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Bitterness towards the Jews on the part of the surrounding nations (1Mac.5:1-2). Victorious campaign against the Edomites, Beanites and Ammonites (1 Mac. 5:3–8). The troubles of the Jews of Gilead and Galilee from the Gentiles (1 Mac. 5:9-15). Equipping them with help (1 Mac. 5:16–20). Simon's victories in Galilee (1 Mac. 5:21–23). The campaign of Judah with Jonathan in Gilead (1Mak.5:24-36). Battle with Timothy at Ratho (1 Mac. 5:37–45). Return to Judea (1 Mac. 5:46–54). The unfortunate approach of Joseph and Azariah against Jamnia (1 Mac. 5:55–64). The victorious campaign of the Maccabees against the Edomites near Hebron and against the Philistines (1 Mac. 5:65–68). 1Mac.5:1–2. When the surrounding peoples heard that the altar had been built and the sanctuary restored, as before, they were greatly indignant; and they decided to destroy the family of Jacob, who lived among them, and began to kill and exterminate the people of this nation. “The surrounding nations...” - this, according to the context of the speech (cf. 1 Mac. 5:3), was precisely the Edomites, the sons of Bean, and the Ammonites, who had long harbored an irreconcilable anger against the “family of Jacob” (theocratic designation for the Jews). – “He who lived among them...”, τούς όντας έν μέσω αύτών, as an appendix to the previous “family of Jacob.” 1Mac.5:3. Then Judah took up arms against the sons of Esau in Idumea, in Akrabim, since they were besieging Israel, and he struck them with a great defeat, and humbled them, and took their spoils. “The sons of Esau...” is an ancient designation for the Edomites, cf. Gen.36:10. – “In Akravim” – την A κραβαττίνην – an appendix to the previous τους υιούς Ή σ. εν t. Ιδ . – “Acravattina” is not a toparchy of the same name in the center of Palestine east of Neapolis (Shechem) and south along the Jordan (Ios. Bell. Jud. III, 12, 4, 20; 4, 22, 2; III, 3, 4 and Euseb. Onom. - A κραββείν), in whose name there is still one site land is called Akrabi or Akrabeh, - but the strip of land in Idumea, so named probably from Heb. ... – “the heights of the scorpions”, on the south-eastern border of Palestine (Num.34:4; Joshua 15:3). - “Since they kept Israel under siege...” - περιεκάθηντο τ . ' Ισρ., more precisely - “surrounded on all sides” - not in the sense that they were besieged militarily, but - located along the border of Israel and, like today's Bedouins, constantly raided the Israeli regions, threatening their peaceful well-being. 1Mac.5:4. He also remembered the malice of the sons of Bean, who were a snare and a stumbling block for the people, building ambushes for them on the roads. “Sons of Bean...” - these υίοί Βαιάν are taken to be the inhabitants of the town of Bajjan, southeast of Hebron. 1Mak.5:5–6. Although they locked themselves in the towers from him, he took up arms against them, put them under spell and burned their towers with fire along with everyone who was in them. Then he went over to the sons of Ammon and met a strong army and a large people and Timothy, their leader. “Sons of Ammon” - the Ammonites who lived northeast of the Dead Sea between Arnon and Jabbok, with their main city being Rabbath Amman on upper Jabbok (Deut. 3:11). - “I met a strong army...” - χέίρα κραταιάν, more precisely the glory: “a strong hand,” and from here - a strong force, a strong army (cf. 1 Mac.11:15). - Timothy, the leader of this army, was hardly an Ammonite, with a changed Greek name, but - most likely - a Syrian commander, and precisely the same one who is mentioned further, in 1 Mac.5:11, as the leader of the Gilead pagans, defeated by Judas, 1 Mac.5:24 etc., and, perhaps, also the same person as mentioned in 2 Mac.12:2 et c. στρατηγός of the same name. 1Mac.5:7–8. He had many battles with them, and they were defeated before him; he struck them down; took Jazer and its villages and returned to Judah. "Jazer", - ' Ιαξήρ - originally a Moabite, but by the time of Moses an Amorite city, given to the tribe of Gad, 10 miles west of Philadelphia (Rabbat-Amman) and 15 north of Hesbon, probably where the ruins of es Szir are now (Num. 21:32); during the time of the kings, this city is again seen in the power of the Moabites (Is. 16:8; Jer. 48:32); Finally, we see it, according to this verse, in the hands of the Ammonites, who then expanded their possessions far to the west. - “And his villages...” - literal translation: “and his daughters”, glorified: “And his daughters”, i.e. small cities and towns dependent on Jazer, also mentioned in Numbers 21:32, although here Heb. ... translated by LXX-ti: καί τάς κώμος αυτής (“and its villages”). 