccabeus." Accordingly, when about to engage Nicanor in battle, he gave his men this war-cry: "God's help," as is clear from book 2, chapter 8:23. So Genebrardus in the Chronicle; Sixtus of Siena, book 1; Arias, on Isaiah chapter 10; Baronius, in the Martyrology for August 1; Serarius, Salianus, Sanchez, and others. By a similar written abbreviation was composed that famous: Mane Tekel Phares, Daniel 5. Similar abbreviations can be found everywhere in the books of the Rabbis, by which through a single initial letter they signify an entire word, all of which Mercerus collected and explained.
You ask secondly, from which Tribe Judas and his other brothers and nephews the Maccabees were. Some think they were from the tribe of Judah. For Jacob had predicted that the scepter would not depart from this tribe until Christ, Genesis 49:10. Whence also in 1 Maccabees 5 it is said: "And the men of Judah were magnified."
But I say they were from the tribe of Levi and the priestly line. For they themselves were High Priests and at the same time Princes of the people. That this is so is clearly evident from book 1, chapter 2, where Mattathias is called a priest descended from Joarib; and Joarib descends from Aaron and Levi, as is clear from 1 Chronicles 24:7. Whence Mattathias calls Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the father of himself and his line, book 1, chapter 2:54. To the passage of Genesis 49:10, I responded there; to the Maccabees passage I shall respond below. Moreover, the Maccabees were called by another name, Hasmoneans, from Hasmoneus, who was the grandfather or great-grandfather of Mattathias, as Eusebius, Josephus (book 12 of the Antiquities, chapter 8), and others attest. Hence the Hebrew "Hasmoneans" means the same as "Nobles" or "Princes." For such were the Maccabees.
Moreover, Judas, Jonathan, Simon, and their Maccabee descendants were elected and established by the people as leaders or princes of the Republic, but not as kings, as is clear from book 1, chapters 9 and 14. For the royal line of David ended with Jeconiah who was led away to Babylon, who is therefore called by Jeremiah, chapter 22, a barren man. "For there shall not be," he says, "of his seed a man who shall sit upon the throne of David," that is, who shall be king; whence Shealtiel the son of Jeconiah and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel were leaders of the people, not kings.
You will say: Aristobulus, the son of John Hyrcanus, received the diadem and the title of king; for, as Josephus says, Antiquities 13:19: "His father having died, Aristobulus the eldest, wishing to change the principate into the form of a kingdom, was the first to place a diadem upon himself, after 481 years and three months from when the people, freed from Babylonian captivity, returned to their former dwellings." I reply that Aristobulus and his descendants usurped the name and crown of king by their own authority, but did not receive it as given by the Republic; therefore they were not true or legitimate kings. So St. Jerome on Ezekiel chapter 21: "Hyrcanus," he says, "the Pontiff placed a diadem on his head, in vain trying to claim both this and that for himself, since the kingship was not owed to him after Zedekiah," as if to say: because he was not from the royal line of David, which ended with the last king Zedekiah. By the flattering populace, however, and consequently by some writers, he and his descendants are called kings, but in truth they were not kings. It is otherwise with Herod; for he received the kingdom of Judea and the title of king from the Roman Senate and from Augustus, who was already then ruling over the Jews. Whence in him the scepter was transferred from Judah to a foreigner, and therefore then Christ came, to whom this scepter was owed, as Jacob had prophesied, Genesis 49:10.
Contemporary and coeval with Judas, Jonathan, and Simon the Maccabees were Antiochus the Great and his son Antiochus Epiphanes, and the latter's son Antiochus Eupator; for they waged wars with these two. Likewise Ptolemy Philometor, king of Egypt. In addition, both Scipios — namely Africanus, who defeated Hannibal and destroyed Carthage, and Asiaticus, who triumphed over Antiochus the Great. Also Fabius Maximus, the chastiser of Hannibal. Among philosophers, Posidonius and Panaetius. Among poets, Caecilius, Ennius, Naevius, Plautus. Moreover, Antiochus the Great left two sons, Seleucus and Antiochus Epiphanes; the sons and grandsons of these two contended with one another in continuous succession and fought over the empire of Asia for two hundred years: thus God punished the impiety and crimes of Epiphanes in his posterity.
