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Alcimus Tore the Inner Wall and Lost His Speech

Alcimus locked the chiefs' sons in the tower at Jerusalem. He set tools on the inner wall. His mouth stopped while the stone still stood.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. Hostages in the Birah
  2. The Wall the Prophets Built
  3. A Mouth That Would Not Finish
  4. Jonathan Walks to the River

The sons went into the tower first. Not as students. As leverage. Alcimus had the high priesthood on him like a coat cut for another back, and he needed Greek favor more than he needed the fear of heaven. He locked the chief men's sons in the birah, the fortress tower in Jerusalem, where the city could see them and count the cost of protest. Fathers outside learned to be quiet. Chisels would come after the quiet.

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Hostages in the Birah

Judas was already gone from the field. The generation of open revolt was thinning into a generation of bargains. Alcimus bargained with living boys. He put them where a father walking up to the Temple would have to pass the door that held his child. Compliance through fear is an old empire method. He used it with a Hebrew title still attached to his name.

The birah filled. Names went in. Meals went in. No one came out. A priesthood that feeds on hostages does not need to argue law. It only needs the city to watch the tower and swallow its spit. Alcimus watched too. He was waiting for a silence thick enough to let him touch the inner court.

The Wall the Prophets Built

In the hundred and fifty-third year by the Seleucid count, in the second month, he ordered the wall of the inner court pulled down. That wall was not a fence a builder had thrown up last season. The book of the wars calls those courses the works of the prophets. Stone that had held a boundary between common and holy met tools in a priest's service.

He may have thought a rearranged Temple would please the Seleucids. He may have wanted the last symbol of a closed court erased so no one could say a holy line still ran through Jerusalem. Either motive ends in the same dust. The first blow landed. Dust rose. Men who had been priests in better years looked at their hands and did not stop the work, because the tower still held the sons.

A Mouth That Would Not Finish

As he began the destructive work, the plague took him. His mouth stopped. Palsy took the rest. He could no longer speak, and he could no longer give order concerning his house. Speech, the priest's tool and the politician's weapon, died first. The man of commands lost the instrument of command in the same hour he set it against the inner wall.

He died in great torment. No inventory of the pain is needed. A high priest who tore the inner wall left the world unable to finish a sentence about his own estate. The wall he wanted open closed on him instead. The hostages in the birah were still sons with names when his tongue went still. Heaven had not asked him a question. Heaven had taken the mouth that had been giving orders.

Jonathan Walks to the River

After brothers fell, Jonathan held the Maccabean line, because someone had to order the house Alcimus could no longer order. Court whispers reached a king about all Jonathan had done, hoping to pin blame. The king held his peace. Silence at a throne is never empty. It is a scale being watched.

Then Jonathan met the king with great pomp at Joppa. They saluted. They lodged. Honor and threat shared a roof. Jonathan went with the king as far as the river Eleutherus and returned to Jerusalem. He played both sides of the Seleucid struggle because one side alone would have eaten Judea whole. Pomp at Joppa was not vanity. It was air for a people who had already paid in sons and walls.

He came home with peace and gladness. King Alexander had written him among his chief friends and made him a duke. The city breathed. Then, in the hundred sixty-fifth year, Demetrius son of Demetrius arrived from Crete to claim his fathers' land. Alexander was sorry and pulled back toward Antioch. Apollonius raised a host in Celosyria and camped at Jamnia by the sea. Triumph lasted the length of a season. Jonathan's gladness had to harden again into watching. The Temple, wounded in its inner wall, waited for hands that would not treat the prophets' work as debris. Alcimus had no mouth left to advise him.

AlcimusMaccabeesTempleJonathanSeleucid
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From the tradition

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3 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

The Book of Maccabees I 9:57The Book of Maccabees I

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria Community Translation · CC-BY

The Book of Maccabees I turns to Alcimus Faces Judgment.

Alcimus wasn't exactly a beacon of piety. He was appointed High Priest, but his loyalties were… complicated, let's say. He was more interested in currying favor with the ruling powers than in serving God.

To solidify his power, 1 Maccabees 9 tells us he took the sons of the chief men of the country as hostages, imprisoning them in the birah (בירה), the tower at Jerusalem. A cruel move, designed to ensure compliance through fear.

It doesn't stop there. In the hundred and fifty-third year (according to the Seleucid calendar, of course), in the second month, Alcimus ordered the demolition of the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary – the very heart of the Temple! He even tore down what the text calls "the works of the prophets." Now, what exactly were the "works of the prophets"? Some suggest these were structures built or decorated according to prophetic visions, perhaps even memorials to prophets of old. Whatever they were, they were sacred, and Alcimus, in his arrogance, destroyed them.

Why would he do such a thing? Maybe he thought altering the Temple would appease the Seleucids, or perhaps he wanted to erase any symbols of Jewish resistance. Whatever his motivation, it was a brazen act of sacrilege.

