demetrius

For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;

Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.

Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true.

In the hundred and one and fiftieth year Demetrius the son of Seleucus departed from Rome, and came up with a few men unto a city of the sea coast, and reigned there.

So his host slew them. Now when Demetrius was set upon the throne of his kingdom,

And as touching the evils that Demetrius doeth to the Jews, we have written unto him, saying, Wherefore thou made thy yoke heavy upon our friends and confederates the Jews?

Furthermore, when Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his host were slain in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus into the land of Judea the second time, and with them the chief strength of his host:

Now when king Demetrius heard thereof, he gathered together an exceeding great host, and went forth against him to fight.

Moreover Demetrius sent letters unto Jonathan with loving words, so as he magnified him.

Now when king Alexander had heard what promises Demetrius had sent unto Jonathan: when also it was told him of the battles and noble acts which he and his brethren had done, and of the pains that they had endured,

Whereof when Demetrius heard, he was very sorry, and said,

He sent unto them therefore to this effect: King Demetrius unto the people of the Jews sendeth greeting:

Then gathered king Alexander great forces, and camped over against Demetrius.

And after the two kings had joined battle, Demetrius’ host fled: but Alexander followed after him, and prevailed against them.

And he continued the battle very sore until the sun went down: and that day was Demetrius slain.

Forasmuch as I am come again to my realm, and am set in the throne of my progenitors, and have gotten the dominion, and overthrown Demetrius, and recovered our country;

Furthermore in the hundred threescore and fifth year came Demetrius son of Demetrius out of Crete into the land of his fathers:

Furthermore in the hundred threescore and fifth year came Demetrius son of Demetrius out of Crete into the land of his fathers:

Then Demetrius made Apollonius the governor of Celosyria his general, who gathered together a great host, and camped in Jamnia, and sent unto Jonathan the high priest, saying,

Whereupon he sent ambasadors unto king Demetrius, saying, Come, let us make a league betwixt us, and I will give thee my daughter whom Alexander hath, and thou shalt reign in thy father’s kingdom:

Wherefore he took his daughter from him, and gave her to Demetrius, and forsook Alexander, so that their hatred was openly known.

By this means Demetrius reigned in the hundred threescore and seventh year.

King Demetrius unto his brother Jonathan, and unto the nation of the Jews, sendeth greeting:

King Demetrius unto his father Lasthenes sendeth greeting:

After this, when king Demetrius saw that the land was quiet before him, and that no resistance was made against him, he sent away all his forces, every one to his own place, except certain bands of strangers, whom he had gathered from the isles of the heathen: wherefore all the forces of his fathers hated him.

Moreover there was one Tryphon, that had been of Alexander’s part afore, who, seeing that all the host murmured against Demetrius, went to Simalcue the Arabian that brought up Antiochus the young son of Alexander,

And lay sore upon him to deliver him this young Antiochus, that he might reign in his father’s stead: he told him therefore all that Demetrius had done, and how his men of war were at enmity with him, and there he remained a long season.

In the mean time Jonathan sent unto king Demetrius, that he would cast those of the tower out of Jerusalem, and those also in the fortresses: for they fought against Israel.

So Demetrius sent unto Jonathan, saying, I will not only do this for thee and thy people, but I will greatly honour thee and thy nation, if opportunity serve.

So king Demetrius sat on the throne of his kingdom, and the land was quiet before him.

Then there gathered unto him all the men of war, whom Demetrius had put away, and they fought against Demetrius, who turned his back and fled.

Then there gathered unto him all the men of war, whom Demetrius had put away, and they fought against Demetrius, who turned his back and fled.

Now when Jonathan heard that Demetrius’ princes were come to Cades, which is in Galilee, with a great power, purposing to remove him out of the country,

For he had heard that they would deliver the hold unto them that took Demetrius’ part; wherefore he set a garrison there to keep it.

Moreover Simon chose men, and sent to king Demetrius, to the end he should give the land an immunity, because all that Tryphon did was to spoil.

Unto whom king Demetrius answered and wrote after this manner:

King Demetrius unto Simon the high priest, and friend of kings, as also unto the elders and nation of the Jews, sendeth greeting:

Now in the hundred threescore and twelfth year king Demetrius gathered his forces together, and went into Media to get him help to fight against Tryphone.

But when Arsaces, the king of Persia and Media, heard that Demetrius was entered within his borders, he sent one of his princes to take him alive:

Who went and smote the host of Demetrius, and took him, and brought him to Arsaces, by whom he was put in ward.

King Demetrius also confirmed him in the high priesthood according to those things,

Moreover Antiochus son of Demetrius the king sent letters from the isles of the sea unto Simon the priest and prince of the Jews, and to all the people;

The same things wrote he likewise unto Demetrius the king, and Attalus, to Ariarathes, and Arsaces,

What time as Demetrius reigned, in the hundred threescore and ninth year, we the Jews wrote unto you in the extremity of trouble that came upon us in those years, from the time that Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and kingdom,

After three years was Judas informed, that Demetrius the son of Seleucus, having entered by the haven of Tripolis with a great power and navy,

Came to king Demetrius in the hundred and one and fiftieth year, presenting unto him a crown of gold, and a palm, and also of the boughs which were used solemnly in the temple: and so that day he held his peace.

Howbeit having gotten opportunity to further his foolish enterprize, and being called into counsel by Demetrius, and asked how the Jews stood affected, and what they intended, he answered thereunto:

This was no sooner spoken of him, but others of the king’s friends, being maliciously set against Judas, did more incense Demetrius.

But Alcimus, perceiving the love that was betwixt them, and considering the covenants that were made, came to Demetrius, and told him that Nicanor was not well affected toward the state; for that he had ordained Judas, a traitor to his realm, to be the king’s successor.

Demetrius of Phalerum, the president of the king's library, received vast sum of money, for the purpose of collecting together, as far as he possibly could, all the books in the world.

'They need to be translated,' answered Demetrius 'for in the country of the Jews they use a peculiar alphabet (just as the Egyptians, too, have a special form of letters) and speak a peculiar dialect.

WHEN this had been done, he ordered Demetrius to draw up a memorial with regard to the transcription of the Jewish books.

The following is a copy of the memorial. The Memory of Demetrius to the great king. 'Since you have given me instructions O king, that the books which are needed to complete your library should be collected together, and that those which are defective should be repaired, I have devoted myself with the utmost care to the fulfilment of your wishes, and I now have the following proposal to lay before you.

Three days later Demetrius took the men and passing along the sea-wall, seven stadia long, to the island, crossed the bridge and made for the northern districts of Pharos.

So they set to work comparing their several results and making them agree, and whatever they agreed upon was suitably copied out under the direction of Demetrius.

When the work was completed, Demetrius collected together the Jewish population in the place where the translation had been made, and read it over to all, in the presence of the translators, who met with a great reception also from the people, because of the great benefits which they had conferred upon them.

They bestowed warm praise upon Demetrius, too, and urged him to have the whole law transcribed and present a copy to their leaders.

And he said to Demetrius, 'How is it that none of the historians or 'the poets have ever thought it worth their while to allude to such a wonderful achievement?'

And after, the king, as I have already said, had received the explanation of Demetrius on this point, he did homage and ordered that great care should be taken of the books, and that they should be sacredly guarded.