Between the Testaments · c. 168–167 BC
Chapter 8
Mattathias
1 Maccabees is in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles; most Protestant Bibles leave it out or print it apart as the Apocrypha.
Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying, “Whoever is zealous for the law and maintains the covenant, let him follow me!”
For parents
This chapter has killings, told plainly and without detail. Mattathias kills a Jew who comes to sacrifice on the altar as the king commanded, and the king’s officer too (1 Maccabees 2:24–25); the king’s soldiers kill a thousand people, men, women and children, who will not fight back on the Sabbath (2:29–38); and Mattathias and his followers strike down sinners and circumcise boys by force (2:44–46). Mattathias’s lament speaks of babies killed in Jerusalem’s streets (2:9).
In those days a from named rose up. He was the son of John, the son of Simeon, of the priestly family of Joarib, and he lived at .
He had five sons: , who was also called Gaddis; , called Thassi; , called Maccabaeus; , called Avaran; and , called Apphus.
Mattathias saw the done in and in Jerusalem, and he said:
“How miserable I am! Why was I bornto see my people destroyed, and the holy city destroyed,and to live there while it was handed to the enemy,the handed to foreigners?Her temple has become like a man who was once glorious.The vessels that were her glory are carried off into captivity.Her babies are killed in her streets,her young men by the enemy’s sword.What nation has not taken over her palacesand taken her riches for its own?Everything that made her beautiful has been taken away.She was a free woman; now she is a slave.Look, our holy things, our beauty and our glorylie in ruins. The have made them unholy.Why should we live any longer?”
Mattathias and his sons tore their clothes in grief, put on , and mourned bitterly.
The king had already sent his orders through his whole kingdom: whoever did not obey the king’s word must die. He had put officials in charge of all the people, and he had commanded the towns of Judah to sacrifice, one town after another.
The king’s officers were making the people fall away from their faith. Now they came to the town of Modin to sacrifice. Many Israelites came out to them, and Mattathias and his sons gathered together.
The officers spoke to Mattathias. “You are a ruler in this town,” they said, “an honored and great man, with sons and relatives to back you up. So come forward first, and do what the king commands. All the nations have done it, and so have the men of Judah and the people left in Jerusalem. Then you and your family will be counted among the king’s friends, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts.”
Mattathias answered in a loud voice, “Every nation under the king’s rule could listen to him. Each one could fall away from the worship of its ancestors and choose to follow his commands. Even then, my sons, my relatives and I will hold to the of our ancestors. We will never abandon the law and its commands! We will not listen to the king’s words. We will not turn aside from our worship, not to the right and not to the left.”
When he had finished speaking, a Jew came forward in front of everyone to sacrifice on the at Modin, as the king had commanded.
Mattathias saw it, and his flared up. He shook inside, and he let his anger out, as was right. He ran and killed the man on the altar. In that same moment he killed the king’s officer too, the man who was making people sacrifice, and he pulled the altar down.
He acted out of zeal for the law, as once did to son of Salu.
Then Mattathias called out in the town in a loud voice, “Whoever is zealous for the law and stands by the covenant, follow me!”
He and his sons fled into the mountains. They left everything they had behind in the town.
At that time many people who sought what was just and right went down into the wilderness to live there, with their children, their wives and their animals, because the harm done to them kept growing.
News reached the king’s officers and the troops in Jerusalem, ’s city. Some men who had broken the king’s command had gone down to hiding places in the wilderness. Many soldiers set out after them and caught up with them. The soldiers camped facing them and lined up to fight them on the day.
“That’s enough!” the soldiers called to them. “Come out and obey the king’s word, and you will all live!”
“We won’t come out,” the people answered. “We won’t do what the king says and dishonor the Sabbath day.”
Then the enemy rushed to attack them. But the people didn’t answer the attack. They didn’t throw a stone at them or block the places where they were hiding. “Let’s all die innocent,” they said. “Heaven and earth are our witnesses that you are putting us to death unjustly.”
So the soldiers attacked them on the Sabbath, and they died there, the men, their wives and their children, and their animals with them. A thousand people died.
When Mattathias and his friends heard what had happened, they mourned bitterly over them.
They said to one another, “If we all do as our own people did, and won’t fight the Gentiles for our lives and our laws, they will soon wipe us off the earth.”
So that day they made a decision. “If anyone comes to fight us on the Sabbath day, we will fight him. Then we won’t all die, the way our people died in the hiding places.”
Then a group of joined them. They were mighty men of Israel, and every one of them gave himself freely for the law. Everyone who had fled from the harm came and joined them too, and backed them up.
They gathered an army. In their anger they struck down sinners, and in their fury they struck down lawless men. The rest fled to the Gentiles for safety.
Mattathias and his friends went from place to place and pulled down the altars. They by force the boys who had not been circumcised, as many as they found anywhere in Israel.
They went after the arrogant, and their work went well. They rescued the law from the power of the Gentiles and of the kings, and they never let the sinner triumph.
As Mattathias’s death drew near, he said to his sons, “Pride and scorn have grown strong now. This is a time of overthrow and fierce anger. Now, my children, be zealous for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of your ancestors. Remember what our ancestors did, each in their own generation, and win great glory and a name that lasts forever.”
He went on:
“Wasn’t found faithful when he was put to the test,and wasn’t it counted as for him?, in his time of trouble, kept the commandment,and he became lord of .Phinehas our ancestor, because his zeal was so great,received the covenant of a priesthood that lasts forever. became a judge in Israelbecause he carried out the word. received a share of the land as his ownbecause he spoke out as a witness before the assembly.David inherited the throne of a kingdom forever and everbecause he was merciful. was taken up into heavenbecause his zeal for the law was so great., and believed,and they were saved from the flame. was rescued from the mouth of lionsbecause he was innocent.
“So think it over, from one generation to the next: no one who puts their trust in God will lack strength.”
“Don’t be afraid of what a sinful man says,” Mattathias went on, “because his glory will be dung and worms. Today he will be lifted up, and tomorrow he will be nowhere to be found, because he has gone back to the dust, and his plans have come to nothing. You, my children, be strong. Be brave for the law’s sake, because in it you will win glory.
“As for your brother Simon, I know he is a man you can go to for advice. Always listen to him. He will be a father to you. Judas Maccabaeus has been strong and mighty since he was young. He will be your captain, and he will fight the people’s battle.
“Rally around everyone who does what the law commands, and avenge the wrong done to your people. Pay the Gentiles back, and obey the commandments of the law.”
Then he blessed them, and he died and joined his ancestors. This was in the one hundred forty-sixth year. His sons buried him in his ancestors’ tombs at Modin, and all Israel mourned greatly for him.