1Mak.5:9. Then the Gentiles who dwelt in Gilead gathered together against the Israelites who were within their borders, to destroy them; but they fled to the fortress of Dathema. Γαλαάδ, in code. Al. Γαλααδίτις - a mountainous region south and north of Jabbok (Deut. 3:10), - south to the elevated plain of Amorite, which stretches from Hesbon to Arnon, this part of Gilead was given by Moses to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The northern part went to the region of Bashan and was given to the Manasseh family of Machir. In a broader sense, Gilead was the name given to the entire area occupied by the Israelites on the eastern side of the Jordan (Deut. 3:10; Deut. 34:1; Josh. 22:9, etc.). - Here Gilead is used in this broad sense, as can be seen from the list of cities in 1 Mac. 5:26. – Fortress of Dathema, Δάθαιμα, – nothing more is known about it. One of the learned researchers (Hitzig) explains this name from the Arabic Dhatu-ma, i.e. “having water” and makes a guess that Nagaliel (i.e. the source of God) is meant here, Numbers 21:19. 1Mac.5:10–11. And they sent letters to Judas and his brothers and said: The pagans around us have gathered against us to destroy us, and are preparing to go and attack the fortress to which we fled, and Timothy is leading their army. “Timothy leads their army...” This Timothy is probably the same one who “led” the Ammonites (1Mac.5:6). Defeated by Judah and waiting for the time when he returned to Judea, Timothy tried to transfer the fight with the Israelites to Gilead. 1Mac 5:12–13. Come therefore and deliver us from their hand, for many of us are lost; and all our brothers who were within the borders of Tob were put to death, and their wives and children and property were taken captive, and about a thousand men were killed there. “Our brothers who were within the borders of Tob...” - έν τοίς Τουβίν or Τουβίον these are the Jews of the region of Tob, between the Ammonites and Syrians, Judges 11:3; 2 Samuel 10:6 ; λεγόμενοι Τουβίηνοι Ιουδαίοι – 2 Mac XII: 17 . - “About a thousand men...” - μίαν χιλιαρχιαν, one chiliarchy, χιλιαρχία - a detachment of 1000 people, under the command of one χιλιαρχος - a thousand commander (Numbers 31:48). 1Mac 5:14–15. While these letters were being read, other messengers came from Galilee in torn clothes with the following message: they gathered against us from Ptolemais and from Tire and Sidon, and from all pagan Galilee, to destroy us. Ptolemais is the port city of Acre (Judges 1:31), near the bay of the same name, above Cape Carmel - Γαλιλαία αλλοφύλων Γαλ. τώνέθνών, Is.9:1; Matthew 4:15 – Pagan Galilee, whose population from ancient times was mixed - first from Jews and pagans, later from Syrians and Arabs. 1Mac.5:16. When Judas and the people heard these words, a great assembly gathered to deliberate, what should be done for these brothers who are in distress and threatened with war from those pagans? “The Great Assembly...” - έκλησία μεγάλη - here there is no need to mean the Sanhedrin, or any special assembly like the “constituent”; it was simply a gathering of people frightened by unpleasant news to Judas - to jointly discuss and approve the plan that was to be applied to save the distressed Galilean brothers. 1Mac 5:17–18. Then Judas said to Simon his brother: Choose husbands for yourself and go and defend your brothers who are in Galilee; and I and Jonathan my brother, let us go to Gilead. And he left Joseph the son of Zechariah and Azariah as commanders over the people, with the remainder of the army in Judah as guard. There is no more detailed information available about Joseph, the son of Zechariah, and Azariah. How large was the “remnant of the army” given to them to guard Judea can be partly judged by the losses (up to 2000 people) they suffered in the unfortunate sortie from Jerusalem, contrary to the prohibition of Judah (1 Mac. 5:60). 1Mac 5:19–23. And he gave them a command, saying: Rule this people, but do not start wars against the pagans until we return. Three thousand men were assigned to Simon to go to Galilee, and eight thousand men to Judas to go to Gilead. And Simon went to Galilee and fought many battles with the pagans, and the pagans were defeated by him. He pursued them to the gates of Ptolemais, and up to three thousand men of the pagans fell, and he took their spoils. He also took with him those who were in Galilee and Arvattah (the Jews), with their wives and children and with all their property, and brought them to Judea with great joy. “He took with him those who were in Galilee...” - here we probably need to mean not all the Jews of Galilee, but only some, out of fear of new attacks from the pagans, who expressed a desire to move to Judea. Ἐν ᾿Αρβάττοις – in Arvatty – the area of ​​this name is unknown. A more likely opinion is that this A ρβάττα - Harbattot - “mountains of abysses” - an area extending 60 stadia from Caesarea to Samaria, where, according to Josephus Fl. (de bell. Jud. II, 14, 5 and 18, 10) - the toparchy of Νάρβαθα was located. 