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Bacchides Walled Judea with Hostage Sons

Judas was in the ground. His friends put Jonathan in the war. Then Bacchides locked the sons of leading houses behind the citadel bars.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. Walls, Gates, and Bars
  2. Sons in the Citadel
  3. Simon Burned the Engines
  4. Lamps Under the Walls

The hammer was in the ground. Judas Maccabeus had fallen, and the men who had ridden with him sat in a camp that still smelled of his last fight. They looked at Jonathan, his brother.

Bacchides Walled Judea with Hostage Sons Click for full size

"Since thy brother Judas died, we have no man like him to go forth against our enemies," they said. They named Bacchides of the Seleucids, and the Jews who had taken the empire's side. "Now therefore we have chosen thee this day to be our prince and captain in his stead, that thou mayest fight our battles."

Jonathan took the governance. He rose up in his brother's place. Bacchides heard, and began to hunt him.

Walls, Gates, and Bars

Bacchides did not treat a dented army as a reason to leave Judea. He returned to Jerusalem and repaired the strong cities. Jericho. Emmaus. Bethhoron. Bethel. Thamnatha. Pharathoni. Taphon. High walls rose. Gates shut. Bars slid into place. He set garrisons in them "that they might work malice upon Israel."

Malice was the stated purpose. Not peace. Not even quiet occupation. The map of Judea became a net of stone points built to hurt. He fortified Bethsura and Gazera and the tower as well, and packed them with men and grain.

A garrison in Bethel is not only soldiers. It is a claim that a place of old dreams now runs on a foreign general's schedule.

Sons in the Citadel

Then Bacchides took the sons of the chief men and put them in the citadel at Jerusalem. Children became locks on the loyalty of fathers. A fortress controls a road. A hostage controls a heart. He built both kinds of wall in the same season.

Houses that had sent boys up the mountain with offerings now counted empty places at the evening meal. Jonathan had to fight stone and stolen boys at once. Judea learned a double literacy: how to read a skyline of new towers, and how to count which sons were missing.

The hammer was gone. The brother who replaced him inherited a country stitched with bars.

Simon Burned the Engines

When Bacchides pressed hard, Simon and his men burst from the city and set the enemy's war machines on fire. Flames ate the engines meant to break walls. Smoke rose where wood and rope had promised conquest. Bacchides was afflicted. His counsel and travail turned vain in the heat.

Rage found the nearest throats. He slaughtered many of the wicked advisers from among the Jews who had urged the invasion and promised easy victory. Betrayal paid betrayal in public blood. The general who built for malice discovered that malice also eats its friends when the plan fails and someone must be blamed before the soldiers see the failure too clearly.

Jonathan sent ambassadors. Make peace. Deliver the prisoners. The hunt had cost Bacchides machines, face, and the men who had talked him into the country.

Lamps Under the Walls

Behind the field campaigns sat an older wound. Courtyard gates had been set on fire. Innocent blood had been spilled on the soil. People who still knew who they were had prayed, and the prayer had been heard. Sacrifices returned. Fine flour for the Mincha (מנחה), the grain offering. Lamps rekindled. Show-bread set again on the table of the Lord. The plea went out to keep the dedication of the altar in Kislev with those who still remembered what fire had tried to erase.

Jonathan's war and Bacchides' forts sat on that scorched memory. Every garrison wall argued with every rekindled lamp. Every hostage in the citadel argued with every father who had once carried offerings up the mountain.

Jericho and Emmaus did not ask to become malice posts. Bacchides chose them because roads and memories meet there. Freedom, if it came, would have to climb both kinds of wall. The sons held in Jerusalem were not a side note in a list of forts. They were the method. Jonathan inherited grief and a map of towers. Simon inherited fire enough to burn engines. The hostages inherited the citadel's cold.

BacchidesJonathanMaccabeesSeleucidHostagesJudea
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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 9:31The Book of Maccabees I

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

His brother, the legendary Judas Maccabeus, had just fallen in battle. Judas, the hammer – that's what his name meant in Hebrew, Maccabee comes from the word for hammer, makevet – had led the Jewish people to unbelievable victories against the Seleucid Empire. He was a hero, a symbol of hope.

