Josephus

על־דבר מְצָדָה ועל הסיקריים אשר ישבו בה. סילְוָה עלה להלחם במבצר. נאום אלעזר. א. ואחרי מות בַּסּוּס ירש פלַוִּיּוּס סִילְוָה את משׂרתו והיה לנציב ביהודה. וכל הארץ נכנעה במלחמה, רק מבצד אחד עוד החזיק במרדו. על־כן הקהיל סִילְוָה את הצבא המפֻזר בכל המקומות ויצא להלחם במבצר הזה. ושם המבצר מְצָדָה וראש הסיקריים, אשר כבשו את המבצר, היה אלעזר, איש־חיל ונשוא־פנים, מנכדי יהודה, אשר ספּרנו עליו למעלה, כי פִתּה יהודים רבים לבלתי תת [את הרומאים] לפקוד את העם בעת אשר נשלח קְוִיריניוּס המעריך אל ארץ יהודה. וגם בימים ההם נוסדו הסיקריים יחד על כל האנשים, אשר בחרו להכּנע לפני הרומאים, וכאויבים הציקו להם באשר יכלו, גזלו את רכושם ושׁבו את בקרם ושלחו אש בבתיהם, באמרם, כי אין לשׂום פדות בין השונאים הנכרים ובין האחים האלה רכי־הלב, הבועטים בחֵרות, אשר העם מחרף את נפשו עליה, והמודים בפיהם, כי בחרו להיות עבדים לרומאים. אולם הטענה הזאת היתה רק כסות־עינים על אכזריותם ותאות־בצעם, והמעשים באו וטפחו על פניהם. כי פגיעתם היתה קשה גם על האנשים, אשר חֻבּרו אליהם והרימו יד ברומאים אתם יחד. ומדי שמוע הסיקריים דברי־תוכחה על תרמית־לבבם, הוסיפו עוד לרדוף בעברת־זדון את המוכיחים, העונים בפניהם רשעתם, כי חרה להם על צדקת דבריהם. ובעת ההיא פרח הזדון למעלה בכל ארץ יהודה ולא היה דבר־תועבה, אשר לא נעשה, וגם אם יתחכם אדם לגלות דרכי־רשע חדשות, יבצר ממנו להוסיף על המעשים ההם. כי דבק הרקב בַּכֹּל ואכל את היחיד ואת הצבור, וכל אחד נצח את חברו בחטאותיו לאלהים, ואיש ברעהו התחרה להרבות עָוֶל לאחיו הקרובים אליו. כי התקיפים לחצו את המון העם, וההמון שקד לאַבֵּד את התקיפים, אלה התאוו תאוה למשול ממשל־עריצים, ואלה השתוקקו לעשות חמס ולבֹז את הון העשירים. והסיקריים היו הראשונים, אשר החלו לעשות רשע וקמו באכזריות־רצח על אחיהם, ולא נבצר מפיהם כל דבר־חרפה ומידיהם כל מעשה־תועבה לאבדם ולכַלותם (את אחיהם). ואחריהם בא יוחנן והראה, כי הסיקריים היו עוד מתונים במעשיהם, ונקל היה בעיניו להמית את כל דורשי היֹשר והטוב, בעשותו בהם מעשים אשר יעָשו לנבלים ולשונאי העם בנפש, כי מִלא גם את עיר־הקדש נאצות נוראות, כמעשה האיש אשר נועז לנַבּל את כבוד האלהים, ועל שלחנו העלה מאכלים אסורים ובטל את חֻקי הטהרה, מצוות התורה ונחלת אבותינו. ועל־כן לא יפָּלא בעינינו, כי לא שמר האיש הזה את חֻקי החמלה והאהבה לרעהו, אחרי אשר עבר ברוח שגעון על חֻקי יראת אלהים. ובּבוא אחריו שמעון בן גיורא — הנשאר דבר רע, אשר לא עשו ידיו? או הנמצא בוז וקלון, שלא הביא על האזרחים החפשים, אשר הקימו אותו לעריץ? הזכר ברית־אהבה, הזכר רחמי־אחים, בהוסיפו אֹמץ במעשי־רצח מיום ליום? הם חשבו, כי דרך איש נבזה ונבל היא לעשות רעה לזרים, ורק השופך את חמתו על אחיו נותן אות לנדבת־לבו. ולשגעון האנשים האלה חֻבּרה הוללות האדוֹמים, כי אלה הטמאים המבישים שחטו בידיהם את הכֹּהנים הגדולים, למען תכבה הגחלת האחרונה, אשר נשארה מיראת האלהים, ואחרי־כן הכריתו את השריד האחרון לסדרי המדינה, ועל מקומו הקימו ממשלת־זדון מאין כמוה בכל העיר. ובקרב השערורה הזאת פרח זרע הנקרא קנאים, אשר כשמם כן היו מעשיהם, כי כל מעשה רע היה להם למופת ומכל התועבות, אשר נעשו לפנים ונשארו לזכרון, לא היתה אף אחת, אשר נמנעו מִקַּנא בה ומעשות כמוה. אמנם הם קראו לעצמם בשם הזה, באמרם, כי הם מקנאים לדברים טובים (לשם שמים), ולא נודע, אם צחוק עשו להם בעשוקים מתוך יֵצר לבם האכזרי כחית־טרף, או כל רֶשע ואון למעשה טוב היה בעיניהם. ואולם כל אחד מהם מצא באחריתו את הגמול הראוי לו, כי האלהים שלם לכֻלם את שכר פעֻלתם, וכל היסורים, אשר יוכל לשאת אדם חי, כֻּלם עברו עליהם, עד בוא הקץ לחייהם, ונוראים ומשֻׁנים היו ענוייהם במותם. ובכל־זאת יצדק האומר, כי סבלותיהם לא הגיעו עד מדת מעשיהם הרעים. הן באמת לא נמצא [בעולם] גמול־צדק למעלליהם. אולם לא פה המקום לספֹּד כהלכה לחללי אכזריותם, ועלי לשוב אל החלק אשר נשאר לי עוד מספור המעשים.

Concerning Masada And Those Sicarii Who Kept It; And How Silva Betook Himself To Form The Siege Of That Citadel. Eleazar's Speeches To The Besieged. 1. When Bassus was dead in Judea, Flavius Silva succeeded him as procurator there; who, when he saw that all the rest of the country was subdued in this war, and that there was but one only strong hold that was still in rebellion, he got all his army together that lay in different places, and made an expedition against it. This fortress was called Masada. It was one Eleazar, a potent man, and the commander of these Sicarii, that had seized upon it. He was a descendant from that Judas who had persuaded abundance of the Jews, as we have formerly related, not to submit to the taxation when Cyrenius was sent into Judea to make one; for then it was that the Sicarii got together against those that were willing to submit to the Romans, and treated them in all respects as if they had been their enemies, both by plundering them of what they had, by driving away their cattle, and by setting fire to their houses; for they said that they differed not at all from foreigners, by betraying, in so cowardly a manner, that freedom which Jews thought worthy to be contended for to the utmost, and by owning that they preferred slavery under the Romans before such a contention. Now this was in reality no better than a pretense and a cloak for the barbarity which was made use of by them, and to color over their own avarice, which they afterwards made evident by their own actions; for those that were partners with them in their rebellion joined also with them in the war against the Romans, and went further lengths with them in their impudent undertakings against them; and when they were again convicted of dissembling in such their pretenses, they still more abused those that justly reproached them for their wickedness. And indeed that was a time most fertile in all manner of wicked practices, insomuch that no kind of evil deeds were then left undone; nor could any one so much as devise any bad thing that was new, so deeply were they all infected, and strove with one another in their single capacity, and in their communities, who should run the greatest lengths in impiety towards God, and in unjust actions towards their neighbors; the men of power oppressing the multitude, and the multitude earnestly laboring to destroy the men of power. The one part were desirous of tyrannizing over others, and the rest of offering violence to others, and of plundering such as were richer than themselves. They were the Sicarii who first began these transgressions, and first became barbarous towards those allied to them, and left no words of reproach unsaid, and no works of perdition untried, in order to destroy those whom their contrivances affected. Yet did John demonstrate by his actions that these Sicarii were more moderate than he was himself, for he not only slew all such as gave him good counsel to do what was right, but treated them worst of all, as the most bitter enemies that he had among all the Citizens; nay, he filled his entire country with ten thousand instances of wickedness, such as a man who was already hardened sufficiently in his impiety towards God would naturally do; for the food was unlawful that was set upon his table, and he rejected those purifications that the law of his country had ordained; so that it was no longer a wonder if he, who was so mad in his impiety towards God, did not observe any rules of gentleness and common affection towards men. Again, therefore, what mischief was there which Simon the son of Gioras did not do? or what kind of abuses did he abstain from as to those very free-men who had set him up for a tyrant? What friendship or kindred were there that did not make him more bold in his daily murders? for they looked upon the doing of mischief to strangers only as a work beneath their courage, but thought their barbarity towards their nearest relations would be a glorious demonstration thereof. The Idumeans also strove with these men who should be guilty of the greatest madness! for they [all], vile wretches as they were, cut the throats of the high priests, that so no part of a religious regard to God. might be preserved; they thence proceeded to destroy utterly the least remains of a political government, and introduced the most complete scene of iniquity in all instances that were practicable; under which scene that sort of people that were called zealots grew up, and who indeed corresponded to the name; for they imitated every wicked work; nor, if their memory suggested any evil thing that had formerly been done, did they avoid zealously to pursue the same; and although they gave themselves that name from their zeal for what was good, yet did it agree to them only by way of irony, on account of those they had unjustly treated by their wild and brutish disposition, or as thinking the greatest mischiefs to be the greatest good. Accordingly, they all met with such ends as God deservedly brought upon them in way of punishment; for all such miseries have been sent upon them as man's nature is capable of undergoing, till the utmost period of their lives, and till death came upon them in various ways of torment; yet might one say justly that they suffered less than they had done, because it was impossible they could be punished according to their deserving. But to make a lamentation according to the deserts of those who fell under these men's barbarity, this is not a proper place for it; - I therefore now return again to the remaining part of the present narration.