1Mac.5:24. And Judas Maccabee and Jonathan his brother crossed the Jordan and made a three-day journey in the desert. “A three-day journey in the desert...” – the length of a day’s journey in ancient times was determined very differently. Herodotus estimates it at 150–200 stadia, Procopius. – up to 210, Vegetius – up to 160; Currently, a day's journey in the east is determined - by an average of 7 hours of travel - in 4 geogr. miles. 1Mac.5:25. Naboth met them and received them peacefully, and told them everything that had happened to their brothers in Gilead, “Naboth” - descendants of Ishmael, Gen. 25:13 - named after the firstborn of Ishmael - a peaceful, shepherd tribe of the Trans-Jordan desert. 1Mac.5:26. and that many of them are shut up in Basar and Bozor, in Alemah, Hasphora, Makeda and Karnain - all these cities are fortified and great - “Locked in Vasar...”, etc. The meaning of this “locked” (συνειλημμένοι ε i σ iv) is not entirely clear. Συλλαμβάνω – means own. “to attack, seize, take prisoner.” The named cities were strong enemy fortresses, which were taken by Judah from battle, and their inhabitants were mercilessly exterminated (1 Mac. 5:28-36). From this we must conclude that the above words (“locked ...”, etc.) do not mean that the Jews in these cities withstood a real military siege, but that they were either kept there temporarily as captives, or if they occupied a special significant part of the city, they fortified themselves in it and sat awaiting revenue. This, however, still does not completely clarify the matter. The further message of the Naboth (1 Mac. 5:27) that the pagans decided to “take” these fortifications and “destroy all” who were sitting in them, suggests that these fortifications were either in the power of the Jews, or that their pagan citizens were in communication with the Jews, so that the enemies had to first conquer these fortresses in order to then destroy the Jews. However, the testimony of 1 Mac.5:28 and 1 Mac.5:35 does not seem to agree with any of these assumptions, that Judah, having taken the cities of Bozrah and Maspah, killed all the males in them, took their spoils and then burned them with fire. This course of action suggests that these cities were inhabited or occupied by pagans who showed vicious hostility towards the Jews. The enemies who were going to attack these fortresses and take them were, according to 1 Mac. 5:34, the troops of Timothy; probably a Syrian commander. We must therefore imagine the state of affairs as follows: in the land of Gilead and its cities, the faithful Jews formed a significant part of the population, which - during the implementation of the command that followed from Antiochus aimed at the extermination of Judaism - was forced to rally and gather in fortified cities. In some of these cities the population was friendly towards them, in others - hostile. Where the first was, the entire city resisted the Syrian commander, so that he was forced to conquer similar cities; in other cities, on the contrary, the pagan community opposed the Jews, and these latter were forced to defend and strengthen themselves until the city was occupied either by the troops of Timothy, and the Jews were exterminated, or by the troops of Judah, and the Jews were saved, and the cities with their pagan population suffered the most severe, merciless punishment. - From among these Gilead cities are named: Basara - Βοσσορα, otherwise - Βόσορρα - there is the Moabite city of Bosra mentioned in Jer.48:24, the identity of which with Bostra, metropolis Arabiae of the Romans, according to the latest research, can hardly be doubted. – Bozor – Βοσόρ – “in the wilderness”, i.e. in the Moabite hills lay a Levitical and free city (one of the “cities of refuge”) – Beser, Deut.4:43; Joshua 20:8,21:36, – the exact position of which is not determined. – Alema – 'Αλέμοις (Αλάμοις) – there is no more precise information about him. – Khasphorus – Χασφώρ, in 1 Mac.5:36 – Khasphon – Χασφών – perhaps one and the same with Κάσπιν, 2 Mac.12:13, on the Trans-Jordanian route to Egypt. - Maked - Μακέδ, - according to some - Maqadd, which geographers take for Batanaa near Adharaat. – Karnain – Καρναίν – one and the same with Hebrew. ... – Gen. 14:5 – the residence of Og, king of Bashan (Deut. 1:4 etc.). 