History of the Jews (Vol. 1-6). Graetz Heinrich

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СКАЧАТЬ Demetrius had excited the discontent of his people to such a degree that they actually besieged him in his own palace at Antioch, and his troops, who were clamouring for pay, refused to aid in his deliverance. Thus he felt himself in the unpleasant position of being compelled to seek the help of Jonathan's Judæan troops. The 3000 men sent by the high-priest destroyed a portion of the Syrian capital by fire, and forced the inhabitants and the rebellious soldiers to release their king and sue for pardon. But no sooner was Demetrius at liberty than he treated his deliverer with the basest ingratitude. Jonathan, therefore, refused to come to his rescue, when a general of Alexander Balas, Diodotus Tryphon by name, conspired against him, attempting to place Antiochus VI., the young son of Alexander Balas, on the throne of Syria. Demetrius was forced to flee from his capital. Embittered at the faithlessness of the Syrian monarch, and grateful to the memory of Alexander, Jonathan espoused the cause of the young king and his regent Tryphon. The latter confirmed him in his priestly office, and permitted him to wear the gold clasp, the distinguishing mark of an independent prince. Simon, his brother, was made commander of the Syrian forces on the shores of the Mediterranean, from the ladder of Tyre to the Egyptian confines.

      Bravely did the Hasmonæan brothers fight for Antiochus, upon the triumph of whose cause the freedom of the Judæans depended. Victory and defeat succeeded each other; but at last the Hasmonæans remained victorious; they besieged and took several towns on the coast, and finally entered Damascus. They drove the Hellenists out of Bethzur, and garrisoned it. But their greatest desire was to make Jerusalem impregnable. They increased the height of the walls, extending them eastward to the vale of Kidron, thus creating a defence for the Holy Mount; they erected a rampart in the middle of the city, facing the Acra, to keep out the Hellenists, and they filled up the moat "Chaphenatha," which divided the Holy Mount from the city, and which was but partially bridged over, thus practically bringing the Temple closer to the town.

      Jonathan would not attempt the siege of the Acra, partly because he might have given umbrage to his Syrian allies, and partly because he did not dare concentrate all his forces at one point so long as the generals of the fallen Demetrius maintained a threatening attitude. At that time Judæa could boast of an army 40,000 strong (144–143).

      Subsequent events showed only too plainly that the prudence evinced by the Hasmonæans in fortifying the country, and maintaining a powerful army at the outset of this campaign had not been superfluous. As soon as the rebellious general, Diodotus Tryphon, had possessed himself of the supreme power in Syria, he determined to overthrow the puppet king Antiochus, and to place the crown upon his own head. But the greatest hindrance to the attainment of these ends was Jonathan himself, who, true to the memory of Alexander, was the devoted champion of the rights of Antiochus, and who, moreover, was in possession of a great part of the sea-coast. Tryphon was well aware that Jonathan would not become party to his treachery, so he determined to rid himself of the high-priest, and thus weaken the followers of the young king. But a course of open violence being impossible, he resorted to craft, and actually succeeded in outwitting the wariest of all the Hasmonæans, and getting him into his power. Upon the news of Tryphon's entry into Scythopolis, at the head of a powerful army, Jonathan hurried to oppose him with 40,000 picked warriors. To his amazement he was most courteously received by the Syrian commander, and loaded with presents. Entirely duped by so flattering a reception, he was persuaded by Tryphon to dismiss the greater number of his troops, and to follow his host into the fortified seaport city of Acco (Ptolemais), which Tryphon promised to surrender to him. Of the 3,000 soldiers remaining with Jonathan, 2,000 were now sent to Galilee, 1,000 alone following their chief. But hardly had they passed the gates of the fortress before Jonathan was seized, and made prisoner by the treacherous Tryphon, whilst the Syrian garrison fell upon his men, and massacred them. After the accomplishment of this infamous deed, the troops rushed out in pursuit of the Judæan soldiers, who were stationed in the plain of Jezreel and in Galilee. But the Judæans had already heard of the fate that had befallen their brethren, and they turned, and gave battle to the Syrians, putting them to flight. With the report of Jonathan's death they entered Jerusalem, and great was the consternation of their sorrow-stricken brethren. They believed that their beloved Jonathan had fallen, like his thousand followers at Acco, a victim to the faithless commander. Syrian domination, with its usual terrible consequences, seemed impending. The Hellenists were suspected of being implicated in these disastrous events, and, in fact, there was a secret understanding between Tryphon and the remnant of the Hellenists; the Syrian commander appears to have promised them aid from without, while they were to assist him from within, should the Judæan capital be besieged. But Simon Tharsi, the last of the Hasmonæans, successfully averted this twofold danger. In spite of his advanced age, he was a man of lofty enthusiasm and singular heroism, so that he was able to rouse the people from despair to hope. When he exclaimed to the multitude assembled in the outer court of the Temple, "I am no better than my brothers who died for the Sanctuary and liberty," the Judæans replied with one voice: "Be our leader, like Judas and Jonathan, your brothers." Placed at the head of the nation by the people themselves, Simon was determined to secure Jerusalem from a sudden attack on the part of the Hellenists, and at the same time to block Tryphon's entry into Judæa. He sent a Judæan contingent, under the leadership of Jonathan ben Absalom, to Joppa, in order to prevent the landing of the Syrian army, whilst he assembled his forces at Adida.

