1 Maccabees (Apocrypha), chapter 1
Compare with Revised Standard Version: 1Mac.01
1: And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece,
2: And made many wars, and won many strong holds, and slew the kings of the earth,
3: And went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth was quiet before him; whereupon he was exalted and his heart was lifted up.
4: And he gathered a mighty strong host and ruled over countries, and nations, and kings, who became tributaries unto him.
5: And after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he should die.
6: Wherefore he called his servants, such as were honorable, and had been brought up with him from his youth, and parted his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive.
7: So Alexander reigned twelves years, and then died.
8: And his servants bare rule every one in his place.
9: And after his death they all put crowns upon themselves; so did their sons after them many years: and evils were multiplied in the earth.
10: And there came out of them a wicked root Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been an hostage at Rome, and he reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.
11: In those days went there out of Yisrayl wicked men, who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the heathen that are round about us: for since we departed from them we have had much sorrow.
12: So this device pleased them well.
13: Then certain of the people were so forward herein, that they went to the king, who gave them license to do after the ordinances of the heathen:
14: Whereupon they built a place of exercise at Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen:
15: And made themselves uncircumcised, and forsook the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the heathen, and were sold to do mischief.
16: Now when the kingdom was established before Antiochus, he thought to reign over Egypt that he might have the dominion of two realms.
17: Wherefore he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy,
18: And made war against Ptolemee king of Egypt: but Ptolemee was afraid of him, and fled; and many were wounded to death.
19: Thus they got the strong cities in the land of Egypt and he took the spoils thereof.
20: And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he returned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against Yisrayl and Jerusalem with a great multitude,
21: And entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof,
22: And the table of the shew bread, and the pouring vessels, and the vials. and the censers of gold, and the veil, and the crown, and the golden ornaments that were before the temple, all which he pulled off.
23: He took also the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels: also he took the hidden treasures which he found.
24: And when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having made a great massacre, and spoken very proudly.
25: Therefore there was a great mourning in Yisrayl, in every place where they were;
26: So that the princes and elders mourned, the virgins and young men were made feeble, and the beauty of women was changed.
27: Every bridegroom took up lamentation, and she that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness,
28: The land also was moved for the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was covered with confusion.
29: And after two years fully expired the king sent his chief collector of tribute unto the cities of Juda, who came unto Jerusalem with a great multitude,
30: And spake peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city, and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people of Israel.
31: And when he had taken the spoils of the city, he set it on fire, and pulled down the houses and walls thereof on every side.
32: But the women and children took they captive, and possessed the cattle.
33: Then builded they the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with mighty towers, and made it a strong hold for them.
34: And they put therein a sinful nation, wicked men, and fortified themselves therein.
35: They stored it also with armor and victuals, and when they had gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem, they laid them up there, and so they became a sore snare:
36: For it was a place to lie in wait against the sanctuary, and an evil adversary to Yisrayl.
37: Thus they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary, and defiled it:
38: Insomuch that the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them: whereupon the city was made an habitation of strangers, and became strange to those that were born in her; and her own children left her.
39: Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into reproach her honor into contempt.
40: As had been her glory, so was her dishonor increased, and her excellency was turned into mourning.
41: Moreover king Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people,
42: And every one should leave his laws: so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king.
43: Yea, many also of the Yisraylites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the sabbath.
44: For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda that they should follow the strange laws of the land,
45: And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the Sabbaths and festival days:
46: And pollute the sanctuary and holy people:
47: Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts:
48: That they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation:
49: To the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances.
50: And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, he said, he should die.
51: In the selfsame manner wrote he to his whole kingdom, and appointed overseers over all the people, commanding the cities of Juda to sacrifice, city by city.
52: Then many of the people were gathered unto them, to wit every one that forsook the law; and so they committed evils in the land;
53: And drove the Yisraylites into secret places, even wheresoever they could flee for succour.
54: Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;
55: And burnt incense at the doors of their houses, and in the streets.
56: And when they had rent in pieces the books of the law which they found, they burnt them with fire.
57: And whosoever was found with any the book of the testament, or if any committed to the law, the king's commandment was, that they should put him to death.
