After Antiochus Eupator fell to Demetrius son of Seleucus, a new threat emerged—and this time it came from a Jewish traitor. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, a priest named Alkimos had eaten swine's flesh during the reign of Antiochus. Now he went to Demetrius and poisoned the king's mind against Judah Maccabee and the Hassidim, calling them rebels who would never let the kingdom have peace.
Demetrius sent Nicanor with an army to destroy Judah. Nicanor first tried deception, approaching Judah with words of peace and friendship, hoping to lure him into a trap. When Judah's men detected the treachery and the ambush failed, Nicanor turned to open war. He stretched out his hand toward God's Temple and swore an oath: "If you do not deliver Judah and his army into my hands, I will burn this Temple to the ground when I return."
The priests inside the sanctuary heard him. They wept and prayed before the altar: "O Lord, You chose this house to bear Your name. Avenge us against this man and his army." Nicanor marched to battle with full confidence. Judah, outnumbered, prayed for divine intervention—reminding God how He had sent an angel to destroy Sennacherib's 185,000 soldiers in a single night.
The battle was decisive. Nicanor's army was shattered, and Nicanor himself was killed. Judah's men cut off his head and the arm he had stretched out against God's Temple, and hung them before the Temple gate. That gate has been called "the Gate of Nicanor" from that day forward. The people sang the Psalms of David, concluding with "For He is good, and His mercy endures forever." The Jews celebrate this victory on the 13th of Adar—one day before Purim—with feasting and wine.
XCIX. (1) After this the king went his way to Macedon
and Judah, judged his people, and did righteousness and
justice. At that time Demetrius, the son of Seleucus the
king, with a Koman army, engaged in battle with Antiochus
Eopator, in which Antiochus and Lysias were slain, and
he held the reins of government in Antiochia in Macedon.
(2) Now, Alkimos the priest, a worthless man, who ate
swine's flesh during the reign of Antiochus, came to
Demetrius, and said, ' Long live King Demetrius ! How
long wilt thou remain inactive on behalf of thy servants in
the land of Judah, who have fallen by the sword of Judah,
the son of Mattathias, and his people the Jews, who are
called Hassidim? He slays us because we refuse to
comply with many precepts of their law.'
(3) Demetrius, stirred to anger by this, sent Nicanor,
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the captain of his army, with a strong army, and chariots,
horsemen, elephants, and footmen without number. Arriv-
ing at Jerusalem, he sent word professing his friendship,
and said, ' Come and let us see each other, and consult
in a friendly manner.' Judah, fearing no treachery, went
to meet him. When Nicanor met him, he embraced him,
and asked after his welfare. Then, placing seats for both
of them, they sat down and conversed. Judah, however,
had commanded his young Hasmoneans to remain armed
ready for battle, lest the enemy suddenly attack them.
Accordingly, his men stood near him, ready at any
moment for the fray, as Judah had ordered. Judah
and Nicanor at length rose from their seats, and went
into their respective tents, and they dwelt both in Jerusalem,
there being no war between them. On the contrary,
Nicanor was very fond of Judah, and said to him, ' Would
it not be meet for a man like thee to take a wife and beget
children ?' Judah married, and begat children.
(4) When Alkimos recognised the love Judah and Nicanor
bore each other, he again went to the king, and informed
him what had taken place. The king thereupon sent a
letter to Nicanor, saying, ' If thou wilt not send me Judah,
son of Mattathiah, bound in chains, know that thou wilt
surely be slain.' Judah soon became aware of this, and,
leaving the city by night, he sounded the trumpet-call and
gave the battle-signal, and when all the valiant Hassidim
and Hasmoneans had mustered in full force, he went to
Samaria, and remained there.