You ask thirdly, what are the "years of the Greeks," according to which the individual acts of the Maccabees are recorded in this book, and where they begin. I answer that they begin from the thirteenth year after the death of Alexander the Great. For in the thirteenth year after Alexander, Seleucus — surnamed Nicanor on account of his many victories — having defeated Antigonus the king of Asia, made himself king of Asia, and from that point the years of the Greeks, or of the Seleucids, began to be reckoned. Now then:
1. Seleucus, king of Asia, reigned 30 years.
2. Seleucus was succeeded by his son Antiochus Soter, in whose time the Jews won a notable victory over the Galatians near Babylon, which is recorded in 2 Maccabees 8:20. This Soter reigned 19 years.
3. Soter was succeeded by his son Antiochus surnamed Theos, that is "God," so called by the Milesians because he had expelled their tyrant Lymarchus, says Appian in the Syriaca. Daniel prophesied about him, chapter 11:5. He lived during the first Punic War. He reigned 15 years.
4. This Antiochus was succeeded by Seleucus Callinicus, about whom see Daniel 11:7. He reigned 20 years.
5. Callinicus was succeeded by his son Seleucus Ceraunius, that is "the Thunderbolt," because in boldness and speed he appeared similar to lightning, about whom see Daniel 11:10. He reigned 3 years.
6. Ceraunius was succeeded by his brother Antiochus the Great, who, defeated by L. Scipio at Thermopylae, sent his younger son Antiochus Epiphanes to Rome as a hostage in his place, about whom see Daniel 10:10ff. up to 20. He reigned 37 years.
7. Antiochus the Great was succeeded by his elder son Seleucus Philopator, who at first supplied expenses to the temple of the Jews, 2 Maccabees 3:3; but afterward (verse 32) tried to plunder it through Heliodorus, who, returning after being scourged by an angel, killed Seleucus. This Seleucus reigned 12 years.
8. The younger brother succeeded his elder brother Seleucus, called Antiochus Epiphanes, that is "the Illustrious." More truly called by some Epimanes, that is "the Insane," because he cruelly and madly plundered the temple and harassed the Jews. He seized his brother's kingdom by treachery in the year 137 of the Greeks; in the same year he expelled Onias the holy High Priest and substituted the impious Jason his brother, 2 Maccabees 4:7. In the second year of his reign he undertook his first expedition into Egypt, and from there entered Jerusalem peacefully. Likewise verse 21, in the 5th year he deposed Jason and installed Menelaus the Benjaminite as High Priest, 2 Maccabees 4:23 and chapter 3:4. In the sixth year, entering Egypt again, he was ordered by the Romans to leave. Wherefore, departing in anger, he poured out his indignation on the neighboring Jews, 1 Maccabees 1:21 and book 2, chapter 4:11ff., where I shall give the reason. Therefore in three days he killed 80,000 Jews, sold 84,000, and imprisoned as many, 2 Maccabees 5:14. Then through Apollonius he killed many more, verse 24, and others through Philip, chapter 6:11; he placed an idol of Jupiter in the temple, verse 2; then likewise he subjected Eleazar (verse 18) and the seven brothers (chapter 7) to illustrious martyrdom, in the 9th year of his reign, which was the year 145 of the Greeks. Against him Mattathias raised himself and his men, book 1, chapter 2, and upon his death a few months later, Judas Maccabeus his son succeeded him and made war on Antiochus, chapter 3; the following year he defeated and slew Apollonius (verse 11) and Seron (verse 23). In the 11th year of his reign, which was the year 147 of the Greeks, Antiochus went into Persia to plunder Elymais, but was put to flight by the Persians, chapter 3:37. Gorgias also, his general, was repulsed by the Jews, chapter 4. In the 12th year, Lysias was likewise overthrown by the Jews, and the temple polluted by Antiochus through the idol was purified. Likewise verse 52, at the beginning of the 12th year, which was 149 of the Greeks, having returned from Persia he died of grief, chapter 6:16, having reigned 12 years.