58: Thus did they by their authority unto the Yisraylites every month, to as many as were found in the cities.
59: Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of YHVH.
60: At which time according to the commandment they put to death certain women, that had caused their children to be circumcised.
61: And they hanged the infants about their necks, and rifled their houses, and slew them that had circumcised them.
62: Howbeit many in Yisrayl were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing.
63: Wherefore the rather to die, that they might not be defiled with meats, and that they might not profane the holy covenant: so then they died.
64: And there was very great wrath upon Yisrayl.
Land of Kittim: Greece. The name referred originally to inhabitants of Kiti, capital of the isle of Cyprus, then to any Cypriots (Isaiah 23:1; Jeremiah 2:10), later to Greeks in general, and finally even to Romans. See note on Daniel 11:30. Darius: Darius III, Codoman (336-331 B.C.).
The year one hundred and thirty-seven: Antiochus IV seized the throne in September, 175 B.C. Dates are given in this book according to the Seleucid era, which however was reckoned in two different ways. Antiochians considered this date to be October, 312 B.C. (Syrian calendar), while Babylonians and Jewish priests accepted April, 311 B.C. as the commencement of the era (temple calendar). The author of 1 Macc dates political events by the Syrian calendar but religious events by the temple calendar. Accordingly, the civil New Year occurred variously in September or October, the biblical New Year is March or April.
Gymnasium: symbol and center of athletic and intellectual life, it was the chief instrument of Hellenistic propaganda. Hebrev's youth were attracted by sports and encouraged to join youth clubs. They received training in military skills and in the duties of citizens. Through participation in the intellectual life, many were gradually won over to paganism.
Elephants: an important part of Seleucid armament. About 300 B.C. Seleucus I, founder of the dynasty, procured five hundred of them from India; cf 1 Macc 6:34-37.
Defeated Egypt in the year one hundred and forty-three: 169 B.C. No mention is made in 1 Mc of the second expedition to Egypt a year later, described in 2 Macc 5:1, 11; Daniel 11:25, 19 records both.
City of David: not Mount Zion on the eastern hill of Jerusalem, which David captured from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:7), but a new fortress built on the western hill and overlooking the temple and its courts on Mount Zion. It was occupied for twenty-six years by the Syro-Macedonian garrison, together with apostate Jews, and was a continual threat to the temple and the Hebrev people (1 Macc 1:36); cf 1 Macc 13:49-51.
Fifteenth day of the month Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-five: December 6, 167 B.C. Horrible abomination: in the original Hebrew, a contemptuous pun on the title "Lord of heaven" given to the god Zeus Olympios, to whom an image or perhaps an altar was erected upon the altar of holocausts in the temple of Jerusalem; cf Daniel 9:27; 11:31.
Scrolls of the law: one or more of the first five books of the Old Testament.
The temple defiled
Then it happened: "On the fifteenth day of the month Kislev in the year 145" , which corresponds to 167 B.C., "they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar" of the temple . This was apparently a pagan altar with an image of the Greek chief god Zeus set up atop the temple altar. After all, to the Greek mind the Father of the Hebrev's simply equated to the chief god in the Greeks' pantheon.
We are further told: "Pagan sacrifices were offered in front of houses and in the streets. Any books of the Law which were found were torn up and burned, and anyone who was caught with a copy of the sacred books or who obeyed the Law was put to death by order of the king. Month after month these wicked people used their power against the Yisraylites caught in the towns. On the twenty-fifth of the month, these same evil people offered sacrifices on the pagan altar erected on top of the altar in the Temple" (verses 55-59, TEV). Indeed, pigs, declared unclean in YHVH law (Deuteronomy 14:8), were offered over His own altar.