So, what happens when that light goes out?

That's where we pick up the story in the First Book of Maccabees. The situation is dire. Judas is gone, and the people are desperate. "For this cause," the verse says, "all Judas' friends came together." They turn to Jonathan, Judas' brother. scene for a moment. A group of battle-hardened warriors, grieving, scared, looking for someone – anyone – to lead them. They say to Jonathan, "Since thy brother Judas died, we have no man like him to go forth against our enemies." And they name their enemies explicitly: Bacchides, the Seleucid general, and "them of our nation that are adversaries to us" – the Hellenized Jews who had sided with the oppressors.

The request is blunt, almost a demand born of desperation: "Now therefore we have chosen thee this day to be our prince and captain in his stead, that thou mayest fight our battles."

What would you do?

Jonathan, to his credit, doesn't hesitate. "Upon this," the Book of Maccabees says, "Jonathan took the governance upon him at that time, and rose up instead of his brother Judas." He accepts the mantle, the responsibility, the terrifying challenge.

But the story doesn’t let him – or us – breathe for long. The threat is immediate. "But when Bacchides gat knowledge thereof, he sought for to slay him." The enemy knows Jonathan is now the leader, and they're coming for him.

This moment is so raw, so human. It's not just a historical account; it's a story about succession, about grief, about the weight of expectation. Jonathan steps up, knowing full well the dangers he faces, and knowing that the enemy is already hunting him.

The Maccabean story, as we see here with Jonathan, is not just about military victories and political maneuvering. It’s about courage in the face of overwhelming odds, about leadership in times of crisis, and about the enduring power of hope – even when that hope seems fragile and fleeting. And it all starts with a brother stepping into the impossible shadow of a legend. What happens next? Well, that's a story for another time. But let me tell you, it's a wild ride.

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The Book of Maccabees I 9:53The 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 Bacchides Fortifies Cities and Takes Hostages.

A thousand lives. Gone. But the story doesn't dwell on the tragedy. It swiftly moves to Bacchides' response.

Bacchides, a general in the Seleucid army, wasn't defeated, just… dented. And what does he do? He doesn't retreat. He doubles down. He "returned to Jerusalem and repaired the strong cites in Judea." image: Bacchides, in the wake of losing a thousand soldiers, surveying the landscape. Not with remorse, but with a strategic eye. He sees opportunity. He sees the need to control.

The passage then lists a series of towns: Jericho, Emmaus, Bethhoron, Bethel, Thamnatha, Pharathoni, and Taphon. These aren't just names on a map. They were vital points of control. Bacchides "did he strengthen with high walls, with gates and with bars."

Walls. Gates. Bars. These aren't symbols of peace. They are symbols of oppression, of control, of fear. They represent the tangible effort to subdue a people.

And what was the purpose of all this construction? The verse is stark: "And in them he set a garrison, that they might work malice upon Israel."

Malice. Not justice. Not peace. Malice. The intent is clear: to inflict harm, to sow discord, to break the spirit of the Israelites.

Bacchides wasn't just interested in controlling territory. He was interested in controlling the people. He understood that physical fortifications were only as strong as the will of the people they were meant to contain.

The passage continues, "He fortified also the city Bethsura, and Gazera, and the tower, and put forces in them, and provision of victuals." He's not just building walls; he's ensuring his army can sustain itself. He's planning for a long-term occupation. He's thinking of logistics, of supply lines. He's turning these cities into fortresses, ready for siege, ready for war.

It's easy to get lost in the sweep of history, to focus on the heroes and the villains, the battles won and lost. But passages like this remind us of the brutal, everyday realities of conflict. The slow, grinding oppression. The constant threat of violence. The systematic attempt to crush a people's spirit.

What does this passage tell us? Perhaps it is the reminder that freedom is never truly won. That vigilance is always necessary. That even in the wake of apparent victory, the forces of oppression can regroup, rebuild, and renew their efforts. And that sometimes, the most important battles are not fought on grand fields, but in the shadows of fortified cities, behind high walls, with gates and bars.

