The final chapter of 1 Maccabees. John Hyrcanus reports Cendebeus's raids to his father Simon. Simon, now elderly, sends his sons John and Judas to lead the army. They defeat Cendebeus at Modein and in the coastal plain. The chapter then narrates the treacherous murder of Simon and two of his sons by his son-in-law Ptolemy at a banquet in Jericho. John Hyrcanus escapes the assassination, assumes power, and the book closes with a reference to 'the chronicle of his high priesthood.'
The book ends as it began — with treachery and violence. Simon, the last of Mattathias's sons, is murdered not by a Seleucid enemy but by a member of his own family circle. The pattern of betrayal at banquets echoes throughout the narrative (cf. Alcimus's massacre, Trypho's capture of Jonathan). That the Hasmonean dynasty continues through John Hyrcanus rather than ending with Simon's murder shows the movement has transcended individual leadership.
The abrupt ending — 'the rest of the deeds of John... behold, they are written in the chronicle of the days of his high priesthood' (v. 24) — mirrors the formulaic conclusions of the Books of Kings. The author deliberately does not narrate John Hyrcanus's reign, leaving the reader at the threshold of a new era with the older story complete.
Ptolemy's treacherous banquet murder echoes Absalom's killing of Amnon (2 Samuel 13:28-29) and anticipates Herod's later paranoid murders of family members. The closing formula (v. 24) mirrors 1 Kings 11:41, 14:19, etc. — placing the Maccabean history in the literary framework of Israel's royal annals. John Hyrcanus would go on to become the most powerful of all Hasmonean rulers.
et ascendit Iohannes de Gazaris et nuntiavit Simoni patri suo quae fecit Cendebeus
John came up from Gezer and reported to his father Simon what Cendebeus was doing.
John Hyrcanus — Simon's son and future ruler; his military report launches the final campaign of the book
et vocavit Simon duos filios seniores Iudam et Iohannem et ait illis ego et fratres mei et domus patris mei expugnavimus hostes Israhel ab adulescentia usque in hunc diem et prosperatum est in manibus nostris liberare Israhel aliquotiens
Simon summoned his two elder sons, Judas and John, and said to them: 'I and my brothers and my father's house have fought the enemies of Israel from our youth until this day. Many times the work of delivering Israel has prospered in our hands.'
nunc autem senui sed estote loco meo et fratris mei et egressi pugnate pro gente nostra auxilium vero de caelo vobiscum sit
'Now I have grown old, but you — take my place and my brother's, go out and fight for our nation. And may the help of Heaven be with you.'
The theological keynote that opened Judas's battles (3:19) now closes Simon's career — God's help is the constant
et elegit de regione viginti milia virorum bellatorum et equites et profecti sunt adversus Cendebeum et dormierunt in Modin
He chose twenty thousand warriors and cavalry from the country, and they marched against Cendebeus. They spent the night at Modein.
et surrexerunt mane et abierunt in campum et ecce exercitus copiosus in obviam illis peditum et equitum et fluvius torrens erat inter medium ipsorum
They rose in the morning and marched to the plain. A large enemy force of infantry and cavalry was advancing to meet them, with a stream between them.
et admovit castra contra faciem eorum ipse et populus eius et vidit populum trepidantem ad transfretandum torrentem et transfretavit primus et viderunt viri et transierunt post eum
He drew up his forces facing them. Seeing that the troops were hesitant to cross the stream, he crossed first. His men saw him and crossed after him.
et divisit populum et equites in medio peditum erat autem equitatus adversariorum copiosus nimis
He divided the infantry and placed the cavalry in the middle, for the enemy's cavalry was very numerous.
et exclamaverunt sacris tubis et in fugam versus est Cendebeus et castra eius et ceciderunt ex eis multi vulnerati residui autem in munitionem fugerunt
They sounded the sacred trumpets, and Cendebeus and his army were put to flight. Many of them fell wounded, and the survivors fled to the fortress.