An Analysis of the Abomination of Desolation
Dr. Randall Price
The phrase “abomination of desolation” or “desolating abomination”/ “abomination that makes desolate” translating the Hebrev Old Testament term shiqqutz(im) meshomem and the Greek New Testament term bdelugma tes eremoseos, appears in prophetic contexts dealing with the desecration and defilement of the Hebrev Temple in Jerusalem. In the Old Testament the phrase occurs in only in Daniel (9:27; 11:31; 12:11). In these texts the form of the Hebrev term for “desolation” appears as the Pol’el participle shomem or meshomem which has a range of verbal meanings: “devastate, desolate, desert, appall, with nominal derivatives: waste, horror, devastation, or appallment. It has been used to describe an attitude of appalling horror due to criminal and barbaric acts of idolatry. Therefore, the basic idea of the root is the desolation caused by some great disaster, usually as a result of divine judgment. The Pol’el stem here has a causative (or better, factitive) force similar to the use of the Hiphil, except that the Hiphil generally involves a physical devastation, while the Pol’el seems to put more stress on the fact that someone has actively caused desecration.
In the case of the Temple such an act would render it ritually unfit for the worship and service of YHVH. In Daniel, two nuances of the term: "desolation due to war "and "desolation due to idolatry," are combined in Daniel 8:13, which describes the condition of Jerusalem under foreign domination: “How long will be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression that causes desolation so as to permit both the Sanctuary and its vessels to be trampled?" This is very similar to the description of Jerusalem in Daniel 12:11 where a foreign invader has both abolished the regular sacrifice and substituted "an abomination that causes desolation.” When combined with the Hebrev term for “abomination” (shiqqutz) the idea of the forcible intrusion of idolatry into a place of sanctity in order to cause defilement is significantly intensified.
The “abomination,” the Antichrist’s act of enthroning himself in the place of deity to “display himself” (Greek, apodeiknunta) as God (literally, “that he is God”). This blasphemous act fulfills Daniel’s prediction that the Antichrist that “will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and speak monstrous things against the God of gods” (Daniel 11:36) and with the Adversarial background of Revelation 12:9, 12-17; 13:4-10) has allusions to Isaiah 14:13-14 and Ezekiel 28:2-9 where the usurping figures addressed have sought to “raise [their] throne above the stars of God,” “make themselves like the Most High,” and declared “I am a god; I sit in the seat of the gods.”
Compare with Revised Standard Version: 1Mac.01
1: And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece,
2: And made many wars, and won many strong holds, and slew the kings of the earth,
3: And went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth was quiet before him; whereupon he was exalted and his heart was lifted up.
4: And he gathered a mighty strong host and ruled over countries, and nations, and kings, who became tributaries unto him.
5: And after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he should die.
6: Wherefore he called his servants, such as were honorable, and had been brought up with him from his youth, and parted his kingdom among them, while he was yet alive.
7: So Alexander reigned twelves years, and then died.
8: And his servants bare rule every one in his place.
9: And after his death they all put crowns upon themselves; so did their sons after them many years: and evils were multiplied in the earth.
10: And there came out of them a wicked root Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been an hostage at Rome, and he reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.
11: In those days went there out of Yisrayl wicked men, who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the heathen that are round about us: for since we departed from them we have had much sorrow.
12: So this device pleased them well.
13: Then certain of the people were so forward herein, that they went to the king, who gave them license to do after the ordinances of the heathen:
14: Whereupon they built a place of exercise at Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen:
15: And made themselves uncircumcised, and forsook the holy covenant, and joined themselves to the heathen, and were sold to do mischief.
16: Now when the kingdom was established before Antiochus, he thought to reign over Egypt that he might have the dominion of two realms.
17: Wherefore he entered into Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy,
18: And made war against Ptolemee king of Egypt: but Ptolemee was afraid of him, and fled; and many were wounded to death.
19: Thus they got the strong cities in the land of Egypt and he took the spoils thereof.
20: And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he returned again in the hundred forty and third year, and went up against Yisrayl and Jerusalem with a great multitude,
21: And entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof,
22: And the table of the shew bread, and the pouring vessels, and the vials. and the censers of gold, and the veil, and the crown, and the golden ornaments that were before the temple, all which he pulled off.
23: He took also the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels: also he took the hidden treasures which he found.
24: And when he had taken all away, he went into his own land, having made a great massacre, and spoken very proudly.
25: Therefore there was a great mourning in Yisrayl, in every place where they were;
26: So that the princes and elders mourned, the virgins and young men were made feeble, and the beauty of women was changed.