The War of the Jews 7:8:1 · The War of the Jews, translated by William Whiston

על כבוש ירושלים ועשק ההיכל ועל מעשי המכבים מתתיהו ויהודה ועל מות יהודה. א. בעת מלחמות אנטיוכוס הנקרא אפיפנס עם תלמי הששי על־דבר השלטון בכל ארץ סוריה נפלה מריבה בין תקיפי היהודים, כי שלטה קנאה ביניהם בדבר שלטון־העם וכל אחד מאנשי־המשרה לא רצה להכנע לפני חבריו. חוניו, אחד הכהנים הגדולים, התחזק וגרש מן העיר את בני טוביה, ואלה ברחו אל אנטיוכוס וחלו את פניו להתנפל על ארץ יהודה והבטיחוהו להיות לו לעינים. המלך נעתר אליהם, כי זה מכבר זמם לעשות כדבר הזה, ומהר בעצמו לעלות על העיר בראש חַיִל גדול וכבש אותה בחזק־יד והמית המון גדול מאנשי־שלומו של תלמי ונתן רשות לאנשי־הצבא לבז את העיר באין מעצור, והוא בעצמו בזז את היכל ה׳ והשבית את עבודת התמיד שלש שנים וששה חדשים. והכהן הגדול חוניו ברח אל תלמי וקבל ממנו נחלה במחוז הליופוליס ושם יסד עיר קטנה כדמות ירושלים ובנה בה היכל לה׳ כתבנית בית־המקדש. ועל־זה עוד נשוב לדבר במקום הראוי.

How The City Jerusalem Was Taken, And The Temple Pillaged [By Antiochus Epiphanes]. As Also Concerning The Actions Of The Maccabees, Matthias And Judas; And Concerning The Death Of Judas. 1. At the same time that Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, had a quarrel with the sixth Ptolemy about his right to the whole country of Syria, a great sedition fell among the men of power in Judea, and they had a contention about obtaining the government; while each of those that were of dignity could not endure to be subject to their equals. However, Onias, one of the high priests, got the better, and cast the sons of Tobias out of the city; who fled to Antiochus, and besought him to make use of them for his leaders, and to make an expedition into Judea. The king being thereto disposed beforehand, complied with them, and came upon the Jews with a great army, and took their city by force, and slew a great multitude of those that favored Ptolemy, and sent out his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years and six months. But Onias, the high priest, fled to Ptolemy, and received a place from him in the Nomus of Heliopolis, where he built a city resembling Jerusalem, and a temple that was like its temple concerning which we shall speak more in its proper place hereafter.

The War of the Jews 1:1:1 · The War of the Jews, translated by William Whiston

ארכילאוס עשה סעדת־הבראה לעם. מריבה גדולה קמה בקרב ההמון, והוא שלח עליהם את אנשי־צבאו והמיתו כשלשת אלפים איש. א. על ארכילאוס הוטל לנסוע אל רומא, ומן הדבר הזה יצאה מהומה חדשה. כי אחרי התאבלו על אביו שבעה ימים עשה משתה גדול לעם, לזכר קבורת אביו, כי הדבר הזה הוא חק ליהודים ועל־ידו התרוששו רבים, אשר קצרה ידם לעשות כֵּרה להמון הרב ומלאו את הדבר בעל־כרחם, כי העובר על החֹק הזה כמפר מצוה יחָשב. אחרי זאת לבש ארכילאוס בגדים לבנים ועלה אל בית־המקדש ושם קִדם העם את פניו בברכות רבות, והוא ישב בראש בימה גבוהה על כסא זהב וממרום שבתו ברך את העם על הכבוד אשר עשה לו בעת הלוית אביו והודה אותו על אשר נשא את פניו כפני מלך אשר נכון כבר כסא המלוכה בידו; והוסיף לדבר, כי יזהר מנהוג שְׂרָרָה וגם לא יקָרא בשם מלך, עד אשר יקים הקיסר בידו את ירֻשת הכסא, כי הוא הנהו השליט העליון גם על־פי צואת אביו; ועל־כן לא קבל (ארכילאוס) את הנזר, אשר אמר הצבא לשים על ראשו בעיר יריחו. לעֻמת־זאת אמר, כי נכון לבו באהבה וברצון לשלם לאנשי־הצבא ולעם כגמול מעשיהם הטובים עמו, אחרי תת השליטים העליונים את הממלכה בידו, וגם יבקש בכל דרכיו להיטיב להם מאביו.

Archelaus Makes A Funeral Feast For The People, On The Account Of Herod. After Which A Great Tumult Is Raised By The Multitude And He Sends The Soldiers Out Upon Them, Who Destroy About Three Thousand Of Them. 1. Now the necessity which Archelaus was under of taking a journey to Rome was the occasion of new disturbances; for when he had mourned for his father seven days, and had given a very expensive funeral feast to the multitude, (which custom is the occasion of poverty to many of the Jews, because they are forced to feast the multitude; for if any one omits it, he is not esteemed a holy person,) he put on a white garment, and went up to the temple, where the people accosted him with various acclamations. He also spake kindly to the multitude from an elevated seat and a throne of gold, and returned them thanks for the zeal they had shown about his father's funeral, and the submission they had made to him, as if he were already settled in the kingdom; but he told them withal, that he would not at present take upon him either the authority of a king, or the names thereto belonging, until Caesar, who is made lord of this whole affair by the testament, confirm the succession; for that when the soldiers would have set the diadem on his head at Jericho, he would not accept of it; but that he would make abundant requitals, not to the soldiers only, but to the people, for their alacrity and good-will to him, when the superior lords [the Romans] should have given him a complete title to the kingdom; for that it should be his study to appear in all things better than his father.

The War of the Jews 2:1:1 · The War of the Jews, translated by William Whiston

נירון שלח את אספסינוס להלחם ביהודים. א. וכאשר הגיעה שמועת המפלות בארץ יהודה לאזני נירון, נפלו עליו חרדה ופחד במסתרים; אולם לעין רואים עטה גאוה וזעם, באמרו, כי לא מגבורת האנשים (היהודים) יצא הדבר, רק מקַלות דעת שרי־הצבא (הרומאים). הוא חשב, כי נאה לכבוד תפארת שלטונו להביט בבוז על התלאות האלה ולהראות, כי נעלה היא נשמתו מכל הנוראות אולם דאגתו ורגזו גלו את מבוכת לבבו.

Vespasian Is Sent Into Syria By Nero In Order To Make War With The Jews. 1. When Nero was informed of the Romans' ill success in Judea, a concealed consternation and terror, as is usual in such cases, fell upon him; although he openly looked very big, and was very angry, and said that what had happened was rather owing to the negligence of the commander, than to any valor of the enemy: and as he thought it fit for him, who bare the burden of the whole empire, to despise such misfortunes, he now pretended so to do, and to have a soul superior to all such sad accidents whatsoever. Yet did the disturbance that was in his soul plainly appear by the solicitude he was in [how to recover his affairs again].

