Глава VIII

Judah's march to save his people (2Mac 8:1–7). Brilliant victory over Nicanor (2Mac.8:8-29). Victory over the Syrian commanders Timothy and Bacchides; celebration of victory in Jerusalem; Nicanor's shameful flight to Antioch (2 Mac. 8:30–36). 2Mac.8:1-3 Meanwhile, Judas Maccabee and those who were with him, secretly entering the villages, called together their relatives and, receiving those who remained in Judaism, gathered up to six thousand men. They cried out to the Lord so that He would look upon the people trampled underfoot by everyone, and take pity on the church desecrated by wicked people; so that he would have mercy on the devastated city, close to being razed to the ground, and hear the blood crying out to Him; “Close to being leveled with the earth...”, μέλλουσα ισόπεδον γίνεσθαι ..., glory. more precisely: “having equal existence with the earth...” 2Mac.8:4-5 so that he would remember the lawless destruction of innocent babies and the former blasphemies against His name, and be indignant at the wicked. Surrounding himself with multitudes, Maccabee became invincible to the pagans when the wrath of the Lord turned to mercy. “He became invincible to the Gentiles when the wrath of the Lord was turned over to mercy...” Here, therefore, the success of Judas is attributed not so much to the courage of him and his soldiers as to God’s conversion of His wrath to mercy: the prayer of the last of the martyred brothers (VII: 38) began its fulfillment. 2Mac.8:6 Suddenly attacking cities and villages, he burned them and, occupying convenient places, defeated many enemies, putting them to flight; Attacking cities and villages…” – precisely those that were inhabited by pagans, or traitorous Jews. 2Mac.8:7 He mainly chose the night to help him in such undertakings, and the rumor about his courage spread everywhere. 2Mac.8:8 Philip, seeing that this man was gradually gaining strength, and more often was happy in business, wrote to Ptolemy, the military leader of Cole-Syria and Phenicia, so that he would help the king’s affairs. The story of Judah's victory over Nicanor is a somewhat abbreviated account of the events of 1 Mac III: 38; IV: 25. Both here and there, on the Syrian side, the leaders of the struggle are Ptolemy, Nicanor and Gorgias (v. 8 et c.; cf. 1 Mac III: 38), and there are also merchants for buying up captives (11, 25 and 34 v. cf. 1 Mac III: 41). The difference between both narratives is seen in paying more attention to the fate of the main leader of the struggle - Nicanor, whose defeat especially revealed the courage of Judas and intercession from above, or the conversion of God's wrath to mercy towards the Jewish people. – About Philip – see V: 22. – About Ptolemy – IV: 45 and 1 Mac III: 38. – About Nicanor and Gorgias – 1Mac III: 38. 2Mac.8:9 He immediately chose Nicanor, the son of Patroclus, one of his first friends, and sent him, having subjected him to no less than twenty thousand people from different nations, to destroy the entire race of the Jews; Gorgias, a military leader experienced in military affairs, also joined him. “At least 20,000 people...” - according to 1 Mac III: 39 was more than double - 40,000 infantry and 7,000 horsemen. – In the presentation of the case regarding the leaders and organization of the struggle, 1 and 2 Mak books present some difference, however, insignificant and easily explained. According to 1 Mac III: 38, the campaign to Judea was prepared by the ruler of the kingdom of Lysias, fulfilling precisely the deliberate command of the king, who went to the eastern provinces of his kingdom. It was this Lysias who sent Ptolemy with Nicanor and Gorgias to Judea with an army; Thus, Ptolemy seems here to be simply carrying out the order of Lysias, and he, in turn, entrusted it to two other leaders - Nicanor and Gorgias. This, of course, does not exclude the possibility that Ptolemy himself, according to Philip’s statement (2 Mac VIII: 8), reported on the state of affairs to Lysias, and this one made further orders regarding the declaration and conduct of war by Ptolemy and his generals, at the same time carrying out the king’s orders. 2 Mac.8:10–14 Nicanor decreed that the tribute of two thousand talents, which the king owed the Romans, should be replenished from the captivity of the Jews. Why did he immediately send to the coastal cities, inviting them to buy Jews as slaves and promising to deliver ninety captives for one talent; but he did not expect the vengeance that was ready to come to him from the Almighty. It was given to Judas to know about the arrival of Nicanor, and when he told those with him about the arrival of the army, then the fearful and those who did not believe in God’s retribution fled, leaving their places. Others sold everything that was left to them and begged the Lord to deliver them, who had been sold by the wicked Nicanor before the battle, “Ninety captives for one talent,” that is, about 10–15 rubles per person. Taking into account that the “winner” wanted to gain up to 2,000 talents, we find that he expected to sell at least up to 180,000 captives, obviously from among the Jews in addition to those who participated in the battle. 2Mac 8:15 If not for them, then for the sake of the covenants with their fathers and the calling upon them of His holy and glorious name. “For the sake of... naming them with His holy and glorious Name...”, that is, for the sake of declaring them the property and inheritance of God, due to which their captivity would be the captivity of the property and inheritance of God. 2 Maccabees 8:16 Then Maccabee gathered together those who were with him, numbering six thousand men, and exhorted them not to be afraid of their enemies and not to be afraid of the multitude of the Gentiles coming against them unrighteously, but to fight courageously, “Six thousand men...”, according to 1 Mac IV: 6 only 3,000. 