27: Every bridegroom took up lamentation, and she that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness,
28: The land also was moved for the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was covered with confusion.
29: And after two years fully expired the king sent his chief collector of tribute unto the cities of Juda, who came unto Jerusalem with a great multitude,
30: And spake peaceable words unto them, but all was deceit: for when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly upon the city, and smote it very sore, and destroyed much people of Israel.
31: And when he had taken the spoils of the city, he set it on fire, and pulled down the houses and walls thereof on every side.
32: But the women and children took they captive, and possessed the cattle.
33: Then builded they the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with mighty towers, and made it a strong hold for them.
34: And they put therein a sinful nation, wicked men, and fortified themselves therein.
35: They stored it also with armor and victuals, and when they had gathered together the spoils of Jerusalem, they laid them up there, and so they became a sore snare:
36: For it was a place to lie in wait against the sanctuary, and an evil adversary to Yisrayl.
37: Thus they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary, and defiled it:
38: Insomuch that the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them: whereupon the city was made an habitation of strangers, and became strange to those that were born in her; and her own children left her.
39: Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into reproach her honor into contempt.
40: As had been her glory, so was her dishonor increased, and her excellency was turned into mourning.
41: Moreover king Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people,
42: And every one should leave his laws: so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king.
43: Yea, many also of the Yisraylites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the sabbath.
44: For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda that they should follow the strange laws of the land,
45: And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the Sabbaths and festival days:
46: And pollute the sanctuary and holy people:
47: Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts:
48: That they should also leave their children uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation:
49: To the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances.
50: And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, he said, he should die.
51: In the selfsame manner wrote he to his whole kingdom, and appointed overseers over all the people, commanding the cities of Juda to sacrifice, city by city.
52: Then many of the people were gathered unto them, to wit every one that forsook the law; and so they committed evils in the land;
53: And drove the Yisraylites into secret places, even wheresoever they could flee for succour.
54: Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;
55: And burnt incense at the doors of their houses, and in the streets.
56: And when they had rent in pieces the books of the law which they found, they burnt them with fire.
57: And whosoever was found with any the book of the testament, or if any committed to the law, the king's commandment was, that they should put him to death.
58: Thus did they by their authority unto the Yisraylites every month, to as many as were found in the cities.
59: Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of YHVH.
60: At which time according to the commandment they put to death certain women, that had caused their children to be circumcised.
61: And they hanged the infants about their necks, and rifled their houses, and slew them that had circumcised them.
62: Howbeit many in Yisrayl were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing.
63: Wherefore the rather to die, that they might not be defiled with meats, and that they might not profane the holy covenant: so then they died.
64: And there was very great wrath upon Yisrayl.
Land of Kittim: Greece. The name referred originally to inhabitants of Kiti, capital of the isle of Cyprus, then to any Cypriots (Isaiah 23:1; Jeremiah 2:10), later to Greeks in general, and finally even to Romans. See note on Daniel 11:30. Darius: Darius III, Codoman (336-331 B.C.).
The year one hundred and thirty-seven: Antiochus IV seized the throne in September, 175 B.C. Dates are given in this book according to the Seleucid era, which however was reckoned in two different ways. Antiochians considered this date to be October, 312 B.C. (Syrian calendar), while Babylonians and Jewish priests accepted April, 311 B.C. as the commencement of the era (temple calendar). The author of 1 Macc dates political events by the Syrian calendar but religious events by the temple calendar. Accordingly, the civil New Year occurred variously in September or October, the biblical New Year is March or April.
Gymnasium: symbol and center of athletic and intellectual life, it was the chief instrument of Hellenistic propaganda. Hebrev's youth were attracted by sports and encouraged to join youth clubs. They received training in military skills and in the duties of citizens. Through participation in the intellectual life, many were gradually won over to paganism.
Elephants: an important part of Seleucid armament. About 300 B.C. Seleucus I, founder of the dynasty, procured five hundred of them from India; cf 1 Macc 6:34-37.
Defeated Egypt in the year one hundred and forty-three: 169 B.C. No mention is made in 1 Mc of the second expedition to Egypt a year later, described in 2 Macc 5:1, 11; Daniel 11:25, 19 records both.
