Глава IV

Victory of Judah over the army of Gorgias (cf. 2 Mac. 8:23–36; Jos. Antt. XII, 7, 4) (1 Mac. 4: 1–25). Victory over the Syrian military commander Lysias (cf. Jos. Antt. XII, 7, 5) (1 Mac. 4: 26–35). Cleansing and consecration of the church and restoration of legal worship. – Strengthening the church mount and Bethsura (cf. 2 Mac. 10: 1–9; Jos. Antt. XII, 7, 6) ( 1 Mac. 4: 36–61 ). 1Mak.4:1. And Gorgias took five thousand men and a thousand chosen horsemen, and the army marched by night, “And Gorgias took...” According to 2 Mac.8:9, Ptolemy, the military commander of Lower Syria and Phenicia, entrusted Nicanor with the main command over the troops sent to “exterminate the Jews,” and “attached to him Gorgias a military commander experienced in military affairs.” The testimony of verse 1 is quite consistent with this, that Gorgias with a selected army is trying to defeat Judas. 1Mac.4:2. to attack the army of the Jews and defeat them suddenly, and those living in the fortress served as his guides. “Those who lived in the fortress...” - οί υίοί τής άκρας, glor.: “sons of the land” - here we do not mean Syrians in general, but, most likely, apostates from the Jews themselves who knew the surrounding places well, who served the Syrians as spies. This gave Josephus reason to say directly in this place that these were - τινές των πεφευγότων ᾿Ιουδαίων - some of the fugitives or apostates of the Jews. 1Mac.4:3. And Judah heard, and he and the brave men went out to defeat the king's army in Emmaum, That is, until the enemy forces were scattered and separated from their main camp. Judas made excellent use of this mistake and the passion of Gorgias, luring him even further into the mountains with false retreats. 1Mac 4:4–6. while the enemy forces were still at a distance from the camp. And Gorgias came to the camp of Judah at night, and found no one, and looked for them in the mountains, for he said: they are fleeing from us. But as the day dawned, Judas appeared on the plain with three thousand men, but they had neither shields nor swords, as they desired. “With the dawn of the day...” – αμα τή ήμέρα, – glory. more precisely: “together with the day.” - “They had neither shields nor swords, as they wished,” that is, they wanted precisely to have, and not not to have and to go out unarmed - ούκ είχον καθώς ήβούλοντο. 1Mac.4:7. When they saw the strong and armed militia of the pagans and the cavalry surrounding them, trained for war, 1Mak.4:7-15: Some interpreters find it difficult to admit that such a small detachment of Judas, 3000 people, and even unarmed ones, could so defeat and put into panic a twice as strong detachment of enemies (5000 infantry and 1000 cavalry): this improbability weakens significantly when we accept as more reliable the date 2Mak.8:9,16, where the number of the Jewish army in this case is estimated not at 3000, but at 6000 people. Perhaps, however, this figure is not entirely accurate - due to the fact that somewhat later (see 1 Mac. 5) the army of Judah is already estimated at 8000 + 3000 people + remnants, which would all bring the size of this army to at least 12000–15000 people. True, this was after Judas had won such successful victories, which greatly raised the spirit of the people and made it possible to even cleanse and restore the church and the worship there; however, it is enough, even if we give in to doubters here - at least on the fact that the date 2 Mac. 8:16 about the 6,000 troops of Judah is more reliable than the 3,000 1 Mac. 4: 6. 1Mac 4:8–15. Judas said to the men who were with him: Do not be afraid of their multitude and do not be afraid of their attack. Remember how our fathers were saved in the Red Sea when Pharaoh pursued them with an army. And now let us cry to heaven; perhaps He will have mercy on us, remembering the covenant with our fathers, and will now crush this army before our face; and all the Gentiles will know that there is one who delivers and saves Israel. The foreigners, raising their eyes, saw that they were coming against them, and they left the camp to fight, and those who were with Judas sounded the trumpet, and came together, and the pagans were defeated, and fled to the plain, and all the rest fell by the sword; and they pursued them to Gezer and to the plains of Idumea, Azoth and Jamnia, and up to