THE FIRST BOOK OF MACCABEES: CONTAINING OCCURRENCES WHICH TOOK PLACE AT JERUSALEM AND LEMY PHILOPATOR, KING OF EGYPT, BETWEEN CHAPTER I. Ptolemy defeats Antiochus. He visits Jerusalem; and attempts to enter the Temple. B. C. 217. 1 Nowa when Philopator learned from those who returned, that Antiochus had taken away the places which had been under his dominion, he gave orders to all his forces, both 2 foot and horse, to march: and taking with him his sister Arsinoe, he proceeded as far as the parts about Raphiae, where Antiochus and his army had pitched their camp. a Grotius has remarked, that this book opens abruptly, as though it were part of some larger work; and this idea appears to be confirmed by an expression occurring at ch. ii. 25. b Ptolemy Philopator, king of Egypt, the fourth of that family and name. c Antiochus the Great, king of Syria, the son of Seleucus Callinicus. d Namely, Tyre, Seleucia, Ptolemais, Abila, Gadara, Scythopolis, and other towns; as related by Polybius, lib. V. e A town on the southern border of the Holy Land; keîται μετὰ ̔Ρινοκόλουρα πρώτη τῶν κατὰ Κοίλην Συρίαν πολέων ὡς πρὸς Tv Aïyʊñтov. (Polybius.) Coins struck here are still extant. B But one Theodotus f, intending to complete a treacherous design which he had, took the best of the arms which Ptolemy had formerly intrusted to him, and approached by night to Ptolemy's tent, as intending himself alone to kill him, and thereby to put an end to the war. But Dositheus, 4 called the son of Drimylus, by birth a Jew, but one who afterwards forsook his religion and estranged himself from the ordinances of his forefathers, taking Ptolemy out of the way, caused a certain obscure person to lodge there in his stead; who accordingly received that punishment which was intended for the other. Now when a sharp battle took place, and suc- 5 cess seemed rather to favour Antiochush, Arsinoei went frequently up and down among the troops; and exhorted them with lamentation and tears, having her hair in disorder, to fight manfully for themselves and for their children and wives; promising to give to every one, if they conquered, two f This individual, who here is so lightly spoken of, appears, from Polybius's account, to have been a person of considerable importance. He was by birth an Ætolian, was high in the confidence of Ptolemy, by whom he was advanced to posts of the utmost consequence, and at length was made governor of Coelosyria. Having from some cause incurred the king's ill graces, and suspecting that his life was in danger, he took the resolution of separating himself from his former master, and thenceforth espoused the interests of king Antiochus. See Polybius, V. 40, and 61. g Polybius relates in detail this attempt of Theodotus; adding, that he wounded two persons, and slew the king's physician, who probably is the person here alluded to. Polyb. V. 81. h In fact Ptolemy's left wing had been vanquished and put to flight; so that Antiochus, young and inexperienced in the field, was fully persuaded that the victory was his own: nor was he undeceived till it was too late to repair the disaster. i This princess is also mentioned by Polybius, as zealously assisting Ptolemy in the battle. 6 minæk of gold as a reward. By which means it came to pass that their enemies were destroyed' in the battlem, and many of them were taken pri7 soners also. Ptolemy therefore, having over B. C. come this treachery, determined to go and 216. encourage the neighbouring cities; by doing which, and by making presents to their temples, he made his subjects to be full of courage. 8 But when the Jews had sent to him some of their council and elders, to salute him and to bring with them presents, and to congratulate with him on past events; it came to pass that he felt a stronger desire to take a journey to them with all speed. 9 Now when he was come to Jerusalem, he offered a sacrifice to the Most High God, and returned thanks, and did what was then proper in 10 that place. Moreover, when he was on the spot, he was astonished at the diligence and decency there observed. And wondering at the good order k There is the Hebrew, the Attic, the Roman, and the Egyptian mina; each differing from the others in value. If the last be the one here meant, as is most probable, it is equivalent to thirty-two Hebrew shekels (or eight ounces) of gold: so that two such minæ would be worth, in our present money, about sixty guineas. The particulars of this battle of Raphia are well and minutely given by Polybius, lib. V. m Gr. év xeipovopíais diapeaἐν χειρονομίαις διαφθαpiva. The reading has been questioned, but surely without. reason. Every one remembers B. C. 214. B. C. about the holy place, he took a design to manage matters so, that he might enter into the temple itself. But when they said that this could 11 214-212. not be done, because it was not lawful for even persons of their own nation to enter into that place; no, not for all the priests themselves, but only for the superior of them all, the high priest, and even for him but once in a year :—he would by no means be dissuaded. And when the law to this 12 effect was read in his presence, he would by no means cease offering himself: but said that he must go in; and "even if they are deprived of that ho"nour, I must not be so deprived." He asked also 13 this question-why none of those who attended any other temples hindered him from entering into them? And when a certain person inadvertently 14 said, that this was an unlucky fictions of his he answered, "Now that this has been done, from 15 "whatever cause it may, why shall I not enter at "all events, whether you will or no?" Then the priests fell down in their holy gar- 16 ments, and prayed the Most High God to assist them in the present distress, and to avert the violence of him who was making this wicked attempt |