City of David: not Mount Zion on the eastern hill of Jerusalem, which David captured from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:7), but a new fortress built on the western hill and overlooking the temple and its courts on Mount Zion. It was occupied for twenty-six years by the Syro-Macedonian garrison, together with apostate Jews, and was a continual threat to the temple and the Hebrev people (1 Macc 1:36); cf 1 Macc 13:49-51.
Fifteenth day of the month Chislev, in the year one hundred and forty-five: December 6, 167 B.C. Horrible abomination: in the original Hebrew, a contemptuous pun on the title "Lord of heaven" given to the god Zeus Olympios, to whom an image or perhaps an altar was erected upon the altar of holocausts in the temple of Jerusalem; cf Daniel 9:27; 11:31.
Scrolls of the law: one or more of the first five books of the Old Testament.
The temple defiled
Then it happened: "On the fifteenth day of the month Kislev in the year 145" , which corresponds to 167 B.C., "they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar" of the temple . This was apparently a pagan altar with an image of the Greek chief god Zeus set up atop the temple altar. After all, to the Greek mind the Father of the Hebrev's simply equated to the chief god in the Greeks' pantheon.
We are further told: "Pagan sacrifices were offered in front of houses and in the streets. Any books of the Law which were found were torn up and burned, and anyone who was caught with a copy of the sacred books or who obeyed the Law was put to death by order of the king. Month after month these wicked people used their power against the Yisraylites caught in the towns. On the twenty-fifth of the month, these same evil people offered sacrifices on the pagan altar erected on top of the altar in the Temple" (verses 55-59, TEV). Indeed, pigs, declared unclean in YHVH law (Deuteronomy 14:8), were offered over His own altar.
An Analysis of the Abomination of Desolation
Dr. Randall Price
The phrase “abomination of desolation” or “desolating abomination”/ “abomination that makes desolate” translating the Hebrev Old Testament term shiqqutz(im) meshomem and the Greek New Testament term bdelugma tes eremoseos, appears in prophetic contexts dealing with the desecration and defilement of the Hebrev Temple in Jerusalem. In the Old Testament the phrase occurs in only in Daniel (9:27; 11:31; 12:11). In these texts the form of the Hebrev term for “desolation” appears as the Pol’el participle shomem or meshomem which has a range of verbal meanings: “devastate, desolate, desert, appall, with nominal derivatives: waste, horror, devastation, or appallment. It has been used to describe an attitude of appalling horror due to criminal and barbaric acts of idolatry. Therefore, the basic idea of the root is the desolation caused by some great disaster, usually as a result of divine judgment. The Pol’el stem here has a causative (or better, factitive) force similar to the use of the Hiphil, except that the Hiphil generally involves a physical devastation, while the Pol’el seems to put more stress on the fact that someone has actively caused desecration.
In the case of the Temple such an act would render it ritually unfit for the worship and service of YHVH. In Daniel, two nuances of the term: "desolation due to war "and "desolation due to idolatry," are combined in Daniel 8:13, which describes the condition of Jerusalem under foreign domination: “How long will be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression that causes desolation so as to permit both the Sanctuary and its vessels to be trampled?" This is very similar to the description of Jerusalem in Daniel 12:11 where a foreign invader has both abolished the regular sacrifice and substituted "an abomination that causes desolation.” When combined with the Hebrev term for “abomination” (shiqqutz) the idea of the forcible intrusion of idolatry into a place of sanctity in order to cause defilement is significantly intensified.
The “abomination,” the Antichrist’s act of enthroning himself in the place of deity to “display himself” (Greek, apodeiknunta) as God (literally, “that he is God”). This blasphemous act fulfills Daniel’s prediction that the Antichrist that “will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and speak monstrous things against the God of gods” (Daniel 11:36) and with the Adversarial background of Revelation 12:9, 12-17; 13:4-10) has allusions to Isaiah 14:13-14 and Ezekiel 28:2-9 where the usurping figures addressed have sought to “raise [their] throne above the stars of God,” “make themselves like the Most High,” and declared “I am a god; I sit in the seat of the gods.”
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