1 Maccabees 7:26-46
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Defeat of Nicanor. 26 (A)Then the king sent Nicanor, one of his honored officers, who was a bitter enemy of Israel, with orders to destroy the people. 27 Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a large force and deceitfully sent to Judas[a] and his brothers this peaceable message: 28 “Let there be no fight between me and you. I will come with a few men to meet you face to face in peace.”
29 So he came to Judas, and they greeted one another peaceably. But Judas’ enemies were prepared to seize him. 30 When he became aware that Nicanor had come to him with deceit in mind, Judas was afraid of him and would not meet him again.(B) 31 When Nicanor saw that his plan had been discovered, he went out to fight Judas near Capharsalama.[b] 32 About five hundred men of Nicanor’s army fell; the rest fled to the City of David.[c]
33 (C)After this, Nicanor went up to Mount Zion. Some of the priests from the sanctuary and some of the elders of the people came out to greet him peaceably and to show him the burnt offering that was being sacrificed for the king. 34 But he mocked and ridiculed them, defiled them,[d] and spoke arrogantly. 35 In a rage he swore: “If Judas and his army are not delivered to me at once, when I return victorious I will burn this temple down.” He went away in great anger. 36 (D)The priests, however, went in and stood before the altar and the sanctuary. They wept and said: 37 “You have chosen this house to bear your name, to be a house of prayer and supplication for your people. 38 Take revenge on this man and his army, and let them fall by the sword. Remember their blasphemies, and do not let them continue.”
39 Nicanor left Jerusalem and camped at Beth-horon, where the Syrian army joined him. 40 But Judas camped in Adasa[e] with three thousand men. Here Judas uttered this prayer: 41 (E)“When they who were sent by the king[f] blasphemed, your angel went out and killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand of them.(F) 42 In the same way, crush this army before us today, and let the rest know that Nicanor spoke wickedly against your sanctuary; judge him according to his wickedness.”
43 The armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month Adar. Nicanor’s army was crushed, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle.(G) 44 When his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw down their weapons and fled. 45 The Jews pursued them a day’s journey from Adasa to near Gazara, blowing the trumpets behind them as signals. 46 From all the surrounding villages of Judea people came out and outflanked them. They turned them back, and all the enemies fell by the sword; not a single one escaped.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 7:27 Nicanor…deceitfully sent to Judas: a more favorable picture of Nicanor, as an honest man who became a personal friend of Judas, is given in 2 Mc 14:17–25. Their friendship was broken by the intrigues of Alcimus (2 Mc 14:26–30).
- 7:31 Capharsalama: a village north of Jerusalem whose precise location is disputed.
- 7:32 City of David: the citadel occupied by the Seleucid garrison in Jerusalem.
- 7:34 Defiled them: spitting on the priests caused them to become legally defiled.
- 7:40 Adasa: a village between Jerusalem and Beth-horon.
- 7:41 They who were sent by the king: 2 Kgs 18:19–25, 29–35; 19:10–13 recount in detail the boastful threats made by Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, through his emissaries. Your angel: a reference to 2 Kgs 19:35, which describes the fate of the Assyrian army which besieged Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
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