1Mac 5:27–28. and the other cities of Gilead are under siege, and that tomorrow it is appointed to attack these fortifications and take them and destroy them all in one day. Therefore, Judah with his army suddenly directed his way into the desert to Bozrah and took this city, and killed all the male sex with the edge of the sword, and took all their spoils, and burned it with fire; “He directed the way to Bosrah...” It is not easy to establish which city Judah actually directed his path to, especially due to the discrepancies in the names of the cities. In some codes we find here είς Βοσορ, in others εις Βόσορραν (Bosra 24th verse, 1 Mac. 5:24). This last date seems to indicate that Bozhar was conquered later (1 Mac. 5:36). From a comparison of both indications (1 Mac.5:24 and 1 Mac.5:36), in fact, one can only establish that one of the cities indicated here means Βοσόρ (Bosra), but in which verse exactly – 24 or 36? – in case of discrepancies, it is not visible with accuracy. The addition that this “Bosor” was “in the wilderness” (εις τήν ᾿ερημον) seems to speak for Bosor – (Deut. 4:43). – “By the edge of the sword...” – έν στόματι ρομφαίας, – glory: “the mouth of the sword” is an expression often found in the Old Testament, in the sense of “mercilessly.” 1Mac 5:29–30. and from there he set off at night and walked to the fortification. When morning came, they raised their eyes, and behold, a numerous people, countless in number, were raising ladders and vehicles to take the fortification, and besieging those who were in it. “He went as far as the stronghold...”, i.e., according to 1 Mac.5:9 – to Dathema. Judas walked this path at night, before morning, as can be seen from 1 Mac. 5:30 - from which we can conclude that Dathema was not far from Bozora - (Beser). - “They besiege those who were in it” - επολέμουν, glory. more precisely: “and rathovah them.” 1Mac.5:31. Judas saw that the battle had begun and the cry of the city ascended to heaven with trumpets and a loud cry, “The cry of the city went up to heaven with trumpets and a loud cry” - about the meaning of the sound of a trumpet when calling to heaven for help, see 1 Mac. 3:54. 1Mac 5:32–35. and he said to the soldiers, “Fight now for your brothers.” He went around the enemies from the rear with three detachments, and they blew trumpets and shouted with prayer; and Timothy's army knew that it was Maccabee, and they fled before him, and he struck them with a great defeat, and up to eight thousand of them fell that day. Then he turned to Maspa and besieged it and took it, killed all the males in it, took its spoils and burned it with fire; Masfa corresponds to Hebrew. “Mitzpah”, but this is not the Mispe of Moab (1 Samuel 22:3), since this one must be looked for, if not in Moab itself, then still very close to it, and, therefore, placed much further to the south in order to be mistaken for our “Maspah”. It is only certain that the cities of Hasphorus and Maked were significantly to the north, to the west or southwest of Bostra (Βοσόρ, 1 Mac. 5:36). 1Mac.5:36–37. departing from there, he took Hasphon, Makked, Bozor and other cities of Gilead. After these events, Timothy gathered another army and encamped in front of Ratho on the other side of the stream. “After these events...” - μετα τα ρήματα ταύτα - glory. more precisely: “according to all these words.” – “Word” – ρήμα – here in the sense of “thing, deed, event”; hence also μετά – τούς λόγους τούτους – 1 Mac.7:33,9:37. – “Before Ratho...” – Ratho – from Joseph Fl. Antt. XII, 8, 4 - called a city (πόλις) - is accepted by all researchers as Rapharia and is included in the Decapolis (Dekapolis). – “On the other side of the stream...” – έκ πέραν τού χειμάρρου, cf. Gen. 32:22–23, where Jabbok is also called ... - in LXX ό χείμαρρος, torrens, “swift, fast,” which happens especially when snow melts, or after heavy rains. Here it was probably the Mandhur (Hieromax) stream. 1Mac.5:38–39. And Judah sent to inspect the army, and they announced to him and said: All the pagans surrounding us have gathered to them - a very numerous force, and they hired the Arabians to help them and camped behind the stream, being ready to go to war against you. And Judas went to meet them. 1Mac.5:40–41. Then Timothy said to his commanders, when Judah and his army were approaching the stream of water: if he comes to us first, then we will not be able to stand against him, for he will prevail against us. If he is afraid and camps on the other side of the stream, then we will go over to him and overcome him. “If he (Judas) comes over to us first, then... he will prevail over us. If he is afraid... then we will overcome him” - This was not an empty omen, and not a frivolous surrender of one’s fate to the mercy of chance or fate. Timothy, on the one hand, knew from experience the courage of Judas and his greater skill in conducting attacks; but, on the other hand, he was also aware of the quantitative superiority of his