The War of the Jews 3:1:1 · The War of the Jews, translated by William Whiston

מצור גמלא ומפלתה. א. הגליליים, אשר התקוממו ברומאים אחרי מפלת יודפת, נכנעו לפניהם לשֵׁמע המגפה אשר היתה בטריכי, והרומאים כבשו את כל מבצרי הגליל מלבד גוש־חלב והר־תבור, אשר החזיקו בו היהודים. וגם העיר גמלא, אשר מעבר לים כנרת, מול טריכי, מרדה עוד ברומאים. העיר הזאת נחשבה על גבול אגריפס וכמוה גם הערים סוֹגַנִּי וסיליקיה, וכֻלן הן ערי הגולן, וסוגני היא בארץ הנקראה הגולן העליון וגמלא — בגולן התחתון; וסיליקיה — בקרבת יאור סמך. ורֹחב היאור הזה שלשים ריס וארכו ששים והאגמים אשר לו משתרעים עד דַּפְנֵי, ושם ארץ מעינות מים, אשר מהם יוצא הנהר המכֻנה בשם הירדן הקטן, ומימיו נופלים אל הירדן הגדול בקרבת מקדש עגל־הזהב. ועם יושבי סוגני וסיליקיה כרת אגריפס ברית־שלום בראשית המרד. אולם גמלא לא נכנעה תחתיו, כי יושביה בטחו במשגב עירם, אשר היתה חזקה מיודפת. כי ממעל להר גבוה מתנשא שם צוק זקוף ובתוך הוא מעלה גבנון ומשתרע במישור למעלה ונוטה [תלול] לפנים ולאחור, והוא דומה בתבניתו לגמל, ועל־כן נקרא בשם הזה (גמלא), אף כי יושבי המקום אינם מבטאים את השם הזה מבֹאר כמשפטו. משתי צלעותיו וממול פניו מֻקף הסלע הזה תהומות, אשר אין איש יכול לעבור בהן, ורק מאחור, אשר שם הכֵּף מסתעף מן ההר, אין הדרך אליו כה תלולה. אולם גם במקום הזה חפרו יושבי המקום חריץ עמֹק מן הצד (באלכסון) לסגור על מבואי העיר. ועל הצלע הזקופה נבנו הבתים צפופים מאד, עד אשר דמתה כל העיר התלולה כתלויה על פי התהום וצונחת למטה. ופני העיר היו למול רוח דרומית, והצוק המתרומם לאין־חקר ממעל לעיר גם הוא נשקף לצד דרום, ועליו נמצאה מצודת העיר (מרום העיר, הצריח), ולמטה ממנה היתה צלע ההר הזקופה באין חומה, כי נפלה אל תהום עמֻקה. ומקור מים נמצא מבית לחומה בקצה העיר.

The Siege And Taking Of Gamala. 1. Now all those Galileans who, after the taking of Jotapata, had revolted from the Romans, did, upon the conquest of Taricheae, deliver themselves up to them again. And the Romans received all the fortresses and the cities, excepting Gischala and those that had seized upon Mount Tabor; Gamala also, which is a city ever against Tarichem, but on the other side of the lake, conspired with them. This city lay Upon the borders of Agrippa's kingdom, as also did Sogana and Seleucia. And these were both parts of Gaulanitis; for Sogana was a part of that called the Upper Gaulanitis, as was Gamala of the Lower; while Selcucia was situated at the lake Semechouitis, which lake is thirty furlongs in breadth, and sixty in length; its marshes reach as far as the place Daphne, which in other respects is a delicious place, and hath such fountains as supply water to what is called Little Jordan, under the temple of the golden calf, where it is sent into Great Jordan. Now Agrippa had united Sogana and Seleucia by leagues to himself, at the very beginning of the revolt from the Romans; yet did not Gamala accede to them, but relied upon the difficulty of the place, which was greater than that of Jotapata, for it was situated upon a rough ridge of a high mountain, with a kind of neck in the middle: where it begins to ascend, it lengthens itself, and declines as much downward before as behind, insomuch that it is like a camel in figure, from whence it is so named, although the people of the country do not pronounce it accurately. Both on the side and the face there are abrupt parts divided from the rest, and ending in vast deep valleys; yet are the parts behind, where they are joined to the mountain, somewhat easier of ascent than the other; but then the people belonging to the place have cut an oblique ditch there, and made that hard to be ascended also. On its acclivity, which is straight, houses are built, and those very thick and close to one another. The city also hangs so strangely, that it looks as if it would fall down upon itself, so sharp is it at the top. It is exposed to the south, and its southern mount, which reaches to an immense height, was in the nature of a citadel to the city; and above that was a precipice, not walled about, but extending itself to an immense depth. There was also a spring of water within the wall, at the utmost limits of the city.

The War of the Jews 4:1:1 · The War of the Jews, translated by William Whiston

מלחמות הקנאים בירושלים והצרות אשר מצאו את העיר. א. בדרך, אשר אמרנו למעלה, עבר טיטוס את המדבר הגדול אשר ממעל (צפונה) למצרים עד ארץ סוריה ובא אל קיסריה ושם אמר לפקד את צבאותיו [ולהלחם ביהודים]. אולם בעת אשר היה עוד טיטוס באלכסנדריה יחד עם אביו ועזר לו להכין את הממשלה החדשה, אשר הפקיד אלהים בידו, גדלה ועצמה מלחמת־האחים בירושלים, כי שלש מפלגות קמו הפעם וכל אחת רָבה בצרותיה, עד אשר יאמר האומר, כי היה הדבר הזה לחסד־מעט בקרב הרעות ולאות גמול אלהים [לרשעים]. כבר למעלה סֻפר על־דבר זדון הקנאים נגד העם, אשר ממנו היתה ראשית מפלת העיר, וגם פֹּרש מאַין צָמח [הזדון הזה] ואיך פרח ועלה למעלה ודבַר כל הרעות אשר הביא לרגליו, ולא ישגה איש באמרו על המעשה הזה, כי הוא מריבה, אשר נולדה מתוך מריבה (מחלֹקת גוררת מחלֹקת), כדרך החיה הרעה, אשר חסרה את טַרפּהּ מן החוץ והחלה לאכול את בשר עצמה.

Concerning The Seditions At Jerusalem And What Terrible Miseries Afflicted The City By Their Means. 1. When therefore Titus had marched over that desert which lies between Egypt and Syria, in the manner forementioned, he came to Cesarea, having resolved to set his forces in order at that place, before he began the war. Nay, indeed, while he was assisting his father at Alexandria, in settling that government which had been newly conferred upon them by God, it so happened that the sedition at Jerusalem was revived, and parted into three factions, and that one faction fought against the other; which partition in such evil cases may be said to be a good thing, and the effect of Divine justice. Now as to the attack the zealots made upon the people, and which I esteem the beginning of the city's destruction, it hath been already explained after an accurate manner; as also whence it arose, and to how great a mischief it was increased. But for the present sedition, one should not mistake if he called it a sedition begotten by another sedition, and to be like a wild beast grown mad, which, for want of food from abroad, fell now upon eating its own flesh.

The War of the Jews 5:1:1 · The War of the Jews, translated by William Whiston

תלאות היהודים עברו כל מדה. הרומאים התנפלו על הבירה. א. וצרות ירושלים עצמו מיום ליום, כי כאשר גדלו התלאות עלה גם רֹגז המורדים, והרעב, אשר שת קציר לעם, כבר החל להציק גם להם. מראה ערֵמות הפגרים הרבים היה לזוָעה לעין־רואה, וצחנתם הֶעלתה רוח־קטב, ותִלי הגוִיות היו למכשול לאנשי־המלחמה בהגיחם מן העיר, כי היה עליהם לדרוך על חללים, כמעשה הלוחמים במערכה, הבוקעים להם דרך ביום הרג רב. אך גם בבוססם את הגויות לא סמרו שערותיהם ולא התעוררו רחמיהם, אף לא ראו אות, מבַשׂר רעה בַּחרפה, אשר הביאו על המתים, ובידים מגֹאלות בדם אחיהם רצו משערי העיר להתגרות מלחמה באויביהם, כאִלו אמרו ליַסר את האלהים על אשר האריך להם במדת־דינו. כי לא תקוה לנצחון הוסיפה עוד להפיח עֹז בלב המורדים, כי־אם היאוש מכל ישועה יצא לפניהם במלחמותם. ואף כי עבדו הרומאים עבודת־פרך בהביאם את העצים ממרחק, עלה בידם להשלים את עבודת הסוללות מקץ עשרים ואחד יום, אחרי חשׂפם — כאשר אמרתי למעלה — את כל הארץ מסביב לעיר במרחק תשעים ריס. ומראה הארץ עורר חמלה בלב כל רואה, כי בהִגָּדע כל האילנות במקומות, אשר עטו לפנים עצי־פרי ופרדסים, נהפכה כֻלה לשאִיָּה. וגם האישׁ הנכרי, אשר ראה לפנים את ארץ יהודה ואת מגרשי ירושלים כלילי־היֹפי והביט עתה אל המקומות האלה בחֻרבנם, לא עצר כֹּח למנוע קולו מבכי ולהבליג על אנחותיו למראה המהפכה הנוראה הזאת. כי מחתה המלחמה את כל עקבות הדַר העיר לפנים, ולוּ הגיע שמה פתאֹם איש, אשר ידע את המקומות האלה לפנים, כי אז נבצר ממנו להכירם, ובדרוך רגליו על אדמת ירושלים היה עליו לבקש את מקומה אַיּוֹ.

