Josippon

Now it seems right to me to relate the deeds that happened after her, for it is proper that every writer who writes books and relates ancient matters write in good order, lest the deeds that occurred be forgotten. Moreover, it is proper for the man who produces books to write words of truth, for thus commanded Joseph ben Gurion, the priest who is chief of the authors of all the books that were written, except for the twenty-four sacred books and the books of wisdom that Solomon, king of Israel, and the sages of Israel made. I collated words from the book of Joseph ben Gurion and from the books of other authors who wrote the story of our forefathers, and I collected them in one scroll.

Joseph ben Gurion wrote thus in his book: In the 173rd year of the Olympiadas, in the days of Quintus and Hortensius and Metellus, generals of Roma—when they renewed the covenant that their fathers, officials of Roma, had with the nation of Yehudah, as it is written on a copper tablet in Jerusalem and in Roma—in the days of those chiefs, a great war broke out between the brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, Alexander's sons. This war was waged by the Jordan near Jericho; men without number were killed, and many of the people of Israel were slain. Aristobulus and his warriors pressed Hyrcanus's army, and they could not withstand the pressure of Aristobulus and his warriors, nor could they bear the heat of fighting, so they turned their back and fled toward Jerusalem. Aristobulus was victorious in the battle, pursuing them with his warriors, smiting all the way to the gate of Jerusalem; and the survivors of Hyrcanus's army joined with Aristobulus.

Aristobulus and his warriors and the entire army of Yehudah were fighting against Jerusalem to tumble its walls to capture Hyrcanus, who had taken refuge within it; they encircled the city with a mighty hand and girded her with men like a girdle about the waist. Hyrcanus, in his anguish, the war weighing heavily upon him, brought forth Aristobulus's wife and sons from the prison where Queen Alexandra had imprisoned them. Hyrcanus seized the woman and her sons as hostages to save his life from his brother's sword for the sake of his wife and sons.

The elders of Israel and the elders of the priests left and went to Aristobulus's camp, and they wept and pleaded with him not to devastate the city but to make a covenant with his brother so that Aristobulus would be king over all the people of Yehudah and Hyrcanus, his brother, would be priest in the Temple of God and subject to the house of Aristobulus as his deputy. Aristobulus agreed, and so it was done. Aristobulus entered the city and received the kingship; he made a treaty with Hyrcanus, and they entered the Temple of God and swore an oath to each other. All the people saw this, and each man went to his city and to his land, and the war ended.

Meanwhile, Hyrcanus had an ally named Antipater, a wealthy man great with gold and silver, with much property and many servants. This man was also a valiant warrior, wise and clever in all fraud and deceit, a schemer. This Antipater was commander over the entire nation of Edom, for when Hyrcanus had gone to the land of Edom and subjugated it, as we have written above, King Alexander appointed this Antipater over them, though still a youth. Antipater had married a woman of royal Edomite seed, and she bore him four sons. These are their names: the first Phaselo (Phaselus), the second Erodes (Herod)—he was the Herod who ruled—the third Pherora, and the fourth Joseph; and the name of his daughter was Shlomit (Salome), and his wife was Cypris the Edomite. For this reason, writers say that this man was an Edomite, but Nicholaus of Damascus the author said that this Antipater was of the Judaean nobility, of those who came from Babylonia to Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra the scribe.

Since the man had become Hyrcanus's close ally, Aristobulus sought to kill Antipater. When Antipater heard of this, he was very afraid of Aristobulus. He spoke to the heart of the warriors of Yehudah and seduced them with words, saying: "I have a word to you, saints of God, for I have seen violence and oppression among the holy nation, much sin, great transgression, and the essence of evil; truth is absent, and there is no righteousness. How is it that the younger rules the elder in that Aristobulus rules today and seized the kingdom, neither through God's will nor through the will of his people's elders but rather through the sword and weapons of war and through spilling the blood of God's people. So now, Israel, heed my words and love righteousness and truth!"

As he continued to speak, he stole the minds of elders of Israel. And Hyrcanus, too, he incited in private: "Choose flight and flee, for your brother Aristobulus is plotting against you to kill you, for his advisers have counseled him thus: 'As long as your brother Hyrcanus lives, your kingdom will not be stable, for he is your elder brother; only when you shall have killed him will your kingdom be stable.' They advised him to kill you." Hyrcanus listened to these words but did not believe, for he was blameless and upright and very meek.