9. Antiochus Epiphanes was succeeded by his nine-year-old son Antiochus Eupator, who together with his guardian Lysias was killed by Demetrius the son of Seleucus Philopator, 1 Maccabees 7:1, in the year 151 of the Greeks, which was the year 593 from the founding of Rome, in which year likewise L. Aemilius Paulus died, who [had defeated] Perseus king of Macedon and subjected Macedonia to the Romans. Eupator reigned 2 years.
10. Eupator was succeeded by force by Demetrius the son of Seleucus in the year 151 of the Greeks, until the year 160, when he was killed by Alexander Balas, another son of Antiochus Epiphanes and brother of Eupator. Therefore Demetrius reigned 10 years. This is clear from 1 Maccabees 1:7 and chapter 10:1 and 50. Moreover, Judas Maccabeus in the second year of Demetrius was killed by his general Bacchides, whom Jonathan his brother succeeded by public appointment, 1 Maccabees 9:13, 28 and 30.
11. Alexander Balas, son of Antiochus Epiphanes, began to reign in the year 160 of the Greeks, until the year 167, when he was killed by Ptolemy Philometor king of Egypt, his father-in-law, book 1 Maccabees chapter 10:1 and 67, and chapter 11:17. Therefore Balas reigned 6 years.
12. Demetrius, surnamed Nicanor, son of Demetrius the son of Seleucus, began to reign in the year 167 of the Greeks until 172, when he was defeated and captured by Arsaces the king of Persia, 1 Maccabees 11:19 and 14:1 and 3. He reigned 6 years.
13. Antiochus, son of Alexander Balas, promoted to the kingdom by his guardian Trypho, was killed by the same man after four years. He reigned from the year 168 of the Greeks until 172. Therefore his four years are not to be added in the chronology, because they are comprised within the years of Demetrius Nicanor, with whom he reigned, 1 Maccabees 11:39 and 54. So also Josephus, book 13, chapter 12.
14. Trypho, having killed the young Antiochus and likewise Jonathan the brother of Judas Maccabeus, seized the kingdom by treachery; but after three years he was killed by Antiochus Sidetes. 1 Maccabees 13:12, 23 and 32, and chapter 12 at the end. Therefore he reigned 3 years.
15. Antiochus Sidetes, surnamed Pius, brother of Demetrius Nicanor — his brother having been captured by Arsaces king of the Persians — seized the kingdom after killing the usurper Trypho, and entered into an alliance with Simon the brother of Jonathan, but broke it, 1 Maccabees 15:1 and 27. He was killed, as profane histories narrate, by his brother Demetrius returning from Persia, because he had claimed his wife Cleopatra along with the kingdom; but more truly by the priests of Nanea, 2 Maccabees 1:16. He reigned 7 years.
16. Demetrius Nicanor, brother of Sidetes, released by Arsaces after his brother Sidetes was killed, recovered the kingdom and held it again for 3 years.
17. Alexander Zebina, with the help of Ptolemy Physcon, killed Demetrius Nicanor and seized the kingdom. He reigned 2 years.
18. Antiochus Gryphus, so called from the size of his nose, says Justin books 38 and 39, son of Demetrius Nicanor and Cleopatra, having killed Zebina, with his mother's help seized the kingdom; but when that same mother afterward prepared poison for him, he compelled her to drink it herself under the appearance of courtesy and kindness, and so killed her. He reigned 12 years.
19. Antiochus Cyzicenus, son of Antiochus Sidetes and Cleopatra (for she had married two brothers: first Demetrius Nicanor, then after he was captured by the Persians, his brother Sidetes), having killed Antiochus Gryphus his half-brother, whom he had previously deprived of the kingdom, survived him by only one year; but in total, while Gryphus was still alive, he reigned 18 years.