That the Miseries Still Grew Worse; and how the Romans Made an Assault upon the Tower of Antonia. 1. Thus did the miseries of Jerusalem grow worse and worse every day, and the seditious were still more irritated by the calamities they were under, even while the famine preyed upon themselves, after it had preyed upon the people. And indeed the multitude of carcasses that lay in heaps one upon another was a horrible sight, and produced a pestilential stench, which was a hinderance to those that would make sallies out of the city, and fight the enemy: but as those were to go in battle-array, who had been already used to ten thousand murders, and must tread upon those dead bodies as they marched along, so were not they terrified, nor did they pity men as they marched over them; nor did they deem this affront offered to the deceased to be any ill omen to themselves; but as they had their right hands already polluted with the murders of their own countrymen, and in that condition ran out to fight with foreigners, they seem to me to have cast a reproach upon God himself, as if he were too slow in punishing them; for the war was not now gone on with as if they had any hope of victory; for they gloried after a brutish manner in that despair of deliverance they were already in. And now the Romans, although they were greatly distressed in getting together their materials, raised their banks in one and twenty days, after they had cut down all the trees that were in the country that adjoined to the city, and that for ninety furlongs round about, as I have already related. And truly the very view itself of the country was a melancholy thing; for those places which were before adorned with trees and pleasant gardens were now become a desolate country every way, and its trees were all cut down: nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judea and the most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw it as a desert, but lament and mourn sadly at so great a change: for the war had laid all the signs of beauty quite waste: nor if any one that had known the place before, had come on a sudden to it now, would he have known it again; but though he were at the city itself, yet would he have inquired for it notwithstanding.

The War of the Jews 6:1:1 · The War of the Jews, translated by William Whiston

ירושלים נהרסה כליל מלבד שלשה מגדלים. טיטוס הקהיל את אנשי־הצבא והִללם על גבורתם ונתן להם מתנות ושלח רבים לבתיהם. א. וכאשר לא השיגה עוד יד אנשי־הצבא לטבּוח ולבֹז בז, כי לא נשאר להם דבר לכלות בו את חמתם, — כי הן לא ידעו [הרומאים] חמלה ולא היו מושכים ידיהם, לוּ מצאו דבר להשחיתו, — צוה טיטוס עליהם להרוס את כל העיר עם ההיכל עד היסוד ולהשאיר רק את המגדלים העולים על חבריהם בשׂיאם, הם פצאל, הִפִּיקוֹס ומִרים, ואת חלק החומה הסוגר על העיר ממערב, למען יהיה שם מקום־מחנה לחיל־המשמר הנשאר בירושלים, והמגדלים יספרו לדורות אחרונים את פרשת העיר הגדולה עם מצודותיה החזקות והבצורות, אשר הכניעו הרומאים בגבורת ידיהם. ואת יתר חלקי החומה הגיעו הרומאים לארץ והפכו (את ירושלים) למשואות, עד אשר לא יאמין העובר (על תּל־שממונה), כי היתה במקום הזה לפנים עיר נושבה. זה הקץ, אשר הביאו המורדים ברוח־שגעונם על ירושלים, העיר המעטירה, אשר התברכו בה כל בני־האדם.

How The Entire City Of Jerusalem Was Demolished, Excepting Three Towers; And How Titus Commended His Soldiers In A Speech Made To Them, And Distributed Rewards To Them And Then Dismissed Many Of Them. 1. Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury, (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done,) Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as were of the greatest eminency; that is, Phasaelus, and Hippicus, and Mariamne; and so much of the wall as enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison, as were the towers also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valor had subdued; but for all the rest of the wall, it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind.

The War of the Jews 7:1:1 · The War of the Jews, translated by William Whiston

מעשה בראשית. בראשית ברא אלהים שמים וארץ, והארץ היתה מעֻלפת בערפל, חבושה בחשֵכה ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פניה, וַיְצַו אלהים: יהי אור; ויהי אור, וירא אלהים (לאור הזה) את כל מסתרי הַחֹמֶר הֲרַת עולם, ויבדל בין האור ובין החשך, ויקרא לאור יום ולחשך קרא לילה, ולראשית הלילה והמנוחה קרא ערב, ולראשית האור והעבודה קרא בקר, ויהי ערב ויהי בֹקר יום ראשון. אך בתורת משה כתוב יום אחד תחת יום ראשון, ופשר הדבר אין מקומו פה בספר דברי הימים, ושמתי לו מקום בספר אשר יעדתיו לבאר בו הליכות ספרי קדשנו וטעמי מצות התורה. ביום השני רָקע אלהים את רקיע השמים וימתחהו מעל כל יצורי התבל, וייסדהו בספירים וַיְקָרֵהו בחשרת מים ואגלי טל להשקות את האדמה ולהצמיחה. ביום השלישי יָסד את הארץ על מכוניה וּלְמֵזַח תמיד חגר אותה במים רבים, וביום ההוא הִדְשיא את הארץ דשא עשב מזריע זרע וַיִטַע כל עץ מאכל וכל נטעי נעמנים. ביום הרביעי פֵאַר וַיַעַד את רקיע השמים בַּעֲדִי השמש, הירח וכל כוכבי אור וישם חק למסלוליהם ותקופותיהם להיות לאותות ולמועדים לימים ושנים. ביום החמישי ברא אלהים את בעלי סנפיר וקשקשת וכל נפש החיה אשר שרצו המים למיניהם, גם כל בעלי כנפים המעופפים תחת רקיע השמים, ויטע בהם התשוקה לדבקה איש באשתו להחיות זרע ולפרות ולרבות בארץ. ביום הששי יצר אלהים את חית הארץ למינה ואת הבהמה למינה ואת כל רמש האדמה למינהו, זכר ונקבה ברא אותם, ולאחרונה ברא את האדם בצלמו כדמותו, ואז כֻּלוּ השמים והארץ וכל צבאם, ויכל אלהים את כל מעשה בראשית וישבות ביום השביעי מכל מלאכתו אשר פעל ועשה, ויברך את יום השביעי ויקדשהו, ועל כן צוה ה׳ גם אותנו לשבות ביום השביעי ולקדש אותו, ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת לדורות עולם וישבתו וינָפשו בו כמצֻוה עליהם מפי ה׳ ביד משה.

The Constitution of the World, and the Disposition of the Elements. 1. IN THE beginning God created the heaven and the earth; but when the earth did not come into sight, but was covered with thick darkness, and a wind moved upon its surface, God commanded that there should be light; and when that was made, he considered the whole mass, and separated the light and the darkness; and the name he gave to one was Night, and the other he called Day; and he named the beginning of light and the time of rest, The Evening and The Morning; and this was indeed the first day: but Moses said it was one day,—the cause of which I am able to give even now; but because I have promised to give such reasons for all things in a treatise by itself, I shall put off its exposition till that time. After this, on the second day, he placed the heaven over the whole world, and separated it from the other parts; and he determined it should stand by itself. He also placed a crystalline [firmament] round it, and put it together in a manner agreeable to the earth, and fitted it for giving moisture and rain and for affording the advantage of dews. On the third day he appointed dry land to appear, with the sea itself round about it; and on this very same day he made the plants and the seeds to spring out of the earth. On the fourth day he adorned the heaven with the sun, the moon, and the other stars, and appointed them their motions and courses, that the vicissitudes of the seasons might be clearly signified. And on the fifth day he produced the living creatures, both those that swim and those that fly, the former in the sea, the latter in the air: he also sorted them as to society and mixture, for procreation, and that their kinds might increase and multiply. On the sixth day he created the four-footed beasts, and made them male and female: on the same day he also formed man. Accordingly Moses says, That in just six days the world and all that is therein was made; and that the seventh day was a rest, and a release from the labour of such operations;—whence it is that we celebrate a rest from our labours on that day, and call it the Sabbath, which word denotes rest in the Hebrew tongue.