2Mac.8:17-20 having before our eyes the unjust insult they had caused to the holy place and the destruction of the desecrated city and the violation of the forefathers' institutions. For, he said, they rely on weapons and courage, but we hope on the almighty God, who with one wave can overthrow both those coming against us and the whole world. He told them about the intercession that their ancestors received, and how one hundred and eighty-five thousand men were killed under Sennacherib, and about the battle that took place in Babylon against the Galatians, how they came to battle as only eight thousand with four thousand Macedonians, and when the Macedonians mixed, these eight thousand killed one hundred and twenty thousand with the help that came to them from heaven and received great booty. “Against the Galatians...” with the strengthening of the Greek: προς αυτούς Γαλατάς - “against the Galatians themselves,” or: “even against the Galatians,” who were distinguished by their special belligerence and courage (Justin. Ist. XXV, 2, 10). – About the Galatians – see 1 Mac, VIII: 2. – “Macedonians” – οι Μακεδόνες – here Syro-Macedonians, Seleucid Syrians (cf. Strabus XVI, 744; Ptol X, 7; Jos. Archaeol. XII, 5, 4, etc.). – The mention that this battle was “in Babylon”, εν τή Βαβυλωνία, probably indicates the battle of Antiochus the Great with the rebellious governor Molon of Media, since at that very time Galatian soldiers took part on both sides of the fight. The number of Galatians - 120,000 - is apparently greatly exaggerated, having found its way into our text either from folk exaggerated tales or from a copyist's slip. 2Mac.8:21-22 Having made them undaunted with such stories and ready to die for the laws and the fatherland, he divided the army into four detachments, appointing his brothers as leaders of each detachment: Simon, Joseph and Jonathan - and subordinated to each one thousand five hundred people. 2Mac.8:24-25 Since the Almighty was their helper, they killed more than nine thousand enemies, and left an even larger part of Nikanor’s army wounded and mutilated, and forced everyone to flee. They also took money from those who came to buy them; pursued them for a considerable distance and returned, having been stopped by time. “Being stopped by time...” – ή ώρα – the time of sunset on the eve of the holiday of Shabbat. 2Mac 8:26 For it was the day before the Sabbath; for this reason they did not continue to pursue them. “They did not continue to chase them...”, ούχ εμακροθύμησαν κατατρέχοντες αυτούς ..., glory. more precisely: “it didn’t continue to chase them for a while...” 2Mac 8:27 Having gathered their weapons and stripped the armor from their enemies, they celebrated the Sabbath, earnestly giving thanks and glorifying the Lord, who saved them that day and began to show them His mercy. “On that day...”, είς τήν ᾿ημέραν ταύτην, glor.: “on this day,” on which they celebrated for the first time peacefully and safely. 2Mac 8:28-29 After the Sabbath, having apportioned some of the spoil to the maimed, widows and orphans, they divided the rest among themselves and their children. Having completed this, they instituted public prayer and begged the merciful Lord to be completely reconciled with His servants. “To be completely reconciled...”, είς τέλος καταλλαγήναι, slav.: “to be reconciled in the end...”. The beginning of the return of God's mercy was the described victory of Judas. Perfect reconciliation here represents complete liberation from the Syrian yoke (cf. VII: 33 and VIII: 5). 2Mac 8:30 And when Timothy and Bacchides attacked them together, they slew more than twenty thousand and easily captured the high fortresses; They divided a lot of booty in equal parts among themselves and the crippled and orphans and widows, and also the elders. “Timothy and Bacchides” are inserted here immediately somehow definitely, as if they had already been mentioned and known to the readers. On this basis, they think that in the work of Jason they were actually mentioned as assistants to Nicanor - at the same time as him. Returning the story again to this Nicanor in v. 34. and especially - IX: 3 - the mention of Timothy next to Nicanor makes this assumption even more plausible (cf. X: 24). This Timothy could also be the one who (in 1 Mac V ch.) acted as the leader of the Ammonite and Gilead pagans against Judah and was defeated by them (cf. 1 Mac V: 5, 8, 28 et c.; 36, 46 et c. 65 v.). Bacchides is not entirely conveniently identified with 1 Mac VII: 8 etc. However, he could be thought of in the failure of Nicanor (cf. 1 Mac VII: 8 and 26 v. etc.), and perhaps he actually took part in the campaign against Judas with Timothy and Nicanor. 2Mac 8:31-32 Having gathered up their weapons after them, they carefully stored everything in convenient places, and brought the rest of the spoils to Jerusalem. They also killed the leader of the Timothyev troops, a most wicked man who caused many troubles to the Jews. “Having thrown off the magnificent clothes ...”, because she could give away his nobility and harm him in flight. - “Under the guise of a runaway slave...” more precisely: “create a fugitive in a secluded way for yourself...”, i.e., staying secluded from everyone - a fugitive. - “Through the internal lands...”, δια τής μεσογείου, i.e. it means οδού - the internal road, straighter and faster (slav.: “through the Mediterranean (sea)” - hardly true). 2Mac 8:36 He who undertook to deliver tribute to the Romans from the captives in Jerusalem declared that the Jews had God as their protector and thus remained unharmed because they obeyed the laws established by God.