Today in the Bible

So the armies met in battle on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar.  The army of Nicanor was crushed, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle.  When his army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw down their arms and fled.  The Jews pursued them a day’s journey, from Adasa as far as Gazara, and as they followed kept sounding the battle call on the trumpets.

And men came out of all the villages of Judea round about, and they out-flanked the enemy and drove them back to their pursuers, so that they all fell by the sword; not even one of them was left.  Then the Jews seized the spoils and the plunder, and they cut off Nicanor’s head and the right hand which he so arrogantly stretched out, and brought them and displayed them just outside Jerusalem.

The people rejoiced greatly and celebrated that day as a day of great gladness.  And they decreed that this day should be celebrated each year on the thirteenth day of Adar.

So the land of Judah had rest for a few days. – 1 Maccabees 7:43-50 (RSV)

And they all decreed by public vote never to let this day go unobserved, but to celebrate the thirteenth day of the twelfth month — which is called Adar in the Syrian language — the day before Mordecai’s day.

This, then, is how matters turned out with Nicanor.  And from that time the city has been in the possession of the Hebrews.  So I too will here end my story.  If it is well told and to the point, that is what I myself desired; if it is poorly done and mediocre, that was the best I could do.   For just as it is harmful to drink wine alone, or, again, to drink water alone, while wine mixed with water is sweet and delicious and enhances one’s enjoyment, so also the style of the story delights the ears of those who read the work.  And here will be the end. – 2 Maccabees 15:36-39 (RSV)