174
                        THE LAST MACCABEES                                   
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   Judah would accept no titles and would not undertake duties of government.
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He had restored the law, rejuvenated the faith, and shown Antiochus that he  
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could not trample upon the wishes of the majority. That was what he had set  
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out to do. So he returned to the hills and continued to harrass the forces of
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the Syrian king, but was killed in a skirmish.                               
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   Unfortunately, the Maccabean cause was later severely compromised when    
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Judah's brother Jonathan accepted from the Syrian king the ranks and insignia
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of High Priest and Prince of Judea, which should have been bestowed upon him 
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by the Jews themselves. Doubtless Jonathan believed he was doing it for the  
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good of the people, and certainly he achieved much in his short period of    
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office. When he died mysteriously in about 140 B.C. Judea had grown in       
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strength.                                                                    
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   Jonathan's brother Simon succeeded to the position in 142 B.C. but before 
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actually accepting the ranks he put the matter to the assembly of the people 
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in Judea. They voted for him, thereby conferring on him unwisely, as it later
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proved, absolute power.                                                      
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