three thousand men of them fell. “All the rest fell by the sword...”, οί έσχατοι, more correctly glorified: “the last” - those who could not run and lagged behind. – “Gazer” – Γαζηρών, more correctly – Γαζήρων or Γαζάρων, as it gives birth. plural from Γάξηρα (Γαξαρα, 1 Mac.13:53; 1 Mac.15:28,35; Jos. Antt., I, 3), in Joseph and in Strabo XII, 759 also Γάδαρα (in Aramaic pronunciation) - on the southern border of the tribe of Ephraim. - “To the plains of Idumea...” - πεδίων τής Ί δουμαίας - some find here the correct interpretation of τής ᾿Ιουδαίας, based on the consideration that if the Edomites could then go into the southern part of Palestine ( 1 Mac.4:29; 1 Mac.5:65), then in any case it is unlikely that their possessions extended so much as to be between Gezer, Azoth and Jamnia. - "Azotus", or more precisely Azdod, the Philistine main city, present-day Esdud, in the forward direction about 4 geographers. miles southwest of Emmaum. – “Jamnia” – according to 2 Chronicles 26:6 – Iabne according to Josh. 15:11 - Iabneel, also a Philistine city, present-day Iebna - a large village on a small hill 4.5 hours south of Joppa, 3 hours. way north of Azdod and 1.5 hours from the sea. – The genitive cases of “Azotus and Jamnia” are dependent not on the previous “before”, but actually on the early genitive case of “plains” directly dependent on this “before”, and the idea in this case will be that the Jews pursued their enemies not to the cities of Azothus and Jamnia themselves, but “to the plains” on which these cities lay, i.e. to the plain of Zephelah, west of the Judean plain. Recognizing the more correct reading: “to the plains of Judea, Azoth and Jamnia” (cf. Slavic text), we get a completely possible idea of ​​the case that the enemy defeated at Emmaum was pursued by the Jews to Gezer, which was located at least 1/2 mile northeast of the battlefield, and further to the west and southwest in the plain of Judea and the cities of Azdod and Jamnia, traces, at least 5–6 hour ways. Bearing in mind that the battle began early in the morning (1 Mac. 4:6), it can be assumed without much difficulty that it, with the pursuit and subsequent plunder of the enemy camp (1 Mac. 4: 16-24), could well have ended in one day, the next day, according to 2 Mac. 8: 26 et seq., the Jews could no longer continue the persecution since it was the Sabbath. 1Mac 4:16–22. And Judah and his army returned from pursuing them and said to the people: Do not rush into the spoil, for war is still before us; Gorgias and his army are on the mountain near us; now stand against our enemies and fight with them, and then boldly take the spoils. While Judas was still saying this, a certain crowd appeared coming out from the mountain. And he saw that they had been put to flight and were burning the camp; for the rising smoke showed what had happened. When they saw this, they were very afraid; When they saw the army of Judah on the plain, ready for battle, they all fled to the land of the foreigners. “To the land of foreigners...” – γή αλλοφύλων, like 1 Mac.3:41, i.e. to the land of the Philistines. 1Mac.4:23. Then Judah turned to the booty of the camp, and they seized much gold and silver, hyacinth and scarlet robes, and great wealth. “Hyacinth and crimson robes...” - υάκινθος καί πορφύρα θαλασσία, - glory. more precisely: “Jacintha and the porphyry of the sea.” Yάκινθος – precious fabrics of bluish or purple color. Πορφύρα θαλάσσια – “sea” purple of bright red color from the best sea shells, trace. real purple, as opposed to the one imitated through artificial tinting. 1Mac.4:24. And, returning, they sang and blessed the Lord of heaven, because He is good and His mercy endures forever. “They sang... because He is good, and His mercy endures forever” - in the psalms Ps.118:1,29; Ps.135:1 etc. 1Mac 4:25–28. And on that day there was great salvation for Israel. The surviving foreigners came to Lysias and reported everything that had happened. Hearing, he became despondent and saddened because what he wanted had not happened to Israel, and what had happened was not what the king had commanded him. And the next year Lysias assembled sixty thousand chosen men and five thousand horsemen to defeat them. “Next year...” - i.e. in 164 BC. 1Mac.4:29. And they came to Idumea, and pitched at Bethsuri; and Judas met them with