The Antiquities of the Jews 1:1:1 · The Antiquities of the Jews, translated by William Whiston, 1825

ויהי אחרי מות יצחק, ויחלקו בניו את מושבותם ולא החזיקו עוד בנחלתם הראשונה; ויעזוב עשו את חברון העיר ויתנה לאחיו, וילך וישב בהר שעיר וימלוך על אדום. ויקרא את שם הארץ על שמו, כי 'אדום' נקרא; ועל דבר זה בא לו שמו: ויהי היום ויבוא מעמל הציד והוא רעב מאוד (והוא עודנו נער בשנים), וימצא את אחיו שופת נזיד עדשים לארוחתו, ואדום אדום מראה הנזיד. ותכל נפשו אליו, ויאמר אל אחיו תנה לי נא לאכול ממנו; אך הוא ניצל את רעבון אחיו ויאלצהו לוותר לו על בכורתו, והוא נאנק מן הרעב, ויתן לו אותה בשבועה. על כן, בעבור אדמומיות הנזיד הזה, קראו לו אנשי דורו דרך שחוק 'אדום', כי כן יקראו העברים לדבר אדום; וזה השם אשר ניתן לארץ; ואולם היוונים הטיבו את הגייתו לאוזן ויקראוה אידומאה.

How Esau And Jacob, Isaac's Sons Divided Their Habitation; And Esau Possessed Idumea And Jacob Canaan. 1. After the death of Isaac, his sons divided their habitations respectively; nor did they retain what they had before; but Esau departed from the city of Hebron, and left it to his brother, and dwelt in Seir, and ruled over Idumea. He called the country by that name from himself, for he was named Adom; which appellation he got on the following occasion : - One day returning from the toil of hunting very hungry, (it was when he was a child in age,) he lighted on his brother when he was getting ready lentile-pottage for his dinner, which was of a very red color; on which account he the more earnestly longed for it, and desired him to give him some of it to eat: but he made advantage of his brother's hunger, and forced him to resign up to him his birthright; and he, being pinched with famine, resigned it up to him, under an oath. Whence it came, that, on account of the redness of this pottage, he was, in way of jest, by his contemporaries, called Adom, for the Hebrews call what is red Adom; and this was the name given to the country; but the Greeks gave it a more agreeable pronunciation, and named it Idumea.

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How Moses When He Had Brought The People Out Of Egypt Led Them To Mount Sinai; But Not Till They Had Suffered Much In Their Journey. 1. When the Hebrews had obtained such a wonderful deliverance, the country was a great trouble to them, for it was entirely a desert, and without sustenance for them; and also had exceeding little water, so that it not only was not at all sufficient for the men, but not enough to feed any of the cattle, for it was parched up, and had no moisture that might afford nutriment to the vegetables; so they were forced to travel over this country, as having no other country but this to travel in. They had indeed carried water along with them from the land over which they had traveled before, as their conductor had bidden them; but when that was spent, they were obliged to draw water out of wells, with pain, by reason of the hardness of the soil. Moreover, what water they found was bitter, and not fit for drinking, and this in small quantities also; and as they thus traveled, they came late in the evening to a place called Marah, (1) which had that name from the badness of its water, for Mar denotes bitterness. Thither they came afflicted both by the tediousness of their journey, and by their want of food, for it entirely failed them at that time. Now here was a well, which made them choose to stay in the place, which, although it were not sufficient to satisfy so great an army, did yet afford them some comfort, as found in such desert places; for they heard from those who had been to search, that there was nothing to be found, if they traveled on farther. Yet was this water bitter, and not fit for men to drink; and not only so, but it was intolerable even to the cattle themselves.

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Fight Of The Hebrews With The Canaanites Without The Consent Of Moses; And Their Defeat. 1. Now this life of the Hebrews in the wilderness was so disagreeable and troublesome to them, and they were so uneasy at it, that although God had forbidden them to meddle with the Canaanites, yet could they not be persuaded to be obedient to the words of Moses, and to be quiet; but supposing they should be able to beat their enemies, without his approbation, they accused him, and suspected that he made it his business to keep in a distressed condition, that they might always stand in need of his assistance. Accordingly they resolved to fight with the Canaanites, and said that God gave them his assistance, not out of regard to Moses's intercessions, but because he took care of their entire nation, on account of their forefathers, whose affairs he took under his own conduct; as also, that it was on account of their own virtue that he had formerly procured them their liberty, and would be assisting to them, now they were willing to take pains for it. They also said that they were possessed of abilities sufficient for the conquest of their enemies, although Moses should have a mind to alienate God from them; that, however, it was for their advantage to be their own masters, and not so far to rejoice in their deliverance from the indignities they endured under the Egyptians, as to bear the tyranny of Moses over them, and to suffer themselves to be deluded, and live according to his pleasure, as though God did only foretell what concerns us out of his kindness to him, as if they were not all the posterity of Abraham; that God made him alone the author of all the knowledge we have, and we must still learn it from him; that it would be a piece of prudence to oppose his arrogant pretenses, and to put their confidence in God, and to resolve to take possession of that land which he had promised them, and not to give ear to him, who on this account, and under the pretense of Divine authority, forbade them so to do. Considering, therefore, the distressed state they were in at present, and that in those desert places they were still to expect things would be worse with them, they resolved to fight with the Canaanites, as submitting only to God, their supreme Commander, and not waiting for any assistance from their legislator.

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How Joshua, The Commander Of The Hebrews, Made War With The Canaanites, And Overcame Them, And Destroyed Them, And Divided Their Land By Lot To The Tribes Of Israel. 1. When Moses was taken away from among men, in the manner already described, and when all the solemnities belonging to the mourning for him were finished, and the sorrow for him was over, Joshua commanded the multitude to get themselves ready for an expedition. He also sent spies to Jericho to discover what forces they had, and what were their intentions; but he put his camp in order, as intending soon to pass over Jordan at a proper season. And calling to him the rulers of the tribe of Reuben, and the governors of the tribe of Gad, and [the half tribe of] Manasseh, for half of this tribe had been permitted to have their habitation in the country of the Amorites, which was the seventh part of the land of Canaan, (1) he put them in mind what they had promised Moses; and he exhorted them that, for the sake of the care that Moses had taken of them who had never been weary of taking pains for them no, not when he was dying, and for the sake of the public welfare, they would prepare themselves, and readily perform what they had promised; so he took fifty thousand of them who followed him, and he marched from Abila to Jordan, sixty furlongs.

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The Destruction That Came Upon The Philistines, And Upon Their Land, By The Wrath Of God On Account Of Their Having Carried The Ark Away Captive; And After What Manner They Sent It Back To The Hebrews. 1. When the Philistines had taken the ark of the Hebrews captive, as I said a little before, they carried it to the city of Ashdod, and put it by their own god, who was called Dagon, (1) as one of their spoils; but when they went into his temple the next morning to worship their god, they found him paying the same worship to the ark, for he lay along, as having fallen down from the basis whereon he had stood: so they took him up, and set him on his basis again, and were much troubled at what had happened; and as they frequently came to Dagon and found him still lying along, in a posture of adoration to the ark, they were in very great distress and confusion. At length God sent a very destructive disease upon the city and country of Ashdod, for they died of the dysentery or flux, a sore distemper, that brought death upon them very suddenly; for before the soul could, as usual in easy deaths, be well loosed from the body, they brought up their entrails, and vomited up what they had eaten, and what was entirely corrupted by the disease. And as to the fruits of their country, a great multitude of mice arose out of the earth and hurt them, and spared neither the plants nor the fruits. Now while the people of Ashdod were under these misfortunes, and were not able to support themselves under their calamities, they perceived that they suffered thus because of the ark, and that the victory they had gotten, and their having taken the ark captive, had not happened for their good; they therefore sent to the people of Askelon, and desired that they would receive the ark among them. This desire of the people of Ashdod was not disagreeable to those of Askelon, so they granted them that favor. But when they had gotten the ark, they were in the same miserable condition; for the ark carried along with it the disasters that the people of Ashdod had suffered, to those who received it from them. Those of Askelon also sent it away from themselves to others: nor did it stay among those others neither; for since they were pursued by the same disasters, they still sent it to the neighboring cities; so that the ark went round, after this manner, to the five cities of the Philistines, as though it exacted these disasters as a tribute to be paid it for its coming among them.