army. Therefore, it was natural to despair of victory if Judas, with his usual courage, went to attack the enemy, crossing the stream, and one could hope for success if he doubted his strength and, remaining behind the stream, made it possible to move numerically superior forces against him. 1Mac.5:42. As soon as Judas approached the stream of water, he placed the people's scribes by the stream and ordered them, saying: Do not leave a single person in the camp, but let everyone go to battle. People's scribes - γραμματείς - are special officials whose duties were to recruit soldiers for the war and maintain their lists. Already in the time of Moses, there were special “book-reading” overseers for this work: Deut. 20:5,8, etc.; Joshua 1:10,3:2. In the later time of the Kings, to ... for this purpose another ... was added, 2 Chronicles 26:11. For the comparatively small army of the Maccabees, such a doubling of officials was not required, for this purpose they were sufficient ... and this word (not ...), according to the requirement of the language, LXX in the above places is translated through γραμματείς. From Joshua 1:10 and Joshua 3:2 we see that Schoterim not only were in charge of recruiting and dismantling troops, but could also receive and transmit orders from the leader of the troops to their individual units during the war. We see exactly this in this 42nd verse - “Do not leave a single person...” - literally: “Do not leave any person to remain in the field...”, Greek: μή ... πάντα, Hebraism, vm. μηδένα. 1Mac.5:43–46. And the first one crossed over to them and all the people followed him. And all the pagans were crushed before him, and they threw down their weapons and fled to the temple that was in Karnain. Then they took this city and burned the church with fire with all those in it; and Karnain was defeated and could no longer resist Judas. And Judah gathered together all the Israelites that were in Gilead, from the least of them to the greatest, and their wives and their children and their goods, a very large army, to go into the land of Judah. And they reached Ephron. It was a large city, very fortified, on the way; it was impossible to evade him either to the right or to the left; it was necessary to walk through it, “Ephron” - which here should be distinguished from Ephron in the inheritance of Benjamin (2 Chronicles 13:19) - lay in Perea, in the direction from Astarot to Scythopolis, in a narrow gorge, strongly fortified especially at the entrance to it - τής είσόδου οχυρά σφόδρα, slav. more precisely: “at the entrance it is hard”, Russian. the translation is less satisfactory: “very fortified, on the way.” – The exact location of the city is unknown. 1Mac.5:47–48. and the inhabitants locked themselves in and blocked the gates with stones. Judas sent to them with a peace proposal: we will walk through your land so that we can go to our land, and no one will offend you, we will only walk with our feet. But they did not want to open the door for him. Ephron's refusal to give passage to Judas was explained not only by the intensified hostility of the pagans towards the Jews, but also by his special commitment to Lysias, who at times had his stay in him (2 Mac. 12:27). 1Mac 5:49–52. Then Judas ordered the army to be announced, so that everyone would take up arms in his own place; and the soldiers took up arms and besieged the city all that day and all night, and the city surrendered into his hands. And he slew all the males with the edge of the sword, and destroyed the city to the ground, and took its spoils, and passed through the city over the slain. And they crossed the Jordan to the great plain opposite Bethsan. Bethsan - Βαιβσάν - on one of the extensions of the Jordan Valley, at its connection with the plain of Jezreel or Ezrelon, two hours from Jordan, the current Beisan (Joshua 17:11) - among the Greeks Σκυθόπολις (Jud.1:10, Jos. Fl. Antt. XII, 3, 5; XIII, 1, 6), or Σκυθών πόλις (2 Mac. 12:29; Judges 1:27). 1Mac.5:53. And Judah gathered the stragglers and encouraged the people throughout the whole journey, until they came to the land of Judah. Judah's return journey to Jerusalem probably went from Bethsan along the military road to Shechem, therefore through regions hostile to the Jews, where stragglers could easily fall into the hands of enemies and one could even fear attacks by enemy troops; Especially the unarmed families migrating to Judea from Gilead were afraid of this danger, and they were primarily to be the subject of Judah’s encouragement and care. 1Mac.5:54. And they went up to Mount Zion with gladness and joy and offered burnt offerings, because none of them fell until they returned to peace. “None of them fell until they returned to peace.” From