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The Book of Maccabees I 9:72The Book of Maccabees I

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

That feeling echoes through the ancient story

Bacchides, a general of the Seleucid Empire, is on a mission to crush the Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees. He's been hitting them hard. But, according to Maccabees I 9, as Bacchides began to smite them. things started to shift.

Simon, one of the Maccabee brothers – a name that means "hammer," fitting for these warriors! – took decisive action. He and his men sallied forth from the city, torching the enemy’s war machines. The chaos, the flames, the sheer audacity of it all! They then turned on Bacchides himself. The text says he was "discomfited by them, and they afflicted him sore."

Here’s where it gets interesting. All of Bacchides’ plans, all his hard work, came to nothing, "his counsel and travail was in vain." He was furious, and his anger was directed at the very people who had advised him to invade Judea in the first place – the "wicked men" within the Jewish community who had sided with the Seleucids. In his rage, he slaughtered many of them. Betrayal breeding more betrayal.

Talk about a backfire! It's a stark reminder that bad advice can lead to devastating consequences, and that sometimes, even the most powerful leaders can be swayed by the wrong voices.

Humiliated and defeated, Bacchides decided to retreat back to his own country. But the story doesn’t end there.

Jonathan, another of the Maccabee brothers, seized this opportunity. He sent ambassadors to Bacchides with a proposal: peace. And a prisoner exchange.

What a move! While Bacchides was licking his wounds and dealing with the fallout of his failed campaign, Jonathan was reaching out, offering a chance to de-escalate the conflict. It's evidence of the Maccabees' strategic thinking, their ability to recognize an opening and seize it.

This passage from Maccabees I 9 leaves us with a few things to ponder. It's about the futility of violence, the dangers of bad counsel, and the enduring hope for peace, even in the midst of war.

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The Book of Maccabees II 1:12The Book of Maccabees II

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Sefaria-hosted English translation · CC-BY

You remember who you are, what you stand for, and you fight back. That's the spirit that leaps off the page when we explore the story of Maccabees.

The Temple, once a beacon of hope, defiled. Innocent blood staining the very soil of the land. The gates to the courtyard? Engulfed in flames. It's a scene of utter devastation, ripped straight from the beginning of the second Book of Maccabees.

Even in the darkest hours, faith flickers. "We prayed to The Lord our God and he headed our voice," the verse says. It’s a simple statement, yet it resonates with profound meaning.

Action follows prayer. We read that they offered sacrifices – Mincha (the afternoon offering) with fine flour. They rekindled the sacred lights, and placed the show-bread, the lechem hapanim, on the table of The Lord. These weren't just rituals; they were acts of defiance, declarations that even in the face of oppression, the flame of faith would not be extinguished.

It’s a message that transcends time.

Then comes a request, a plea for unity. "We requested of you to celebrate the dedication of the altar with us during the month of Kislev." Kislev – the month that holds Chanukah, the festival of lights. It’s an invitation to remember, to rejoice, to reaffirm their shared heritage.

The letter itself is dated to the year 188, and it marks a moment of resurgence, a turning of the tide.

And who is this letter addressed to? "The people of Judah and Jerusalem and the elders, to Aristobulos, Secretary of Ptolemy the king, from the tribe of the anointed priests, and to the Jews of Egypt, Peace and Salvation." Aristobulos… his exact role is debated; the text itself acknowledges uncertainty about his title. But what's clear is the intention: to reach out, to connect with Jews living far from Jerusalem, specifically in Egypt. A message of "Peace and Salvation" – powerful words in a time of turmoil.

What does this tell us? It speaks volumes about the importance of community, of reaching across geographical divides to maintain solidarity. Even in ancient times, the Jewish people understood the power of connection, of shared identity.

So, as we reflect on these words from the Second Book of Maccabees, let's consider their relevance today. How do we reach out to others, offering peace and salvation in a world that so desperately needs it?

The story of the Maccabees is more than just a historical account; it's a timeless reminder of the strength of the human spirit, the power of faith, and the enduring importance of community. It's a story that continues to resonate, inspiring us to stand strong in the face of adversity, just like those who came before us.

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