(5) In the meantime Nicanor went to the temple of the
Lord, and said to the priests, ' Bring ye out the man who
fled from me, that I may send him to the king bound in
chains.' But the priests swore unto him, saying, ' He has
not been here, nor have we seen him since the day before
yesterday.' At this reply, Nicanor spoke blasphemously of
the temple, and, spitting upon it, stretched out his right
hand, and, baring his arm for slaughter, he said, ' I will
overthrow this temple, and will not leave one single stone
in its place, and I shall dig up and overturn all its founda-
xcix. 8] 289
tions.' With this, he departed in anger, and the priests
went about crying between the porch and the altar, and
said, * 0 God, whose dwelling-place has of old been in this
temple, now continue to rest here, for here is Thy throne,
and here is Thy footstool, and all Thy service. The heart
of Nicanor was filled with blasphemy towards Thy house
and towards Thy habitation. He acted treacherously
against the temple of Thy glory, and has committed
abomination, therefore let him die as an abomination.'
(6) Nicanor searched all the houses of Jerusalem for
Judah, and sent 500 troops to the house of Daqsios
(DiN^Dpn), the Elder of Hassidim, who was tested in
Antiochus's reign and found perfect, for he had suffered
many tortures, and was called 'Father of the Jews and
Judge in Jerusalem.'
(7) And as Nicanor was trying to show his bitter hatred
of the Jews, he sent a messenger to fetch the old man,
while his men surrounded the house to catch him; but
the old man, unsheathing his sword and piercing his
bowels, ran upon the wall, and threw himself upon
Nicanor's troops, who made room for him, and he fell to
the ground. But he soon rose up again, and went towards
the troops. He stood on a large stone, and from the great
loss of blood which was rapidly flowing from him, he
became distracted, and took part of his entrails and threw
it at the troops. Then, calling upon the Lord in prayer, he
died, and was gathered to his people.
(8) When Judah heard these things, he waxed furious,
and sent a message to Nicanor, saying, 'Why dost thou
delay ? Come into the field, and I will show thee the man
thou hast been seeking in the chamber. Behold, he is
here waiting for thee in the valley and in the plain.'
Nicanor then gathered all his forces, and went to meet the
Jews on a Sabbath. The Jews that were with him said,
* 0 my lord, we beseech thee, do not act presumptuously;
grant Him honour who gave the Sabbath.' 'And who,
indeed, gave the Sabbath ?' asked Nicanor. ' The God
whose dwelling is in heaven,' answered they, ' and whose
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dominion extends over the whole world.' Nicanor then
spoke such words of blasphemy as are not fit to be written
down.
(9) Judah heard of this, and said to his men, * How long
will we be indolent, and refuse to give battle to this reviler
and blasphemer ? for who is this dead dog and outcast that
defies the strength and glory of Israel ?'
(10) He then marched in great anger and zeal to attack
Nicanor, who came to meet him with a huge and powerful
army. And Judah cried to the Lord, saying, ' 0 Lord my
God, Thou didst send a messenger into the camp of Senna-
cherib, whose men stood up outside the city and blasphemed
Thee, and Thou didst smite his multitude by slaying
175,000 men; the slain we counted, but the slayer we
did not see. Now, how much more deserving of death
is this man, who has stood up against Thy temple, and
has blasphemed Thy might and Thy glory ?'
(11) On that day a very fierce and bloody battle was
fought. When Judah saw Nicanor with drawn sword, he
cried out, ' At thee, Nicanor !' and then ran against him in
the fury of his anger. And Nicanor turned his back to flee,
but Judah laid hold of him, and, cutting him in two, cast
him to the ground. There fell on that day 30,000 men of the
Macedonian army. The remainder fled, but were pursued
by Judah's men, who all the while were sounding the
Shofar. All the cities of Judah turned out to meet the
enemy, and smote them, cutting them to pieces, so that not
one of them remained alive. Then, proceeding to strip
the slain, they found abundance of gold, precious stones,
and purple garments. They cut off the head of Nicanor
and the arm that he had stretched out against God's
temple, and hung them up before the gate, which has
henceforth until this very day been called ' The gate of
Nicanor.' The people then rejoiced exceedingly, and sang
the Psalms of David, King of Israel, concluding, ' For He
is good, and His mercy endureth for ever.'
(12) Ever since that time the Jews celebrate this day as
a feast and a holiday, on which wine is drunk — viz., the
13th day of Adar, one day before ' Purim/ And Judah
judged all his people, and did justice and righteousness in
the land.