      Tryphon, accompanied by his prisoner Jonathan, had already passed out of Acco with the intention of falling upon Judæa, which, he thought, would be paralysed by his act of treachery. He was determined, moreover, to frighten the Judæans into subjection by threatening to assassinate their high-priest. But upon hearing, to his amazement, that all Judæa was in arms, and that Simon was the leader of the people, he began artfully to enter into negotiations with the enemy. He pretended to have made Jonathan prisoner only for the purpose of securing one hundred talents of tribute-money which the Judæans had formerly paid to Syria, and promised that if this indemnity were forthcoming, and Jonathan's two sons were delivered up as hostages, he would release his prisoner. Simon was in no way deceived by this artifice of Tryphon, but trembling to incur the reproach of having caused his brother's death, he paid the tribute-money, and delivered up the hostages. Tryphon, however, had no intention of making peace with the Judæans; on the contrary, he was at that very moment taking a circuitous road to Jerusalem, not daring to run the risk of meeting the Judæan forces in the open field. He might have reached the capital in safety, had not a heavy snowfall, most unusual in that hot climate, made the mountain roads of Judæa impassable, and forced him into the trans-Jordanic country.

      Enraged at this defeat of his plans, he caused Jonathan to be executed at Bascama (143). The remains of the great Maccabæan high-priest and commander were ultimately recovered, and buried by Simon and the whole people at Modin, in the tomb of the Hasmonæans. Thus ended the fourth of the Hasmonæan brothers. He achieved more than his predecessors had done, and more than his successors could do; for he raised the Judæan republic from the very lowest depths to an eminence whence, if not entirely abandoned by fortune, it could easily rise higher. It is true that Judas Maccabæus had performed more numerous deeds of valour, and had gained a more brilliant military renown than Jonathan, but the younger brother had given his people power and importance, and by virtue of his priestly office had conferred lasting distinction upon his family.

      After the death of Judas, the Judæan nation was as near dissolution as it had been in the days of the sanguinary reign of Antiochus; but after Jonathan's death, there existed the fundamental conditions upon which a State can be based.

      If we may compare Judas Maccabæus to the Judges of the Biblical age, then we may liken Jonathan to King Saul, who was able to avert ruin and attain safety. As Saul, through the kingly crown, united the dispersed tribes, and moulded them into a powerful people, so Jonathan, by his mitre, united the divided factions, and made of them a strong and self-reliant nation. And although both were deeply mourned by the people, neither King Saul's death nor that of the high-priest Jonathan put an end to the nation's unity, because in neither of these parallel cases did the unity of Judæa rest upon one individual, but upon the whole nation, conscious of its resources. As Saul found a worthy successor in his son-in-law David, so did Jonathan in his brother Simon.

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