When Judah Maccabee and the Hassidim entered Jerusalem, the Temple was an abomination. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, the altars the foreigners had built still stood. Judah tore them down, cleansed the sanctuary of every defilement, and constructed a new altar. They arranged the wood and placed the sacrificial flesh upon it. But the holy fire—the sacred flame that had burned since the time of Moses—was gone.
They called out to God in prayer. Fire burst forth from a stone upon the altar, igniting the wood and the offering. This miraculous flame remained with Israel until the time of the third captivity. On the 25th of Kislev, Judah and his people celebrated the rededication of the Temple for eight days with songs and praises. This, the chronicle tells us, is the origin of the festival of Hanukkah.
But peace did not last. The nations surrounding Judah—in Gilead, Ammon, and the coastal cities—launched attacks on every side. Timotheos, a powerful enemy commander, gathered a vast army and fortified cities against the Jews. Judah marched his forces across the Jordan, captured strongholds, and liberated besieged Jewish communities. At the fortified city of Kaspon, whose inhabitants cursed Judah and slandered his people, he called upon God: "At the sound of the trumpet You delivered Jericho by the hands of Your servant Joshua. Now deliver this city into our hands."
Judah took his shield in his left hand and his sword in his right, and for two days his forces did not cease their assault. They conquered the city and put the enemy to the sword. Timotheos fled and hid in a pit. His brothers were captured and beheaded. The spoils were carried to Jerusalem with psalms, praises, and thanksgivings—singing the songs of David, King of Israel, "to the Lord, whose mercy endures forever."
XCIV. (1) Judah, the son of Mattathias, and with him
the assembly of the Hassidim, now went up to Jerusalem,
and overthrowing the altars which the uncircumcised had
built, they cleansed the temple of the abominations of the
nations, and building a new altar, they placed upon it the
flesh of the sacrifice, and arranged the wood, but the holy
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fire they could not find. Then calhng in prayer upon the
Lord, fire came forth from a stone upon the altar, and
they placed the wood upon it. This fire remained with
them until the time of the third captivity. On the 25th of
Kislev they dedicated the altar, and placing the showbread
in its place and kindling the lights, they praised the name
of the Lord by reading the ' Hallel Psalms ' for eight days.
(2) After this dedication, Judah marched to the land of
Edom, and Gorgias came to meet him with a huge multi-
tude of men, but Judah smote Gorgias and his camp, and
put them all to flight. Pursuing them, Judah' s men left
upon the field 20,000 of the enemy slain. Gorgias then
fled to Arabia to Timotheos. And Timotheos, marching
out with 120,000 men of the Macedonian and Arabian
armies, went into the land of Gad and Gilead, and slew
many of the Jews, so that they sent a letter to Judah,
saying, ' Come up and save us, for the sword of Timotheos
is consuming us.' Again another letter arrived, saying,
' The sword of Tyre and Sidon is destroying us, and the
men of Macedonia who dwell there.' (3) As soon as Judah
heard these words, he cried to the Lord in fasting and
prayer, and selecting all the valiant men and the Hassi-
dim, he made haste to pass the Jordan. Simeon also took
with him 3,000 men of Judah, and hastening to Galilee,
engaged in a fierce battle, in which he slew 8,000 men,
and thus delivered his brethren in Galilee. Then, taking
the spoil of the slain, he returned to Jerusalem.
(4) Judah the Anointed one of battle, having passed the
Jordan, arrived at Gilead, where they found Timotheos
attacking the city on Mount Gilead, and, having girded
himself for the fray, a fierce battle ensued. The two
armies stood opposite each other, that of Timotheos being
mighty and strong, while Judah's army was few in number.
And in the midst of the fight Judah cried unto the Lord,
when he suddenly beheld five young horsemen, clothed in
gold. Two of them stood in front of Judah, and then,
placing themselves one on each side of him, protected him
with their shields, while the other three fought against the
camp of Timotheos. As soon as Judah saw them, he at
once knew that they were sent from heaven to assist the
pious, and, encouraging his men, he pressed hard upon
Timotheos's army and smote 20,500 of his men. Timo-
theos himself and his army fled thence towards the Jordan,
but Judah was after him, making havoc among them all
the time until they came to Aza.
(5) Here Timotheos recruited his men and prepared
again for battle, for the whole army of Philistia had now
joined his ranks. When Judah arrived at that place he
leaped upon them as a lion upon a flock of sheep. Timo-
theos took to flight, and his whole army w^as scattered in
confusion. The Hasmoneans pursued them and cut them
to pieces until there were none left. Timotheos fled to
Aza, and there took refuge within the closed gates of the
city, from the high walls of which he still gave battle.
For five days Judah and his men besieged it.
(6) On the fifth day the men of Timotheos, ascending
the high tower, cursed and defied the Anointed one of
battle, and taunted them all with words of insolence. At
length twenty Hasmoneans, becoming heated through
passion on account of the reproaches, took their shields
in their left hands and their swords in their right hands,
and, running towards the wall, scaled it one after another
by means of a ladder. Then, smiting those upon the wall,
they made room for their fellows, all of whom likewise
scaled the wall. The twenty men then went into the
market-place of the city, shouting and killing many of the
enemy. Then, going towards the gate, they attacked it
within, while the whole army of the Hasmoneans ap-
proached it from without, and set fire to it, whereupon the
gate fell to the ground. In this manner was the city of Aza
captured. Then, seizing the men who defied the Anointed
one of battle, they burnt them to death, and put the
inhabitants to the edge of the sword. For two whole days
they did not cease from their deadly work of slaughter.
(7) Timotheos, fleeing, hid himself in one of the pits
and could not be found. But they discovered his brothers,
278 [xcv. 1
Birean (|!?^0'?) and Apollopanis (D''J2i'?iqn*), and brought
them to Judah, who ordered then- heads to be cut off.
The spoil of the cit}^ they carried to Jerusalem with songs,
praises and thanksgivings, and sang the Psalms of David,
King of Israel, to the Lord, whose mercy endureth for ever.