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How David Reigned Over One Tribe At Hebron While The Son Of Saul Reigned Over The Rest Of The Multitude; And How, In The Civil War Which Then Arose Asahel And Abner Were Slain. 1. This fight proved to be on the same day whereon David was come back to Ziklag, after he had overcome the Amalekites. Now when he had been already two days at Ziklag, there came to him the man who slew Saul, which was the third day after the fight. He had escaped out of the battle which the Israelites had with the Philistines, and had his clothes rent, and ashes upon his head. And when he made his obeisance to David, he inquired of him whence he came. He replied, from the battle of the Israelites; and he informed him that the end of it was unfortunate, many ten thousands of the Israelites having been cut off, and Saul, together with his sons, slain. He also said that he could well give him this information, because he was present at the victory gained over the Hebrews, and was with the king when he fled. Nor did he deny that he had himself slain the king, when he was ready to be taken by the enemy, and he himself exhorted him to do it, because, when he was fallen on his sword, his great wounds had made him so weak that he was not able to kill himself. He also produced demonstrations that the king was slain, which were the golden bracelets that had been on the king's arms, and his crown, which he had taken away from Saul's dead body, and had brought them to him. So David having no longer any room to call in question the truth of what he said, but seeing most evident marks that Saul was dead, he rent his garments, and continued all that day with his companions in weeping and lamentation. This grief was augmented by the consideration of Jonathan; the son of Saul, who had been his most faithful friend, and the occasion of his own deliverance. He also demonstrated himself to have such great virtue, and such great kindness for Saul, as not only to take his death to heart, though he had been frequently in danger of losing his life by his means, but to punish him that slew him; for when David had said to him that he was become his own accuser, as the very man who had slain the king, and when he had understood that he was the son of an Amalekite, he commanded him to be slain. He also committed to writing some lamentations and funeral commendations of Saul and Jonathan, which have continued to my own age.

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How Solomon, When He Had Received The Kingdom Took Off His Enemies. 1. We have already treated of David, and his virtue, and of the benefits he was the author of to his countrymen; of his wars also and battles, which he managed with success, and then died an old man, in the foregoing book. And when Solomon his son, who was but a youth in age, had taken the kingdom, and whom David had declared, while he was alive, the lord of that people, according to God's will; when he sat upon the throne, the whole body of the people made joyful acclamations to him, as is usual at the beginning of a reign; and wished that all his affairs might come to a blessed conclusion; and that he might arrive at a great age, and at the most happy state of affairs possible.

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Concerning Jehoshaphat Again; How He Constituted Judges And, By God's Assistance Overcame His Enemies. 1. When Jehoshaphat the king was come to Jerusalem, from the assistance he had afforded Ahab, the king of Israel, when he fought with Benhadad, king of Syria, the prophet Jehu met him, and accused him for assisting Ahab, a man both impious and wicked; and said to him, that God was displeased with him for so doing, but that he delivered him from the enemy, notwithstanding he had sinned, because of his own proper disposition, which was good. Whereupon the king betook himself to thanksgivings and sacrifices to God; after which he presently went over all that country which he ruled round about, and taught the people, as well the laws which God gave them by Moses, as that religious worship that was due to him. He also constituted judges in every one of the cities of his kingdom; and charged them to have regard to nothing so much in judging the multitude as to do justice, and not to be moved by bribes, nor by the dignity of men eminent for either their riches or their high birth, but to distribute justice equally to all, as knowing that God is conscious of every secret action of theirs. When he had himself instructed them thus, and gone over every city of the two tribes, he returned to Jerusalem. He there also constituted judges out of the priests and the Levites, and principal persons of the multitude, and admonished them to pass all their sentences with care and justice (1) And that if any of the people of his country had differences of great consequence, they should send them out of the other cities to these judges, who would be obliged to give righteous sentences concerning such causes; and this with the greater care, because it is proper that the sentences which are given in that city wherein the temple of God is, and wherein the king dwells, be given with great care and the utmost justice. Now he set over them Amariah the priest, and Zebadiah, [both] of the tribe of Judah; and after this manner it was that the king ordered these affairs.

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How Sennacherib Made An Expedition Against Hezekiah; What Threatenings Rabshakeh Made To Hezekiah When Sennacherib Was Gone Against The Egyptians; How Isaiah The Prophet Encouraged Him; How Sennacherib Having Failed Of Success In Egypt, Returned Thence To Jerusalem; And How Upon His Finding His Army Destroyed, He Returned Home; And What Befell Him A Little Afterward. 1. It was now the fourteenth year of the government of Hezekiah, king of the two tribes, when the king of Assyria, whose name was Sennacherib, made an expedition against him with a great army, and took all the cities of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin by force; and when he was ready to bring his army against Jerusalem, Hezekiah sent ambassadors to him beforehand, and promised to submit, and pay what tribute he should appoint. Hereupon Sennacherib, when he heard of what offers the ambassadors made, resolved not to proceed in the war, but to accept of the proposals that were made him; and if he might receive three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold, he promised that he would depart in a friendly manner; and he gave security upon oath to the ambassadors that he would then do him no harm, but go away as he came. So Hezekiah submitted, and emptied his treasures, and sent the money, as supposing he should be freed from his enemy, and from any further distress about his kingdom. Accordingly, the Assyrian king took it, and yet had no regard to what he had promised; but while he himself went to the war against the Egyptians and Ethiopians, he left his general Rabshakeh, and two other of his principal commanders, with great forces, to destroy Jerusalem. The names of the two other commanders were Tartan and Rabsaris.

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כורש שלח את גולי בבל לחפשי

How Cyrus, King Of The Persians, Delivered The Jews Out Of Babylon And Suffered Them To Return To Their Own Country And To Build Their Temple, For Which Work He Gave Them Money. 1. In the first year of the reign of Cyrus (1) which was the seventieth from the day that our people were removed out of their own land into Babylon, God commiserated the captivity and calamity of these poor people, according as he had foretold to them by Jeremiah the prophet, before the destruction of the city, that after they had served Nebuchadnezzar and his posterity, and after they had undergone that servitude seventy years, he would restore them again to the land of their fathers, and they should build their temple, and enjoy their ancient prosperity. And these things God did afford them; for he stirred up the mind of Cyrus, and made him write this throughout all Asia: "Thus saith Cyrus the king: Since God Almighty hath appointed me to be king of the habitable earth, I believe that he is that God which the nation of the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold my name by the prophets, and that I should build him a house at Jerusalem, in the country of Judea."

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How Ptolemy The Son Of Lagus Took Jerusalem And Judea By Deceit And Treachery, And Carried Many Thence, And Planted Them In Egypt. 1. Now when Alexander, king of Macedon, had put an end to the dominion of the Persians, and had settled the affairs in Judea after the forementioned manner, he ended his life. And as his government fell among many, Antigonus obtained Asia, Seleucus Babylon; and of the other nations which were there, Lysimachus governed the Hellespont, and Cassander possessed Macedonia; as did Ptolemy the son of Lagus seize upon Egypt. And while these princes ambitiously strove one against another, every one for his own principality, it came to pass that there were continual wars, and those lasting wars too; and the cities were sufferers, and lost a great many of their inhabitants in these times of distress, insomuch that all Syria, by the means of Ptolemy the son of Lagus, underwent the reverse of that denomination of Savior, which he then had. He also seized upon Jerusalem, and for that end made use of deceit and treachery; for as he came into the city on a sabbath day, as if he would offer sacrifices (1) he, without any trouble, gained the city, while the Jews did not oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy; and he gained it thus, because they were free from suspicion of him, and because on that day they were at rest and quietness; and when he had gained it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner. Nay, Agatharchides of Cnidus, who wrote the acts of Alexander's successors, reproaches us with superstition, as if we, by it, had lost our liberty; where he says thus: "There is a nation called the nation of the Jews, who inhabit a city strong and great, named Jerusalem. These men took no care, but let it come into the hands of Ptolemy, as not willing to take arms, and thereby they submitted to be under a hard master, by reason of their unseasonable superstition." This is what Agatharchides relates of our nation. But when Ptolemy had taken a great many captives, both from the mountainous parts of Judea, and from the places about Jerusalem and Samaria, and the places near Mount Gerizzim, he led them all into Egypt, (2) and settled them there. And as he knew that the people of Jerusalem were most faithful in the observation of oaths and covenants; and this from the answer they made to Alexander, when he sent an embassage to them, after he had beaten Darius in battle; so he distributed many of them into garrisons, and at Alexandria gave them equal privileges of citizens with the Macedonians themselves; and required of them to take their oaths, that they would keep their fidelity to the posterity of those who committed these places to their care. Nay, there were not a few other Jews who, of their own accord, went into Egypt, as invited by the goodness of the soil, and by the liberality of Ptolemy. However, there were disoders among their posterity, with relation to the Samaritans, on account of their resolution to preserve that conduct of life which was delivered to them by their forefathers, and they thereupon contended one with another, while those of Jerusalem said that their temple was holy, and resolved to send their sacrifices thither; but the Samaritans were resolved that they should be sent to Mount Gerizzim.