ten thousand men. “They came... to Idumea and settled down... in Bethsura...” instead of “Idumea” (Ιδουμαίαν), some read “to Judea” (Ιουδαίαν). – Bethsura – Βαιθσούρα (“ή” and “τα”) - the city of Bethsura, or Bethsura, often mentioned in the Old Testament, south of Jerusalem in the direction of Hebron - approximately where Beit-Sur is now near Halhul, in the mountains of Judah (Joshua 15:58). Later, Judah greatly fortified this city, in order to threaten Idumea from here (1 Mac. 4:61), the border of which was not far from here (1 Mac. 14:33) and through which - by a detour on the other side of the Jordan beyond the Dead Sea - its northern enemies could invade Judea (1 Mac. 6: 31). clarification of the matter to the discrepancy “to Judea” - instead of “to Idumea” - “In Bethsurax ...”, that is, not in the city itself, but in the region or district of Bethsura. 1Mak.4:30. Seeing a strong army, he prayed and said: Blessed are You, Savior of Israel, who crushed the attack of the mighty hand of Your servant David and delivered the army of foreigners into the hands of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and his armor-bearer. Calling on God's blessing to help in such an unequal struggle, Judah recalls the two most striking manifestations of this heavenly help in unequal conditions - the victory of David over Goliath (1 Samuel 17) and Jonathan over the entire army of the Philistines (1 Samuel 14:1-15). - “Attack of the strong one...”, i.e. Goliath, who is also called in 1 Samuel 17:4 - the man of strength. 1Mac 4:31–36. Deliver this army into the hands of Your people Israel, and let them be put to shame in their strength and cavalry; bring fear upon them and crush the insolence of their strength; let them be shocked by their defeat; overthrow them with the sword of those who love You, and let all who know Your name glorify You in song. And they fought, and up to five thousand men from the army of Lysias fell and fell before them. Lysias, seeing the flight of his army and the courage of the soldiers of Judah, and that they were ready to either live or die bravely, went to Antioch, recruited foreigners and, having increased the former army, thought to go to Judea again. Judas and his brothers said: Behold, our enemies are crushed, let us go up to cleanse and renew the sanctuary. “To cleanse and renew the sanctuary...” - the first - καθαρίσαι - consisted in removing everything pagan and defiled by pagan use (1 Mac. 4:43-46), the second - έγκαινίσαι - replacing everything new and sanctified for liturgical use with a special sacrifice and prayer of consecration ( 1Mak.4:47-55). 1Mac.4:37. And all the host gathered together and went up to Mount Zion. “They went up to Mount Zion...” - that is, to the mountain of the church, see 1 Mac.1:33. 1Mac.4:38. And they saw that the sanctuary was devastated, the altar was desecrated, the gates were burned, and in the vestibules, as in a forest or on some mountain, plants grew overgrown, and the storehouses were destroyed. Description of the devastation of the temple; “the altar is defiled” - through the construction of a pagan altar on it, 1 Mac.1:54; “The gates were burned…” - this was, in part, during the attack on the city by the chief tax officer, 1 Mac. 1:31, cf. 2 Mac.1:8, and according to 2 Mac.8:33 - actually during another attack by a certain Callisthenes; “the storehouses have been destroyed” - these storehouses were intended partly for storing church supplies, and partly to serve as meeting places for ministers and visitors to the church. 1Mac 4:39–41. And they tore their clothes, wept bitterly, and poured ashes on their heads, and fell face down on the ground, and blew the messenger trumpets, and cried out to heaven. Then Judas sent men to fight against those who were in the fortress until he cleansed the sanctuary. While this cleansing of the church was taking place, a special detachment besieged the Syrians holed up in the fortress so that they could not interfere with the cleansing. 