Simon, now old, sends his sons Judas and John against Cendebeus with twenty thousand men. John crosses the water brook first, his men follow, and Cendebeus is routed and pursued to Cedron and the fields of Azotus. In the 177th year, in the month Sabat, Ptolemeus son of Abubus, captain of the plain of Jericho and the high priest's son-in-law, receives Simon and his sons Mattathias and Judas at a banquet in the little hold of Docus, and kills them once they have drunk. He sends men to Gazera to kill John, but John is warned and slays them. The book ends by pointing to the chronicles of John's priesthood.

1 Maccabees 16 - Summary
Read 1 Maccabees Chapter 16 Summary
Characters in This Chapter

Priest of Modin who refuses to sacrifice to idols, launches the revolt and on his deathbed names Judas captain

Son of Mattathias and leader of the revolt, who wins at Emmaus, rededicates the Temple and falls at Eleasa

Seleucid king who plunders the Temple, outlaws the law and sets up the abomination of desolation, then dies in Persia

Forerunner of the Messiah
Places in This Chapter

City plundered and garrisoned by Antiochus, won back by Judas, rebuilt by Jonathan and freed of its Syrian tower by Simon

Sanctuary profaned by the abomination of desolation in the 145th year and rededicated by Judas three years later to the day

Town of Mattathias, where the revolt begins and where the family is buried under Simon's monument

Royal city of the Seleucid kings, from which the armies set out, and where Jonathan's soldiers save Demetrius from a rising

Judea was the southern region of Israel, centered on Jerusalem. It was the heart of the ancient kingdom of Judah. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, was crucified in Jerusalem, and the early church spread from Judea to the ends of the earth.

Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the world, was the first Canaanite city conquered by the Israelites after crossing the Jordan River. Its walls famously fell after the Israelites marched around it for seven days as commanded by God through Joshua. Jesus later passed through Jericho, healing blind Bartimaeus and dining with the tax collector Zacchaeus.
Position in Book
Antiochus son of Demetrius turns against Simon, his sons defeat Cendebeus, and Simon is murdered at Jericho by his son-in-law; John succeeds him.