what point, in fact, before returning to the world to consider this “no one fell”, the writer does not indicate, and this gave reason, on the one hand, to assert that ᾿Ιουδαίων άπέθανεν - “not a single one of the Jews fell during the entire campaign, during all the battles,” i.e., thus recognizing the striking miracle of God (Joseph Josephus). Others, without resorting to such an extreme possibility, believe that we are talking here, in fact, only about the circumstances of 1 Mac.5:53 (the return procession from Bethsan), and that “no one fell” should be limited exclusively to this part of the entire journey (at least from the events of 1 Mac.5:45). – What is more correct here is left to everyone to judge. 1Mac.5:55–64. In those days, when Judah and Jonathan were in Gilead, and Simon his brother was in Galilee before Ptolemais, Joseph, the son of Zechariah, and Azariah, the military leaders, heard about the glorious military exploits they had accomplished, and they said: We will make a name for ourselves; let us go to war with the pagans surrounding us. So they announced to the army that was with them and went to Jamnia. And Gorgias and his soldiers went out to meet them to fight. And taking flight, Joseph and Azariah were pursued to the borders of Judea; and the people of Israel fell that day, up to two thousand men. And there was great confusion among the people of Israel, because they did not listen to Judah and his brothers, dreaming of showing courage, while they were not from the seed of those men whose hand was given the salvation of Israel. But the husband Judah and his brothers became very famous before all Israel and before all the nations wherever their name was heard, and those who greeted them gathered together. The glory of the brilliant deeds of the Maccabean brothers in Gilead and Galilee attracted the military leaders left with the Jewish army - Joseph and Azariah - to try to “make a name for themselves” with similar exploits. This reckless attempt was expressed in a march from Jerusalem and an attack on Jamnia (Philistine city, see 1 Mac. 4:15), contrary to the decisive prohibition of Judah (1 Mac. 5: 19), and ended in complete failure, with the loss of 2000 people. This failure is explained, according to the writer, by the fact that they “were not from the seed of those men whose hand was given the salvation of Israel,” where, thus, the Asmonean family learned the meaning of God’s special chosenness, like other ancient chosen ones who were sent to save Israel at critical moments in its history. – “The man Judah” (1 Mac.5:63) – ό ανήρ ᾿Ιούδα: – like “the man Moses” (Ex.11:3; Num.12:3), that is, a real, valiant, worthy man. 1Mac.5:65. After this Judah and his brothers went out and fought against the sons of Esau in the land that lies to the south, and smote Hebron and its villages, and destroyed its fortifications, and burned its towers around it, Hebron - Χεβρών - an ancient city from the time of the patriarchs, 7 hours from Jerusalem to the mountains of Judea, present-day el-Khalil, was inhabited by Jews even in the time of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 11:25), later captured by the Edomites. It was fortified during the time of Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:10). 1Mac.5:66. and he rose up to go into the land of the strangers, and passed through Samaria. From Hebron, Judah “rose” to the “land of foreigners” (αλλοφύλων), i.e., the Philistines, and “passed through Samaria.” Instead of Samaria (Σαμάρειαν), some codices read Μαρισσαν. This discrepancy, from the rearrangement of the letters of which Σαμαρειαν could easily have occurred, is preferred by many researchers. And in fact, if the goal of Judah was in the land of the Philistines (1 Mac. 5:66 v., cf. 1 Mac. 5:68), then from Hebron the way there did not lie through Samaria at all, while Μαρίσοα was actually just on the way, in the lowlands of Judea - near Beil Dschibrin, and is directly mentioned in the parallel. place – 2Mak.12:35. 1Mac.5:67–68. At that time, priests who wanted to become famous for their bravery and recklessly went to war fell in battle. And Judah turned to Azoth, the land of foreigners, destroyed their altars, burned the carved images of their gods with fire, took the spoils of the cities and returned to the land of Judah. “To the land of foreigners...” – γήν αλλοφύλων – an appendix to είς ᾿Αζωτον, but not to indicate the position of Azoth, but for the immediate definition of the area where Judas fought; therefore, it is further expressed that Judas “destroyed their altars” - βωμούς αύτων, i.e. αλλοφύλων, foreigners, and not 'Αζώτου - Azoth alone. The books of Maccabees are translated from Greek because they are not in the Hebrew text.