When Antipater saw that Hyrcanus did not heed his words, he would not cease to utter such words to him day and night; also, he spent gold and silver and hired friends to speak to him according to Antipater's words. And finally, he had seduced him with his cleverness and encouraged him to flee, saying to him: "Be silent until I go and secure a place for you wherein you shall find refuge." Antipater left Jerusalem and went to Desert Rock to the palace of Aretas, king of Arav, who was pleased to greet him, for he was his ally from long ago. And he made a pact with him and took an oath from him that he would not hand over Hyrcanus to those who sought his life. Antipater returned to Jerusalem and told Hyrcanus everything that he did. He left Jerusalem with him at night and traveled for many days unto Desert Rock, to the palace of Aretas, king of Arav, who went out to greet Hyrcanus with chariot and cavalry; he received him with great honor, and he stayed in his palace for many days.

After this, Antipater began to incite the king of Arav to come with Hyrcanus to Jerusalem to fight against Aristobulus in order to restore the kingship to Hyrcanus. But Aretas refused to fight against the Jews, for Alexander had defeated him three times in battle and had taken from him all the fortified cities of Arav. Antipater said to him: "Don't be afraid to go up with us, for we have with us the mighty hand of Israelite warriors to fight against Aristobulus." Aretas answered and said: "If you return to me all the land and the ten fortified cities that King Alexander took away from me, then I will join you to fight against your enemies." So Hyrcanus swore an oath to return to him all the land and these ten cities. Aretas agreed and mustered an army of his warriors and marched with them to do battle against Jerusalem with a force of fifty thousand cavalry and an immense army. He marched from Desert Rock and invaded the land of Yehudah. Aristobulus went forth to confront him, and a mighty battle broke out on that day.

On the day of the battle, a great horde of Judaean forces joined Hyrcanus and Antipater to help them. Aristobulus, seeing that a great multitude of the Judaean army fell in with Hyrcanus, left the army and returned to Jerusalem alone and desolate, for all his force had joined with Hyrcanus and Antipater.

Aretas, king of Arav, marched and camped against Jerusalem accompanied by the mighty and very strong army of Yehudah and Arabia, and he encamped to the north of the city. And they fought against Jerusalem, the entire army of Yehudah and the entire army of Arav; only the people of Jerusalem and the priests were with Aristobulus. From day to day, the battle waxed and increased, and the noise of battle grew until the fifteenth day of the first month, when many Hasidim and Sadducees left the land of Yehudah and went to live in Egypt to celebrate Passover because of the wars in the land of Yehudah.

At that time, the army of Yehudah and the army of Arav surrounded Jerusalem from every side. And a man was hiding himself in the midst of the army of Yehudah, and his name was Ḥoni, a righteous man and beloved of his God who was tested and found whole; he used to come to his people's aid and pray on behalf of the people of God. When there was no rain from heaven, this man Ḥoni used to pray and request rain from God, and God would consent to him and not ignore his request. Ḥoni did this so many times when there was drought in the land of Israel.

On the day of the battle, they found Ḥoni hidden in the Judaean camp; they led him before the leaders of the Jews, and he stood amid the people. The leaders and the people said to him: "Pray against the evil done unto us; perhaps God will heed your request as he responded to your request for rain and will deliver Aristobulus into our hand and the priests that are with him." Ḥoni answered, saying: "You are the people of God, and they are His priests. I will pray for you, but also for his priests I will pray. For I will neither curse nor revile the priests of God." They pressed him and said: "Pray as we demand, and if not, know that you shall surely die!" In his anguish, he raised his eyes to heaven and spread out his palms and prayed: "God, Lord of the Heavens, King of all the world, all life is in Your hands and the intent of the thoughts in the heart of man; straighten the thoughts of Your people and Your priests, and direct their hearts toward You, and do not do the will of one against the other to do harm but only good, for this is Your people and these are Your priests." As he prayed with these words, the wicked of Judaea fell upon him and killed him. God did not delay His vengeance and afflicted the Judaean camp with a plague, and a great number died for Ḥoni's spilled blood.

After this, the priests on the wall spoke to the people, saying: "O Israel, people of God, lend your hand to the Lord of your fathers and to his Temple; give us sheep and rams and he-goats, and let us sacrifice a peace offering according to the law, for today is Ḥag Hamaẓoth (Passover), and let not the burnt offerings and peace offerings cease from the altar of God lest there be sin upon you." The army called out and said: "Give us gold, for each and every ram one thousand gold drachmas and the same for every sheep and he-goat, and we shall fulfill your request!" Aristobulus and the priests gave the gold willingly. They lowered the gold from the wall and gave it to the army, who took the gold but did not give the sacrifice; rather, the wicked ones and the sinners against God stole the sacrifice. The priests prayed over the fact that the army stole God's sacrifice, and God did not delay the vengeance and smote the army with a great famine. The famine increased greatly until an ephah of wheat sold for eleven gold drachmas.