DEDICATION OF THE ALTAR

739

and fell on their faces to the ground, and blew with the solemn trumpets, and cried toward heaven.

Then Judas appointed certain men to fight against those that were in the citadel, until he should have cleansed the holy place. And he chose blameless priests, such as had pleasure in the law: and they cleansed the holy place, and bare out the stones of defilement into an unclean place. And they took counsel concerning the altar of burnt offerings, which had been profaned, what they should do with it: and there came into their mind a good counsel, that they should pull it down, lest it should be a reproach to them, because the Gentiles had defiled it: and they pulled down the altar, and laid up the stones in the mountain of the house in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to give an answer concerning them.

And they took whole stones according to the law, and built a new altar after the fashion of the former; and they built the holy place, and the inner parts of the house; and they hallowed the courts. And they made the holy vessels new, and they brought the candlestick, and the altar of burnt offerings and of incense, and the table, into the temple. And they burned incense upon the altar, and they lighted the lamps that were upon the candlestick, and they gave light in the temple. And they set loaves upon the table, and spread out the veils, and finished all the works which they made.

And they rose up early in the morning, on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month, which is the month Chislev, in the hundred and forty and eighth year, and offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of burnt offerings which they had made. At what time and on what day the Gentiles had profaned it, even on that day was it dedicated afresh, with songs and harps and lutes, and with cymbals. And all the people fell upon their faces, and worshipped, and gave praise unto heaven, which had given them good success.

And they kept the dedication of the altar eight days, and offered burnt offerings with gladness, and sacrificed a sacrifice of deliverance and praise. And they decked the forefront of the temple with crowns of gold and small shields, and dedicated afresh the gates and the priests' chambers, and made doors for them. And there was

exceeding great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was turned away.

And Judas and his brethren and the whole congregation of Israel ordained, that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons from year to year by the space of eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month Chislev, with gladness and joy.

Here then we have described to us the foundation and first celebration of our festival of Chanukah, which is still observed and celebrated by all Jewish congregations at the present day after an interval of 2,064 years. And well may we continue to celebrate it, for no less to the valiant fighting of Judas and his fellows than to the brave endurance of the martyrs was due, under God's will and providence, the preservation of Judaism. The mere national aspect of the matter is very small and trivial; whether a petty tribe of folk called Judæans preserved their separate national existence and constitution, or became assimilated with the Hellenistic Syrian subjects of the motley kingdom of Antiochus, was unimportant then, and would be unimportant now, looked at from a merely political or national point of view. But it so happened that this small race possessed at that time the purest and truest conception of God and of the manner of serving him among all the races of the earth, and if therefore this race had then been destroyed or absorbed in the mass of Greeks and Syrians, their religion would also have perished. The work of the prophets would have been in vain. It would, as it were, have had to be begun all over again. The Maccabean victories ensured the continuance of the teachings and the writings of Amos and the Isaiahs. Therefore the festival of Chanukah is a religious festival, and as such is worthy of our high regard. We are not specially concerned with the defeats of the Syrians. The details of the fightings subsequent to the dedication of the Temple are of smaller interest to us. The Maccabean family itself suffers from the results of conquest and victory. But the preservation of Judaism at a time of imminent and critical danger remains a permanent fact of supreme importance. If Judæa had been overcome and absorbed, the Jewish congregations outside it would very probably have been unable to outlive the shock. Therefore we owe our gratitude to the martyrs and the soldiers whose festival we celebrate in the days of Chanukah. Let Chanukah be also the festival of courage, a fourth part of all virtue, as the Greeks of old believed. The courage which Judaism demands of us now is not the courage of soldiers upon the battle-field, but it is often courage

CHANUKAH, THE FEAST OF LIGHTS

741

none the less. Let the deeds of the martyrs and soldiers in the age of Antiochus inspire us from year to year anew.

The original dedication festival was a sort of deferred festival of Tabernacles. Judas reoccupied Jerusalem in December, 165 B.C., and the last festival of the year, which should have, but had not been celebrated, was Tabernacles. So Judas organized a sort of retrospective Tabernacles, which served to fulfil two purposes at once. In the Second Book of Maccabees we are actually told that they kept eight days with gladness in the manner of tabernacles, remembering how that not long afore, during the feast of tabernacles, they were wandering in the mountains and in the caves after the manner of wild beasts. Wherefore bearing wands wreathed with leaves, and fair boughs, and palms also, they offered up hymns of thanksgiving to him that had prosperously brought to pass the cleansing of his own place.'