The ritual trumpets of Numbers 10:9 — used in every Maccabean battle from first to last, symbolizing divine participation in the fight
tunc vulneratus est Iudas frater Iohannis ipse autem Iohannes insecutus est eos donec venit Cedronem quam aedificavit
At that point Judas, John's brother, was wounded. But John pursued the enemy until he reached Kedron, which Cendebeus had fortified.
et fugerunt usque ad turres quae erant in agris Azoti et succendit eas igni et ceciderunt ex eis duo milia virorum et reversus est in Iudaeam in pace
They fled as far as the towers in the fields of Azotus. He burned them with fire. About two thousand of them fell, and he returned to Judea in peace.
et Ptolomaeus filius Abobi constitutus erat dux in campo Hiericho et habuit argentum et aurum multum
Now Ptolemy son of Abubus had been appointed governor over the plain of Jericho. He possessed much silver and gold,
Simon's son-in-law, governor of Jericho; the treacherous assassin whose betrayal ends the book
erat enim gener summi sacerdotis
for he was the son-in-law of the high priest.
et exaltatum est cor eius et volebat obtinere regionem et cogitabat dolum adversus Simonem et filios eius ut tolleret eos
His heart was lifted up with ambition. He wanted to seize control of the country and plotted treachery against Simon and his sons, to do away with them.
The same hubris formula applied to Antiochus (1:4) — the internal threat mirrors the external one that began the book
Simon autem perambulabat civitates quae erant in regione Iudaeae et sollicitudinem gerens earum et descendit in Hiericho ipse et Matthathias filius eius et Iudas anno centesimo septuagesimo septimo mense undecimo hic est mensis sabath
Simon was making a tour of the cities in the region of Judea, attending to their needs. He went down to Jericho — he and his sons Mattathias and Judas — in the one hundred and seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat.
et suscepit eos filius Abobi in munitiunculam quae vocatur Doch cum dolo quam aedificavit et fecit eis convivium magnum et abscondit illic viros
The son of Abubus received them treacherously in the small fortress he had built, called Dok. He prepared a great banquet for them and hid men there.
A small fortress near Jericho; the site of the treacherous banquet that kills the last son of Mattathias
et cum inebriatus esset Simon et filii eius surrexit Ptolomaeus cum suis et sumpserunt arma sua et intraverunt in convivium et occiderunt eum et duos filios eius et quosdam pueros eius
When Simon and his sons had drunk freely, Ptolemy and his men rose up, took their weapons, rushed into the banquet hall, and killed him along with his two sons and some of his servants.
et fecit deceptionem magnam in Israhel et reddidit mala pro bonis
He committed a great act of treachery in Israel, repaying good with evil.
The ultimate moral judgment on Ptolemy — echoing Psalm 35:12, 38:20; betraying a benefactor is the worst form of wickedness
et scripsit haec Ptolomaeus et misit regi ut mitteret ei exercitum in auxilium et traderet ei regionem et civitates eorum et tributa
Ptolemy wrote a report of these events and sent it to the king, asking him to send an army to help him and to hand over the country, the cities, and their revenues to him.
et misit alios in Gazaram tollere Iohannem et tribunis misit epistulas ut venirent ad se et daret eis argentum et aurum et dona
He sent other men to Gezer to kill John, and dispatched letters to the military commanders inviting them to come to him so he could give them silver, gold, and gifts.
et alios misit occupare Hierusalem et montem templi
He also sent men to seize Jerusalem and the Temple mount.
et praecurrens quidam nuntiavit Iohanni in Gazara quia periit pater eius et fratres eius et quia misit te quoque interfici
But someone ran ahead and reported to John in Gezer that his father and brothers had perished, and that men had been sent to kill him as well.
ut audivit autem vehementer expavit et conprehendit viros qui venerant perdere eum et occidit eos cognovit enim quia quaerebant eum perdere
When he heard this, he was greatly alarmed. He seized the men who had come to destroy him and killed them, for he knew they sought to take his life.
et cetera sermonum Iohannis et bellorum eius et bonarum virtutum quibus fortiter gessit et aedificii murorum quos exstruxit et rerum gestarum eius
The rest of the deeds of John — his wars, his brave exploits, the building of the walls he constructed, and his other achievements —
ecce haec scripta sunt in libro dierum sacerdotii eius ex quo factus est princeps sacerdotum post patrem suum
behold, these are written in the chronicle of his high priesthood, from the time he became high priest after his father.
A now-lost annalistic record of John Hyrcanus's reign; the closing formula mirrors the Books of Kings, claiming canonical status for Maccabean history