20. Seleucus, son of Gryphus, together with his brother Antiochus, having killed their uncle Cyzicenus, obtained the kingdom: but defeated by Antiochus Eusebes, son of Cyzicenus, he was burned together with the royal palace. He reigned with his brother 7 years.
21. Antiochus Eusebes, that is "the Pious," son of Cyzicenus, having slain Gryphus seized the kingdom; but was soon despoiled of it by Philip and Demetrius, sons of Gryphus. Therefore Philip and Demetrius first reigned together, then after Demetrius was defeated, Philip alone ruled. All of them together reigned 6 years.
22. Tigranes, king of Armenia, while the brothers just mentioned were fighting among themselves over the kingdom, pretending he would help them against Eusebes, invaded the kingdom, until he was expelled from it by the Romans through Lucullus. He held it for 14 years.
23. Antiochus Asiaticus (because he was raised in Asia Minor), son of Eusebes — while Lucullus was fighting Tigranes and Mithridates — recovered his father's kingdom of Syria, and held it with Lucullus' permission for 4 years. But soon Pompey took it from him, and subjected it together with Judea to the Romans, in the consulship of Cicero and Antonius, in the year 691 from the founding of Rome.
The kingdom of the Greeks in Syria therefore, from the victory of King Seleucus by which, having defeated Antigonus king of Lesser Asia, Seleucus gained possession of the entire kingdom of Asia, lasted altogether 248 years. Before defeating Antigonus, Seleucus had reigned, though not a full 13 years. Alexander the Great, who was the first to transfer the monarchy from the Persians to the Greeks by defeating Darius — from which time many reckon the years of the Greek kingdom — lived 6 years after that very victory. The kingdom of the Greeks in Syria therefore, from the beginning of the monarchy of Alexander the Great until it was taken from them by Pompey and the Romans, lasted 267 years. During which, as I said, the descendants of the two brothers Seleucus and Antiochus Epiphanes continually contended over it, and successively all were one another's executioners. All that has been said is clear from Appian, Justin, Josephus, Eusebius, Orosius, and others.
Chronological Table of the Ptolemaic Kings of Egypt, Who After Alexander the Great Reigned in Egypt at the Same Time as the Seleucids in Syria.
1. Ptolemy Lagus, immediately after Alexander, seized Egypt, and from him all his descendants were named Ptolemies, as before they were called Pharaohs. He reigned 40 years.
2. Ptolemy Philadelphus, son of Ptolemy Lagus, after his death reigned 38 years. He freed the 120,000 Jews whom his father had carried captive into Egypt, and from Eleazar the High Priest he requested and obtained 72 Interpreters to translate the Bible from Hebrew into the Greek language.
3. Ptolemy Euergetes, brother of Philadelphus, defeated Seleucus Callinicus and his son Ceraunius in battle. He reigned 26 years.
4. Ptolemy surnamed Philopator, that is "lover of his father" by antiphrasis, because he had killed his father, mother, brother, sister, and wife, ensnared by the allurements of the harlot Agathoclea, reigned 17 years.
5. Ptolemy Epiphanes, son of Ptolemy Philopator, who married Cleopatra the daughter of Antiochus the Great and sister of Antiochus Epiphanes — from whom all subsequent queens of Egypt were called Cleopatras — reigned 23 years.
6. Ptolemy Philometor, the elder son of Ptolemy Epiphanes, reigned 35 years. During his reign, his uncle Antiochus Epiphanes entered Egypt, pretending to settle his dispute with his younger brother Ptolemy Physcon, but in truth with the intention of seizing the kingdom. Whence when Philometor implored the help of the Romans, Antiochus was ordered by them to leave Egypt; wherefore, gnashing his teeth, he vomited forth his rage against the neighboring Jews, as we shall see in book 2, chapter 4, and book 1, chapter 12. Again, in the 18th year of his reign, Philometor granted Onias, who was the son of Onias the holy High Priest, permission to build a temple at Heliopolis in Egypt, similar to the one in Jerusalem, which was called Onion after him, and stood for 233 years, finally destroyed together with the temple of Jerusalem by Titus and Vespasian. So Josephus, Eusebius, and others. Finally Philometor, treacherously trying to deprive Alexander his son-in-law of the kingdom of Asia, immediately died in the year 167 of the Greeks, 1 Maccabees 11:1 and 18.