In later years, when the real festival of Tabernacles could be celebrated in its right season, the dedication (Chanukah) festival underwent sundry developments and changes. It soon also became called the Feast of Lights, though the origin and purpose of this name and of the lights now lit upon the days of Chanukah are wrapped in much obscurity. Josephus, the Jewish historian (writing about 100 A. C.), is clearly puzzled by the name, which he gives in the singular as 'Light.' He has no explanation to afford. From that time to this we celebrate this festival and call it "Light." I suppose that the reason was, because this liberty appeared to us beyond our hopes, and hence the name was given to the festival. Clearly this is no explanation at all. Legend soon began to weave its fairy web around the new festival, and we read the following statement in the Talmud by way of accounting for the later method of celebrating the festival, and for its appellation as the Feast of Lights. On the 25th of Kislev the eight days of Chanukah begin. On these days fasting and mourning are unlawful. For when the Greeks entered the Sanctuary, they defiled all the oils there. When the kingdom of the house of the Hasmouæans prevailed, they searched, but found only one hidden flask of oil bearing the seal of the High Priest. It contained sufficient oil for one day's light; but a miracle occurred with it; and they lighted the lamp with it for eight days. Hence they instituted eight days of rejoicing.'

Coming back once more to the historic foundation of Chanukah at the close of the year 165 B. C., it is highly interesting to think that some of the famous Hallel Psalms (113-118) may have been written specially for this auspicious event. Let the reader turn back to them and see (whatever their date of composition may be)

how wonderfully they chime and fit in with the deeds which led up to Chanukah, and with the emotions which it must have evoked and suggested.

He raiseth the poor out of the dust,

And lifteth the needy out of the dunghill.

Wherefore should the nations say,

'Where, pray, is their God?'

The Lord hath been mindful of us, he will bless us.

Precious in the sight of the Lord

Is the death of his loving ones.
O Lord, truly I am thy servant;

I am thy servant, the son of thine handmaid;
Thou hast loosed my bonds!

All nations compassed me about,

But in the name of the Lord have I cut them off.

The Lord is my strength and my song,

And he hath become my deliverance.

The Lord hath chastened me sore;

But he hath not given me over unto death.

The stone which the builders despised
Is become the head stone of the corner.
This is the Lord's doing;

It is marvellous in our eyes.

This is the day which the Lord hath made,
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.

JUDAS OCCUPIES JUDEA

743

CHAPTER IV

FROM THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE TO THE DEATH OF JUDAS

§ 1. The death of Antiochus.-With the dedication of the Temple, the more heroic and even the more religious period of the Maccabean story is over. From this point, then, to the death of Simon (135 B.C.) I only propose to give a rapid summary of the events, with occasional quotations from our authority.

For the next year and a half Judas was master of Judæa. His first business was to fortify the temple hill and the town of Bethsura at the southern frontier. Expeditions were also sent into Gilead (east of Jordan) and to Galilee to rescue the Jews in those districts who were in danger from their Gentile neighbours. Many successful battles were fought and the imperilled Jews were brought back, with all their families and goods, an exceeding great army,' into Judæa. Marauding campaigns were conducted against the Ammonites and Edomites; there was much slaughter and much pillage. The movement was no longer limited to the protection and maintenance of the Jewish faith; it was aiming at the consolidation and enlargement of the new political power. Finally, Judas made every effort to capture the citadel of Jerusalem, still garrisoned by the enemy's troops, and this led to a fresh and nearly fatal attack upon him by the Syrian general.

Antiochus Epiphanes died at Tabae, in Persia, in 164 B. C. He appointed Philip, his general and counsellor, guardian of his young son, Antiochus V Eupator, and regent during the minority. But in Philip's stead, Lysias got hold of the young king and seized the reins of power. These events are thus described in the First Book of the Maccabees. For the death of Antiochus we may compare what we have already read from Polybius.