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How Jonathan Took The Government After His Brother Judas; And How He, Together With His Brother Simon, Waged War Against Bacchides. 1. By what means the nation of the Jews recovered their freedom when they had been brought into slavery by the Macedonians, and what struggles, and how great battles, Judas, the general of their army, ran through, till he was slain as he was fighting for them, hath been related in the foregoing book; but after he was dead, all the wicked, and those that transgressed the laws of their forefathers, sprang up again in Judea, and grew upon them, and distressed them on every side. A famine also assisted their wickedness, and afflicted the country, till not a few, who by reason of their want of necessaries, and because they were not able to bear up against the miseries that both the famine and their enemies brought upon them, deserted their country, and went to the Macedonians. And now Bacchides gathered those Jews together who had apostatized from the accustomed way of living of their forefathers, and chose to live like their neighbors, and committed the care of the country to them, who also caught the friends of Judas, and those of his party, and delivered them up to Bacchides, who when he had, in the first place, tortured and tormented them at his pleasure, he, by that means, at length killed them. And when this calamity of the Jews was become so great, as they had never had experience of the like since their return out of Babylon, those that remained of the companions of Judas, seeing that the nation was ready to be destroyed after a miserable manner, came to his brother Jonathan, and desired him that he would imitate his brother, and that care which he took of his countrymen, for whose liberty in general he died also; and that he would not permit the nation to be without a governor, especially in those destructive circumstances wherein it now was. And where Jonathan said that he was ready to die for them, and esteemed no inferior to his brother, he was appointed to be the general of the Jewish army.

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The War Between Aristobulus And Hyrcanus About The Kingdom; And How They Made An agreement That Aristobulus Should Be King, And Hyrcanus Live A Private Life; As Also How Hyrcanus A Little Afterward Was Persuaded By Antipater To Fly To Aretas. 1. We have related the affairs of queen Alexandra, and her death, in the foregoing book and will now speak of what followed, and was connected with those histories; declaring, before we proceed, that we have nothing so much at heart as this, that we may omit no facts, either through ignorance or laziness; (1) for we are upon the history and explication of such things as the greatest part are unacquainted withal, because of their distance from our times; and we aim to do it with a proper beauty of style, so far as that is derived from proper words harmonically disposed, and from such ornaments of speech also as may contribute to the pleasure of our readers, that they may entertain the knowledge of what we write with some agreeable satisfaction and pleasure. But the principal scope that authors ought to aim at above all the rest, is to speak accurately, and to speak truly, for the satisfaction of those that are otherwise unacquainted with such transactions, and obliged to believe what these writers inform them of.

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Concerning Pollio And Sameas. Herod Slays The Principal Of Antigonus's Friends, And Spoils The City Of Its Wealth. Antony Beheads Antigonus. 1. How Sosius and Herod took Jerusalem by force; and besides that, how they took Antigonus captive, has been related by us in the foregoing book. We will now proceed in the narration. And since Herod had now the government of all Judea put into his hands, he promoted such of the private men in the city as had been of his party, but never left off avenging and punishing every day those that had chosen to be of the party of his enemies. But Pollio the Pharisee, and Sameas, a disciple of his, were honored by him above all the rest; for when Jerusalem was besieged, they advised the citizens to receive Herod, for which advice they were well requited. But this Pollio, at the time when Herod was once upon his trial of life and death, foretold, in way of reproach, to Hyrcanus and the other judges, how this Herod, whom they suffered now to escape, would afterward inflict punishment on them all; which had its completion in time, while God fulfilled the words he had spoken.

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A Law Of Herod's About, Thieves. Salome And Pheroras Calumniate Alexander And Aristobulus, Upon Their Return From Rome For Whom Yet Herod Provides Wives. 1. As king Herod was very zealous in the administration of his entire government, and desirous to put a stop to particular acts of injustice which were done by criminals about the city and country, he made a law, no way like our original laws, and which he enacted of himself, to expose house-breakers to be ejected out of his kingdom; which punishment was not only grievous to be borne by the offenders, but contained in it a dissolution of the customs of our forefathers; for this slavery to foreigners, and such as did not live after the manner of Jews, and this necessity that they were under to do whatsoever such men should command, was an offense against our religious settlement, rather than a punishment to such as were found to have offended, such a punishment being avoided in our original laws; for those laws ordain, that the thief shall restore fourfold; and that if he have not so much, he shall be sold indeed, but not to foreigners, nor so that he be under perpetual slavery, for he must have been released after six years. But this law, thus enacted, in order to introduce a severe and illegal punishment, seemed to be a piece of insolence of Herod, when he did not act as a king, but as a tyrant, and thus contemptuously, and without any regard to his subjects, did he venture to introduce such a punishment. Now this penalty, thus brought into practice, was like Herod's other actions, and became a part of his accusation, and an occasion of the hatred he lay under.

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How Antipater Was Hated By All The Nation [Of The Jews] For The Slaughter Of His Brethren; And How, For That Reason He Got Into Peculiar Favor With His Friends At Rome, By Giving Them Many Presents; As He Did Also With Saturninus, The President Of Syria And The Governors Who Were Under Him; And Concerning Herod's Wives And Children. 1. When Antipater had thus taken off his brethren, and had brought his father into the highest degree of impiety, till he was haunted with furies for what he had done, his hopes did not succeed to his mind, as to the rest of his life; for although he was delivered from the fear of his brethren being his rivals as to the government, yet did he find it a very hard thing, and almost impracticable, to come at the kingdom, because the hatred of the nation against him on that account was become very great; and besides this very disagreeable circumstance, the affair of the soldiery grieved him still more, who were alienated from him, from which yet these kings derived all the safety which they had, whenever they found the nation desirous of innovation: and all this danger was drawn upon him by his destruction of his brethren. However, he governed the nation jointly with his father, being indeed no other than a king already; and he was for that very reason trusted, and the more firmly depended on, for the which he ought himself to have been put to death, as appearing to have betrayed his brethren out of his concern for the preservation of Herod, and not rather out of his ill-will to them, and, before them, to his father himself: and this was the accursed state he was in. Now all Antipater's contrivances tended to make his way to take off Herod, that he might have nobody to accuse him in the vile practices he was devising: and that Herod might have no refuge, nor any to afford him their assistance, since they must thereby have Antipater for their open enemy; insomuch that the very plots he had laid against his brethren were occasioned by the hatred he bore his father. But at this time he was more than ever set upon the execution of his attempts against Herod, because if he were once dead, the government would now be firmly secured to him; but if he were suffered to live any longer, he should be in danger, upon a discovery of that wickedness of which he had been the contriver, and his father would of necessity then become his enemy. And on this account it was that he became very bountiful to his father's friends, and bestowed great sums on several of them, in order to surprise men with his good deeds, and take off their hatred against him. And he sent great presents to his friends at Rome particularly, to gain their good-will; and above all to Saturninus, the president of Syria. He also hoped to gain the favor of Saturninus's brother with the large presents he bestowed on him; as also he used the same art to [Salome] the king's sister, who had married one of Herod's chief friends. And when he counterfeited friendship to those with whom he conversed, he was very subtle in gaining their belief, and very cunning to hide his hatred against any that he really did hate. But he could not impose upon his aunt, who understood him of a long time, and was a woman not easily to be deluded, especially while she had already used all possible caution in preventing his pernicious designs. Although Antipater's uncle by the mother's side was married to her daughter, and this by his own connivance and management, while she had before been married to Aristobulus, and while Salome's other daughter by that husband was married to the son of Calleas; yet that marriage was no obstacle to her, who knew how wicked he was, in her discovering his designs, as her former kindred to him could not prevent her hatred of him. Now Herod had compelled Salome, while she was in love with Sylleus the Arabian, and had taken a fondness for him, to marry Alexas; which match was by her submitted to at the instance of Julia, who persuaded Salome not to refuse it, lest she should herself be their open enemy, since Herod had sworn that he would never be friends with Salome, if she would not accept of Alexas for her husband; so she submitted to Julia as being Caesar's wife; and besides that, she advised her to nothing but what was very much for her own advantage. At this time also it was that Herod sent back king Archelaus's daughter, who had been Alexander's wife, to her father, returning the portion he had with her out of his own estate, that there might be no dispute between them about it.

