J E W.' 
T96 
ror, he marched from city to city, overturned the ido¬ 
latrous altars, opened the Jewifh Synagogues, made a di¬ 
ligent fearch after all the lac red books, and caufed frelh 
copies of them to be written ; he alfo caufed the reading 
of the Scriptures to be refumed, and all the males born 
Since the perfecut-ion to be circumcifed, In all this he 
was attended with fuel) fuccefs, that he had extended his 
reformation through a confiderable part of Judea within 
the /'pace of one year; and would probably have com¬ 
pleted it, had he not been prevented by death. 
Mattathias was fucceeded by his fon Juda's, furnamed 
Maccabeus, the greatel’c uninfpired hero of whom the 
Jews can boaft. His troops amounted to no more than 
6000 men ; yet with thefe he quickly made liimfelf maf- 
ter of fome of the ftrongeft fortrelfes of Judea, and be¬ 
came terrible to the Syrians, Samaritans, and apoffate 
Jews. In one year he defeated the Syrians in five pitched 
battles, and drove them quite out. of the country ; after 
which he purified the temple, and reftored the true wor¬ 
ship, which had been interrupted for three years and a 
half. Only one obstacle now remained, viz. the Syrian 
garrifon before-mentioned, which had been placed over- 
againlt the temple, and which Judas could not at prefent 
reduce. In order to prevent them from interrupting the 
wor/liip, however, he fortified the mountain on which the 
temple /food, with a high wall and ltrong towers round 
.about, leaving a garrifon to defend it; making fome ad¬ 
ditional fortifications at the fame time to Bethzura, a for- 
trefs at about twenty miles diftance. 
In the mean time Antiochus, being on his return from 
an unfuccefsful expedition into Perfia, received the dif- 
agreeable news that the Jews had all to a man revolted, 
defeated his generals, driven their armies out of Judea, 
and reftored their ancient worfliip. This threw him into 
fuch a fury, that he commanded his charioteer to drive 
with the utmoft /'need, threatening utterly to extirpate the 
Jewifh race, without leaving a Single perfon alive. Thefe 
words were Scarcely uttered, when he was Seized with 
a violent pain in his bowels, which no remedy could cure 
■or abate. Notwithftanding this violent /hock, Suffering 
himfelf to be hurried away by the transports of his fury, 
lie gave orders for proceeding with the fame precipitation 
in his journey. But, while he was thus haltening for¬ 
ward, he fell from his chariot, and was fo bruifed by the 
fall, that his attendants were forced to put him into a 
litter. Not being able to bear even the motion of the lit¬ 
ter, he was forced to halt at a town called Tabae, on the 
confines of Perfia and Babylonia. Here lie kept his bed, 
Suffering inexpreffible torments, occafioned chiefly by the 
"vermin which bred in liis body, and the ftench, which 
made him infupportable even to himfelf. But the tor¬ 
ments of his mind, caufed by his reflecting on the for¬ 
mer a-6/ions of his life, furpalfed by many degrees thofe 
of his body. Polybius, who in his account of this prince’s 
death agrees with the Jewifh liiftorians, tells us, that the 
tmeafinefs of his mind grew at laft to a conffant delirium 
or flate of madnefs, by reafon of feveral fpedtres and ap¬ 
paritions of evil genii or fpirits, which he imagined were 
continually reproaching him with the many wicked ac¬ 
tions of which he had been guilty. At laft, having lan- 
guifhed for fome time in this milerable condition, he ex¬ 
pired, and by his death freed the Jews from the molt in¬ 
veterate enemy they had ever known. 
Notwithftanding the death of Antiochus, however, the 
war was ftill carried on againft the Jews ; but, through 
the valour and good conduft of Judas, the Syrians were 
conftantly defeated; and in 163 B. C. a peace was con¬ 
cluded upon terffis very advantageous to the Jewifh na¬ 
tion. This tranquillity, however, was of no long conti¬ 
nuance ; the Syrian generals renewed their hoftilities, and 
were attended with the fame ill fuccefs as before. Judas 
defeated them in five engagements; but in the fixth was 
abandoned by all his men except eight hundred, who, to¬ 
gether with their chief, was /lain in the year 161 B. C. 