7. Ptolemy Physcon, or Euergetes, brother of Philometor, after his brother reigned 29 years. By a remarkable prodigy he was brother, husband, and son-in-law of Cleopatra at the same time: for he married her daughter. Moreover, when Cleopatra, with her husband Physcon defeated, was reigning alone, Physcon had his own son (who was also hers) cut to pieces and placed in a box and served to the mother herself at a banquet on her birthday, as Justin attests, books 38 and 39.
8. Ptolemy Lathurus, son of Ptolemy Euergetes, by others surnamed Soter, reigned 16 years.
9. Ptolemy Alexander, brother of Lathurus, reigned with his mother, who had expelled Lathurus, for 10 years.
10. Ptolemy Lathurus, restored to the kingdom on account of his mother's cruelty, reigned again for another 8 years.
11. Ptolemy called Auletes, because he had practiced the art of flute-playing, son of Lathurus, says Salianus. He fathered Cleopatra, who was the last queen of Egypt. He reigned in total with his daughter Berenice for 30 years.
12. Ptolemy Dionysius, son of Auletes, who as a boy ruled Egypt through his sister Cleopatra for 5 years.
13. Cleopatra, having overthrown her brother Ptolemy Dionysius, reigned alone for 17 years. This is the famous concubine of Mark Antony the triumvir, who was defeated by Augustus Caesar in battle and died: Cleopatra, lest she fall into the hands of Augustus, killed herself with the bite of asps. Augustus soon subjected all Egypt to himself and the Romans, and then became sole monarch in the year 724 from the founding of Rome, which was the third year of the 187th Olympiad.
All these things Eusebius, Justin, St. Epiphanius, Bede, Salianus, Torniellus, and others report. These facts will shed great light on both books of Maccabees. For the Antiochid and Demetriid kings of Asia long contended with the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt over Judea, indeed over the empire: for Judea lay between them, and was therefore for both a bone of contention, as both sides struggled to claim it for themselves.
Chronological Table of the Maccabees, or Hasmoneans, Who Presided Over the People Not Only as High Priests but Also as Princes.
1. MATTATHIAS, rising against Antiochus Epiphanes in the ninth year of Epiphanes, which was the year 145 of the Greeks, held the Pontificate and the Principate of Israel for a few months, 1 Maccabees 2:1.
2. Judas Maccabeus, upon Mattathias' death, as if the firstborn son, succeeded his father in the Pontificate and Principate: he defended the fatherland and the true worship of God most bravely and successfully; he purified the temple by casting out the idol of Antiochus in the year 146 of the Greeks: finally killed while fighting most fiercely against Bacchides in the year 152 of the Greeks, 1 Maccabees 9:3 and 18. Therefore he ruled and defended Israel for 6 years.
3. Jonathan was appointed to succeed his brother Judas by the people, with the later approval of Alexander Balas son of Antiochus Epiphanes, 1 Maccabees 10:5 and 20. Finally he was killed by treachery by Trypho in the year 170 of the Greeks, 1 Maccabees 13:23 and 41, having presided for 19 years.
4. Simon was appointed to succeed his brother Jonathan in the Leadership and Pontificate, 1 Maccabees 13:8 and 25. He was killed by treachery by his son-in-law Ptolemy in the year 177 of the Greeks, 1 Maccabees, last chapter, last verse, having governed for 7 years.
5. John Hyrcanus, son of Simon, presided as Leader and High Priest for 31 years. He is mentioned in 1 Maccabees, last chapter, last verse, and with him ends the sacred history of the Maccabees, and all the history and Sacred Scripture of the Old Testament.