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HOW CYRENIUS WAS SENT BY CAESAR TO MAKE A TAXATION OF SYRIA AND JUDEA; AND HOW COPONIUS WAS SENT TO BE PROCURATOR OF JUDEA; CONCERNING JUDAS OF GALILEE AND CONCERNING THE SECTS THAT WERE AMONG THE JEWS. 1. NOW Cyrenius, a Roman senator, and one who had gone through other magistracies, and had passed through them till he had been consul, and one who, on other accounts, was of great dignity, came at this time into Syria, with a few others, being sent by Caesar to be a judge of that nation, and to take an account of their substance. Coponius also, a man of the equestrian order, was sent together with him, to have the supreme power over the Jews. Moreover, Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which was now added to the province of Syria, to take an account of their substance, and to dispose of Archelaus's money; but the Jews, although at the beginning they took the report of a taxation heinously, yet did they leave off any further opposition to it, by the persuasion of Joazar, who was the son of Beethus, and high priest; so they, being over-pesuaded by Joazar's words, gave an account of their estates, without any dispute about it. Yet was there one Judas, a Gaulonite, of a city whose name was Gamala, who, taking with him Sadduc, a Pharisee, became zealous to draw them to a revolt, who both said that this taxation was no better than an introduction to slavery, and exhorted the nation to assert their liberty; as if they could procure them happiness and security for what they possessed, and an assured enjoyment of a still greater good, which was that of the honor and glory they would thereby acquire for magnanimity. They also said that God would not otherwise be assisting to them, than upon their joining with one another in such councils as might be successful, and for their own advantage; and this especially, if they would set about great exploits, and not grow weary in executing the same; so men received what they said with pleasure, and this bold attempt proceeded to a great height. All sorts of misfortunes also sprang from these men, and the nation was infected with this doctrine to an incredible degree; one violent war came upon us after another, and we lost our friends which used to alleviate our pains; there were also very great robberies and murder of our principal men. This was done in pretense indeed for the public welfare, but in reality for the hopes of gain to themselves; whence arose seditions, and from them murders of men, which sometimes fell on those of their own people, (by the madness of these men towards one another, while their desire was that none of the adverse party might be left,) and sometimes on their enemies; a famine also coming upon us, reduced us to the last degree of despair, as did also the taking and demolishing of cities; nay, the sedition at last increased so high, that the very temple of God was burnt down by their enemies' fire. Such were the consequences of this, that the customs of our fathers were altered, and such a change was made, as added a mighty weight toward bringing all to destruction, which these men occasioned by their thus conspiring together; for Judas and Sadduc, who excited a fourth philosophic sect among us, and had a great many followers therein, filled our civil government with tumults at present, and laid the foundations of our future miseries, by this system of philosophy, which we were before unacquainted withal, concerning which I will discourse a little, and this the rather because the infection which spread thence among the younger sort, who were zealous for it, brought the public to destruction.

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How Caius Was Slain by Cherea. 1. Now this Caius did not demonstrate his madness in offering injuries only to the Jews at Jerusalem, or to those that dwelt in the neighborhood; but suffered it to extend itself through all the earth and sea, so far as was in subjection to the Romans, and filled it with ten thousand mischiefs; so many indeed in number as no former history relates. But Rome itself felt the most dismal effects of what he did, while he deemed that not to be any way more honorable than the rest of the cities; but he pulled and hauled its other citizens, but especially the senate, and particularly the nobility, and such as had been dignified by illustrious ancestors; he also had ten thousand devices against such of the equestrian order, as it was styled, who were esteemed by the citizens equal in dignity and wealth with the senators, because out of them the senators were themselves chosen; these he treated after all ignominious manner, and removed them out of his way, while they were at once slain, and their wealth plundered, because he slew men generally in order to seize on their riches. He also asserted his own divinity, and insisted on greater honors to be paid him by his subjects than are due to mankind. He also frequented that temple of Jupiter which they style the Capitol, which is with them the most holy of all their temples, and had boldness enough to call himself the brother of Jupiter. And other pranks he did like a madman; as when he laid a bridge from the city Dicearchia, which belongs to Campania, to Misenum, another city upon the sea-side, from one promontory to another, of the length of thirty furlongs, as measured over the sea. And this was done because he esteemed it to be a most tedious thing to row over it in a small ship, and thought withal that it became him to make that bridge, since he was lord of the sea, and might oblige it to give marks of obedience as well as the earth; so he enclosed the whole bay within his bridge, and drove his chariot over it; and thought that, as he was a god, it was fit for him to travel over such roads as this was. Nor did he abstain from the plunder of any of the Grecian temples, and gave order that all the engravings and sculptures, and the rest of the ornaments of the statues and donations therein dedicated, should be brought to him, saying that the best things ought to be set no where but in the best place, and that the city of Rome was that best place. He also adorned his own house and his gardens with the curiosities brought from those temples, together with the houses he lay at when he traveled all over Italy; whence he did not scruple to give a command that the statue of Jupiter Olympius, so called because he was honored at the Olympian games by the Greeks, which was the work of Phidias the Athenian, should be brought to Rome. Yet did not he compass his end, because the architects told Memmius Regulus, who was commanded to remove that statue of Jupiter, that the workmanship was such as would be spoiled, and would not bear the removal. It was also reported that Memmius, both on that account, and on account of some such mighty prodigies as are of an incredible nature, put off the taking it down, and wrote to Caius those accounts, as his apology for not having done what his epistle required of him; and that when he was thence in danger of perishing, he was saved by Caius being dead himself, before he had put him to death.

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A Sedition of the Philadelphians Against the Jews; and also Concerning the Vestments of the High Priest. 1. Upon the death of king Agrippa, which we have related in the foregoing book, Claudius Caesar sent Cassius Longinus as successor to Marcus, out of regard to the memory of king Agrippa, who had often desired of him by letters, while be was alive, that he would not suffer Marcus to be any longer president of Syria. But Fadus, as soon as he was come procurator into Judea, found quarrelsome doings between the Jews that dwelt in Perea, and the people of Philadelphia, about their borders, at a village called Mia, that was filled with men of a warlike temper; for the Jews of Perea had taken up arms without the consent of their principal men, and had destroyed many of the Philadelphians. When Fadus was informed of this procedure, it provoked him very much that they had not left the determination of the matter to him, if they thought that the Philadelphians had done them any wrong, but had rashly taken up arms against them. So he seized upon three of their principal men, who were also the causes of this sedition, and ordered them to be bound, and afterwards had one of them slain, whose name was Hannibal; and he banished the other two, Areram and Eleazar. Tholomy also, the arch robber, was, after some time, brought to him bound, and slain, but not till he had done a world of mischief to Idumea and the Arabians. And indeed, from that time, Judea was cleared of robberies by the care and providence of Fadus. He also at this time sent for the high priests and the principal citizens of Jerusalem, and this at the command of the emperor, and admonished them that they should lay up the long garment and the sacred vestment, which it is customary for nobody but the high priest to wear, in the tower of Antonia, that it might be under the power of the Romans, as it had been formerly. Now the Jews durst not contradict what he had said, but desired Fadus, however, and Longinus, (which last was come to Jerusalem, and had brought a great army with him, out of a fear that the [rigid] injunctions of Fadus should force the Jews to rebel,) that they might, in the first place, have leave to send ambassadors to Caesar, to petition him that they may have the holy vestments under their own power; and that, in the next place, they would tarry till they knew what answer Claudius would give to that their request. So they replied, that they would give them leave to send their ambassadors, provided they would give them their sons as pledges [for their peaceable behavior]. And when they had agreed so to do, and had given them the pledges they desired, the ambassadors were sent accordingly. But when, upon their coming to Rome, Agrippa, junior, the son of the deceased, understood the reason why they came, (for he dwelt with Claudius Caesar, as we said before,) he besought Caesar to grant the Jews their request about the holy vestments, and to send a message to Fadus accordingly.

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