1Mac 4:42–46. And he chose blameless priests, zealots of the law. They cleansed the sanctuary and took the desecrated stones to an unclean place. Then they discussed the desecration of the altar of burnt offering and what to do with it. And a good idea came to them to destroy it, so that it would not one day serve as a reproach to them, since the pagans had desecrated it; and they tore down the altar, and piled the stones on the mount of the temple in a suitable place, until the prophet came and gave an answer about them. “Until the prophet comes...” - here, of course, not the Messiah, but in general any of the prophets sent by God, who, as such, could tell them the will of God regarding the use of the stones of the altar. This remark shows, like 1 Mac.14:41, that there were no prophets then, and indeed there were none for quite a long time, 1 Mac.9:27 - from the death of Malachi, with which, according to the testimony of the Jewish synagogue, prophecy in Israel went out. 1Mac.4:47. They took the whole stones, according to the law, and built a new altar as before; “The stones are whole, according to the law...”, that is, unhewn, according to Ex. 20:25; Deut.27:6. 1Mac.4:48. then they built the shrines and interior parts of the church and consecrated the vestibules; “They arranged the shrines and the internal parts of the church...”, that is, they repaired and corrected all their damage and shortcomings. 1Mac 4:49–52. they arranged new sacred utensils and brought into the church the candlestick and the altar of burnt offerings and incense and a meal; and they burned incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the candlestick, and illuminated the church; and they laid out the loaves of bread for the table, and hung up the hangings, and finished all the work that they had undertaken. On the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month - this is the month of Haslev - one hundred and forty-eighth year they got up very early 25th day of the month of Haslev, 148 - 165 BC (cf. 1 Mac. 1:54). 1Mac.4:53. and they sacrificed according to the law on the newly built altar of burnt offerings. “They offered the sacrifice according to the law,” that is, the morning sacrifice prescribed in the law (Exod. 29:38–42; Num. 28:3–7). This sacrifice, like all those established for new moons and holidays, was usually combined with the sacrifice for sin (Num. 28:15,22,30, etc.). Since in the Mosaic Law there is no special sacrifice for the cleansing and consecration of the altar, the latter was accomplished along with the cleansing of the priests, through the sprinkling of sacrificial blood according to Lev.8:15. 1Mac.4:54. At that time, on the very day on which the pagans desecrated the altar, it was renewed with songs, with harps, harps and cymbals. “With songs, with harps, harps and cymbals,” cf. 1 Chronicles 16:42. – The renewal and cleansing of the church and altar took place “on that very day” on which the desecration once took place, i.e. 25 Haslev. This coincidence is also noted - 2 Mac.10:5 and Jos. Fl. in Antt. XII, 7, 6. – The period of time from defilement to cleansing is calculated at 3 years (cf. 1 Mac.1:54; 1 Mac.4:52); the two-year time indicated for this in 2 Mac. 10:3 must be recognized as incorrect. 1Mac 4:55–56. And all the people fell on their faces, and prayed and sent thanksgiving to the heavens to Him who had prospered them. Thus they renewed the altar for eight days with joy, offering burnt offerings and offering a sacrifice of salvation and praise. “The sacrifice of salvation and praise” - θυσίαν σωτηρίου καί αίνέσεως - that is, the sacrifice of salvation, or - what is the same - praise. The double genitive case does not mean here two special types of thanksgiving sacrifice (actually ουσία σωτηρίου is the Greek translation of Hebrew...) - and this latter was divided into 3 types: the sacrifice of praise, the sacrifice of vow and the voluntary sacrifice of zeal (Lev. 7:12,16), and the sacrifice of praise was precisely θυσία αίνέσεως σωτηρίου – “peaceful offering of gratitude” (Lev.7:13,15) – or simply – θυσία αίνέσεως – offering of gratitude (Lev.7:12). – The singular “θυσιαν” (“sacrifice of salvation and praise”) next to the plural ολοκαυτώματα (“burnt offering”) means not only one single sacrifice of this kind, but is used in a general sense: these were primarily family sacrifices, which together constituted the festive meal of the participants in the sacrifice, so the number of victims of this kind was determined by the number of those who wanted to make it. 1Mac 4:57–59. And they decorated the front side of the church with golden crowns and shields, and renewed the gates