But here’s the thing about hubris: often, it’s followed by a fall.

As Alcimus began his destructive work, something terrible happened. The text says he was "plagued." His "mouth was stopped, and he was taken with a palsy, so that he could no more speak any thing, nor give order concerning his house." In other words, he was struck speechless and paralyzed. The man who issued commands, who desecrated the Temple, was suddenly silenced, rendered powerless.

And the story doesn't end there. Alcimus died in great torment. The text doesn't elaborate on the nature of his suffering, but the implication is clear: his actions had consequences.

1 Maccabees doesn’t offer a theological explanation. It simply presents the events: the desecration, the sudden illness, the agonizing death. But it’s hard not to see it as a cautionary tale. What happens when we prioritize power over principle? What happens when we defile what is sacred? Alcimus's story is a stark reminder that actions, especially those driven by ego and disregard for the divine, have repercussions.

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The Book of Maccabees I 11:11The Book of Maccabees I

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria Community Translation · CC-BY

He was always navigating treacherous political waters, trying to secure the best future for his people.

Our story today focuses on just that precarious balancing act. Remember, Jonathan has taken over the leadership of the Maccabees after his brothers' deaths, and he's trying to solidify Jewish autonomy amidst the swirling power struggles of the Seleucid Empire.

We pick up the story with some unnamed folks whispering in the ear of the king – never a good sign. "They told the king whatsoever Jonathan had done… to the intent he might blame him: but the king held his peace." (1 Maccabees 11). It's a classic case of court intrigue. Someone's trying to undermine Jonathan, to paint him in a bad light to the king. But for now, the king remains silent. He's playing his own game.

Then, in a dramatic shift, Jonathan meets the king himself! "Then Jonathan met the king with great pomp at Joppa, where they saluted one another, and lodged." (1 Maccabees 11). The leaders meet with a great display of honor and respect. It sounds like a carefully choreographed dance. They greet each other, and they stay together.

After this encounter, "Jonathan, when he had gone with the king to the river called Eleutherus, returned again to Jerusalem." (1 Maccabees 11). The details are sparse, but it suggests a journey, a shared experience, perhaps even negotiations, before Jonathan heads back to Jerusalem. He is in Seleucid territory, seemingly secure.

But the peace is an illusion.

Because right after that, we get a glimpse of the realpolitik happening behind the scenes. "King Ptolemee therefore, having gotten the dominion of the cities by the sea unto Seleucia upon the sea coast, imagined wicked counsels against Alexander." (1 Maccabees 11). King Ptolemy, another player in this game of thrones, is plotting against King Alexander. He’s taken control of coastal cities and is now brewing something evil.

And who does Ptolemy reach out to? "Whereupon he sent ambassadors unto king Demetrius, saying..." (1 Maccabees 11). He sends envoys to King Demetrius, a rival of Alexander. The alliances are shifting. Someone is playing both sides.

What does this all mean for Jonathan? He's caught in the middle of these power struggles. He must stay alert, because any misstep could have dire consequences for his people. Even when he appears to be in favor with one king, danger lurks around the corner in the form of another.

It's often about shrewd negotiation, careful observation, and an ability to anticipate the next move in a complex political game. And, perhaps most importantly, about understanding that even the most powerful allies can turn into enemies in the blink of an eye.

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The Book of Maccabees I 10:75The Book of Maccabees I

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria Community Translation · CC-BY

The Book of Maccabees I turns to King Alexander Honors Jonathan as a Chief Friend.

Can you picture Jonathan's return to Jerusalem? After years of struggle and warfare, he comes back "with peace and gladness." A hero's welcome, no doubt. The people must have been overjoyed.

Hold on. This is history, and history rarely stays still for long.

Just when things seem settled, the winds of change start to blow again. The very next verse tells us that "in the hundred threescore and fifth year," which would be 147 BCE, a new player emerges: Demetrius, son of Demetrius, arrives from Crete, staking his claim to his ancestral lands. It's a challenge to King Alexander's rule, a direct threat.

How did Alexander react? He "was right sorry," the text says, using a wonderfully understated phrase that surely masks a great deal of anxiety. He hightailed it back to Antioch, his capital, to shore up his defenses.

And then, another twist! Demetrius appoints Apollonius as the governor of Celosyria, tasking him with raising a massive army. Apollonius sets up camp in Jamnia, a coastal city, poised to strike.

What does it all mean? Well, it's a reminder that even in moments of triumph, vigilance is key. The world keeps spinning, new threats arise, and yesterday's allies can quickly become tomorrow's rivals. Jonathan's moment of glory is significant, but it's also a brief pause in a much larger, more complicated struggle. And that, perhaps, is one of the most enduring lessons we can take from the Book of Maccabees, a lesson as relevant today as it was over two thousand years ago.

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