The news, of the death of Judas threw his countrymen 
into the utmoft confternation, and feemed to give new 
life to all their enemies. He was fucceeded, however, by 
bis brother Jonathan'; who conduced matters with no 
lefs prudence and fuccefs than Judas had done, till he 
wasareacheroufly feized and put to death by Tryphon, a 
Syrian ufurper, who fliortly after murdered his own love- 
reign. The traitor immediately prepared to invade Ju¬ 
dea: but found all bis projects fruftrated by Simon, Jo¬ 
nathan’s brother. Simon repaired all the fortrelfes of Ju¬ 
dea, and furnifhed them with frefli garrilons ; took Joppa 
and Gaza, and drove out the Syrian garr-ifon from the 
fortrefs of Jerufalem; but was at laft treacheroufly mur¬ 
dered by a fon-in-law named Ptolemy, about 135 B.C. 
Simon was fucceeded by liis fon Hyrcanus; who not 
only /hook off the yoke of Syria, but conquered the Sa¬ 
maritans, demqlifhed their capital city, and became maf- 
ter of all Paleftine, to which he added the provinces of 
Samaria and Galilee ; all which lie enjoyed till within a 
year of liis death, without the leaft difturbance from with¬ 
out, or any internal difeord. His reign was no lefs re¬ 
markable on the account of liis great wifdom and piety at 
home than his conquefts abroad. He was the firft fince 
the captivity who had affumed the royal title; and he 
railed the Jewifh nation to a greater degree of fplendour 
than it had ever enjoyed fince that time. The author of 
the Fourth Book of the Maccabees alfo informs us, that 
in him three dignities were centred which never met in 
any other perfon, namely, the royal dignity, the liigh- 
priefthood, and the gift of prophecy. But the inftances 
given of this laft are very equivocal and fufpicious. The 
laft year of his reign, however, was embittered by a quar¬ 
rel with the Pharifees; and which proceeded fucli a length 
as was thought to have fliortened his days. Hyrcanus ■ 
had always been a great friend to that fefl, and they had 
hitherto enjoyed the raoft honourable employments in tile 
ftate; but at length one of them, named Eleazar, took it 
into liis head to queftion Hyrcanus’s legitimacy, alleging, 
that his mother had formerly been a have, and conle- 
quently that he was incapable of enjoying the high-prieft- 
liood. This report was credited, or pretended to be fo, 
by the whole feci; which irritated the high-prieft to fuch 
a degree, that he joined the Sadducees, and could never 
afterwards be reconciled to the Pharifees, who therefore 
railed all the troubles and feditions they could during 
the ftiort time he lived. 
Hyrcanus died in the'year 107 B.C. and was fucceeded 
by his eldeft fon Ariftobulus, who conquered Iturea, but 
proved a molt cruel and barbarous tyrant, polluting his 
hands with the blood eVen-of liis mother and one of his 
brothers, keeping the reft clofely confined during his 
reign, which, however, was but ftiort. He was fucceeded, 
in 105, by Alexander Jannaeus, the greateft conqueror, 
next to king David, tftat ever fat on the Jewifh throne. 
He was hated, however, by the Pharifees, and once in 
danger of being killed in a tumult excited by them ; but, 
having caufed his guards to fall upon the mutinous mob, 
they killed 6000 of them, and difp'erfed the reft. After 
this, finding it impoftible to remain in quiet in his own 
kingdom, he left Jerufalem, with a defign to apply him¬ 
felf wholly to the extending of his conquefts; but, while 
he was bufied in fubduing liis foreign enemies, the Pba- 
rifees railed a rebellion at home. This was qijafhed in 
the year 86 B.C. and the rebels were treated in the moft 
inhuman manner. The faftion, however, was by this 
means fo thoroughly quelled, that they never dared to lift 
up their heads as long as lie lived ; and Alexander, hav¬ 
ing made feveral conquefts in Syria, died about 79 B. C. 
The king left two Ions, Hyrcanus and Ariftobulus ; 
but bequeathed the government to his wife Alexandra as 
long as (he lived ; but, as he fjw her greatly afraid, and 
not without reafon, of the refentment of the Pharifees, Ire 
defired liis queen, juft before his death, to fend for the 
principal leaders of that party, and pretend to be entirely 
devoted to them ;' in which cafe, be a flu red her, that they 
would fupport her and her Ions after her in die peaceable 
pofieflioa 