and storehouses, and made doors for them. And there was very great joy among the people, and the reproach of the pagans was turned away. And Judah and his brethren and all the congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the renewal of the altar should be celebrated with joy and gladness in due season, every year for eight days, from the twentieth day of the month of Haslev. The holiday established by Judas received the name - καθαρισμός του ίερού - the holiday of cleansing, renewal of the church (2 Mac. 1:18), in short - τά έγκαίνια, John 10:22, among the Jews - ... until now. In Josephus we find the name of this holiday φωτά, i.e. “feast of radiance or light,” which name, according to Josephus, was given to this holiday in accordance with the “blessed rays of freedom” with which the Jews, beyond all hope, were illuminated from that time. Among other explanations for this name, it should be noted that it is based on 2 Mac. 1:18 ff and 2 Mac. 10: 3 - produced from the newly kindled miraculously sacrificial fire, others explain this name of the holiday simply from the custom of the Jews to mark it with an abundance of light or illuminations. - The duration of the holiday - 8 days - was approved on the basis of the regulations of ancient times for such cases (Lev.8:33; 1 Kings 8:65-66; 2Chron.7:9) - with the addition of an 8th day - in imitation of the Feast of Tabernacles, in which the 8th day was an after-feast or the conclusion of the cycle of holidays of the 7th month. The imitation of the Feast of Tabernacles is definitely indicated by 2 Mac. 10:6 etc., and the holiday itself is even called here - ' ημέραιη τής σκηνοπηγίας τού Χασελεύ μηνός - “days of Tabernacles of the month Chaslev”, 2 Mac. 1:9, in contrast to the Feast of Tabernacles in the month of Tisri. We have a completely similar custom to this, which is practiced here - so far, unfortunately, only in some churches, during the celebration of the holiday - the renewal of the Christian Jerusalem Temple, September 13th. This holiday, established in 335 after the consecration of the church created by Tsar Constantine and his mother Helen at the site of the Savior’s suffering, is known among the people under the name “Speaking Sunday”, and in the churches dedicated to his memory in Moscow - it seems, according to the establishment of Metropolitan. Philaret, in imitation of the Jerusalem Temple (probably having adopted this custom of imitation or repetition of its greatest holiday on this day - from the Maccabean institution) - is celebrated according to the rite of the 1st day of Holy Easter. – In the place indicated 2Mac.10:6, etc. it is noted that the Jews “spent eight days in joy in the likeness of the Feast of Tabernacles, remembering how not long before that time they spent the Feast of Tabernacles, like beasts, in the mountains and caves...” This remark seems to be given to explain why the Jews celebrated the renovation of the church in the likeness of the Feast of Tabernacles: because at one time they could not celebrate this holiday properly. But it is even more likely that the Feast of Tabernacles is chosen here because it commemorates the original establishment of the covenant with God and the dedication of the people to the people of Jehovah; It was natural now to celebrate this particular holiday, as a sign of the renewal of this covenant with God and the return of the people to their former mercy and favor of God. 1Mak.4:60. At the same time, they built Mount Zion around with high walls and strong towers, so that the pagans, when they would someday come, would not trample them down, as they had done before. “They built Mount Zion...”, that is, the mount of the church, see 1 Mac.1:33. 1Mac.4:61. And Judah stationed an army there to guard the mountain, and they fortified Bethsura to guard it, so that the people would have a fortress against Idumea. “They strengthened Bethsura to guard it,” see 1 Mac. 4:29 v. - Bethsura - both in its natural position and in its fortifications - was supposed to serve as a stronghold for the church mountain, not only from Idumea, but also from Syria, which, in a roundabout way through Idumea and Bethsura, could always threaten Jerusalem and the church, see 1 Mac. 4:29 v. The books of Maccabees are translated from Greek because they are not in the Hebrew text.