6. Aristobulus, son of John Hyrcanus. He was the first to assume the name and crown of king, following whose example his other descendants assumed the same. He killed his brother Antigonus, and in the same year, by God's vengeance, died vomiting blood. He reigned 1 year.
7. Jannaeus, the younger brother of Aristobulus, who, to please the Greeks, assumed a Greek name and was called Alexander. He left two sons, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, who contended with each other over the kingdom until Herod, and became his prey. He reigned 27 years.
8. Alexandra, wife of Jannaeus, upon his death seizing the kingdom, reigned 9 years.
9. Aristobulus the younger, son of Jannaeus, having excluded his elder brother Hyrcanus, seized the Pontificate and kingdom; but captured by Pompey, he was sent to Rome with his two sons Antigonus and Alexander, having reigned 3 years. Then Pompey took Jerusalem and subjected all Judea to the Romans and made it tributary, in the consulship of Cicero and Antonius.
10. Hyrcanus the elder, son of Jannaeus, is restored to the Pontificate by Pompey, and holds it, though tossed by various misfortunes, for 22 years.
11. Alexander, son of Aristobulus, having escaped from Rome, attempted to seize Judea; but after three years he was captured by Gabinius and beheaded by Pompey: his father Aristobulus also, with his other son Antigonus, fleeing from Rome, with the help of the Parthians seized Judea and the Pontificate for three and a half years. But Julius Caesar adjudicated the Pontificate to Hyrcanus, as Pompey had done before, and committed to Antipater the Idumean the guardianship of Judea and Hyrcanus, as a procurator: then Mark Antony appointed Herod and Phasael, sons of Antipater, as tetrarchs. Finally Antigonus, the last of the Maccabees, at Herod's request, was beheaded after 4 years.
With Antigonus the entire line of the Hasmoneans came to an end, as well as their kingdom and Pontificate, since they had held both for 126 years, as Josephus claims, or rather for 130 years, as Salianus and others claim. For so many years elapsed from the ninth year of Antiochus Epiphanes to the first year of Herod, in which he, having slain Antigonus, seized the kingdom with full right, and in him the scepter of Judah failed, and therefore Christ came according to the oracle of Jacob, Genesis 49:10. All these things are clear from Josephus, Eusebius, Salianus, Torniellus, Pererius, and others.
The Succession of High Priests from Alexander the Great to Christ.
1. Jaddo. He met Alexander the Great and reconciled him when he was hostile to the Jews, as Josephus attests, books 11 and 13, at the end. He presided, according to Eusebius, for 17 years. Jaddo's younger brother was Manasseh, who went to the temple, similar to that of Jerusalem, built by his father-in-law Sanballat on Mount Gerizim, and was its High Priest; about which there was a perpetual quarrel and contention between the Jews and the Samaritans up to Christ, as is clear from John chapter 4. See Josephus, book 11, chapter 7.
2. Onias I, son of Jaddo, to whom some assign 23 years.
3. Simon, son of Onias, surnamed the Just, whose praises Sirach 50:1 describes.
4. Eleazar, brother of Simon, who sent the 72 Interpreters to Ptolemy Philadelphus to translate the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek.
5. Manasseh, son of Onias I, brother of Simon, and uncle of Eleazar.
6. Onias II, son of Simon the Just, surnamed the Miser.
7. Simon II, son of Onias II.
8. Onias III, surnamed the Holy, son of Simon II, who by praying for Heliodorus when he was scourged by angels obtained his life, 2 Maccabees 3, and 1 Maccabees 12:7 and 8. The son of this Onias, himself also called Onias, built a temple under Ptolemy Philometor at Heliopolis in Egypt, which was called Onion after him.
9. Jesus, or Jason, brother of Onias the Holy, who, having excluded his brother, purchased the Pontificate from Antiochus Epiphanes, 2 Maccabees 4:7 and 5:5.
10. Menelaus Onias, brother of Simon the Benjaminite, purchasing the Pontificate from the same Epiphanes, overthrew Jason, just as Jason had overthrown Onias the Holy; but since he could not pay the money promised to Epiphanes, his brother Lysimachus was substituted in his place, 2 Maccabees 4:27. Soon, after Lysimachus was stoned, Menelaus again purchased the Pontificate with fresh money. Ibid., last verse. These therefore were usurpers and pseudo-Pontiffs.
11. Mattathias, father of Judas Maccabeus: about whom and his sons I have already spoken. Therefore I shall merely list them briefly, to complete the succession of High Priests.
12. Judas Maccabeus.
13. Jonathan, brother of Judas.
14. Simon, brother of Jonathan.
15. John Hyrcanus, son of Simon.
16. Aristobulus, son of Hyrcanus.
17. Jannaeus Alexander, brother of Aristobulus.
18. Aristobulus, younger son of Jannaeus.
19. Hyrcanus, elder son of Jannaeus.
20. Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, in whom the line of the Hasmoneans ended.
21. Ananelus, appointed High Priest by Herod.
22. Aristobulus.
23. Ananelus a second time.
24. Simon son of Phabet.
25. Simon son of Boethus, father-in-law of Herod, near the end of whose life Christ was born, the new High Priest of the New Testament according to the order of Melchizedek, Hebrews 7.
From the above, deduce that from the death of Alexander the Great to the years of the Greeks, that is, to the beginning of the kingdom of Seleucus in Asia, 12 years elapsed; from there to the Maccabees, 145 years; and finally from the Maccabees to the birth of Christ, 165 years. Therefore the death of Alexander preceded the birth of Christ by 322 years. See the Chronological table that I prefixed to the Pentateuch.
Order and Connection of the Books of Maccabees.
Moses in Genesis described the origin of the world and the Church of God; then its growth up to the kings of Israel, Saul and David, is narrated in the book of Joshua and Judges. Next in the book of Kings its progress is recounted, which it had under the kings, namely Saul, David, Solomon, etc., as well as what it suffered from the kings of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, whose was the first monarchy. Then in Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, and Esther are commemorated those things both prosperous and adverse that befell the same Church, namely Israel and the people of God, in the second monarchy, which was that of Cyrus and the kings of Persia. Now in these books of Maccabees are narrated the good and ill fortunes that befell the same in the third monarchy, which was that of Alexander the Great and the Greeks, namely from the Antiochid kings of Asia and Syria and the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt: for between the two, Judea always wavered in the middle, now friendly to one side, now hostile to the other.
Now, four books of Maccabees are found, and their historical and chronological order is as follows. In the first place by order of time and events must be placed the third book of Maccabees, because it records what befell Israel and the people of God under Ptolemy Philopator king of Egypt and Antiochus the Great king of Asia. In second place must be placed the one that is now placed second in the Bible, because it contains the deeds and wars of Judas Maccabeus with Antiochus Epiphanes, who was the son of Antiochus the Great. The third place belongs to the one that in the Bible is the first book of Maccabees, because to the acts of Judas it adds the deeds of Jonathan and Simon, the brothers and successors of Judas. The fourth place belongs to the fourth book, because it records the deeds of John Hyrcanus, who was the son of Simon the brother of Judas. But among these four, only the two middle ones are canonical; the other two, namely the first and last, are ambiguous, that is, of hidden and uncertain authority, yet not false or condemned; just as the third and fourth books of Ezra are likewise.
Again, the first book of Maccabees that exists in the Bible, as Canonical, differs greatly from the second and was written by a different author: for it has the flavor of Hebrew expression, while the second has a Greek flavor. Again, the first records its events by the years of the Greeks, counting them according to the Alexandrian reckoning; but the second according to the Chaldean reckoning, which differs from the Alexandrian by a full year and a half, as I shall show in its place. Finally, the second book narrates the acts of Judas in a different way than they are narrated in the first book, and never mentions the first book. Finally, the first adds to the acts of Judas the acts of Jonathan and Simon, which the second omits.