This is probably identical with the modern town of Remtheh a little south
of the Yarmuk on the great pilgrim highway from Damascus to Mecca. After
making a detour to the south he crossed the Yarmuk and captured a series
of towns lying to the north and northeast of this river. Returning he
apparently met his Ammonite foe, who had succeeded in rallying an army, at
the point where the pilgrim highway crosses the headwaters of the Yarmuk.
Here Judas won a sweeping victory. Then collecting the many Jews of the
dispersion who had settled near these upper waters of the Yarmuk, he
returned victoriously to Jerusalem. His brother Simon, who had been
despatched on a similar mission to Galilee, likewise came back bringing
many fellow-Jews and laden with spoils.

Anticipating a renewal of the Syrian attack, Judas next made a rapid
campaign into the territory of the Idumeans, capturing the old Hebrew
capital of Hebron and carrying his victories as far as Ashdod on the
western borders of the Philistine plain. Within a few months he had
overrun and partially conquered a territory larger than the kingdom of
David. In an incredibly short time this peasant warrior had won more
victories against greater odds than any other leader in Israel's
history. The results of these victories were necessarily ephemeral. They
accomplished, however, three things: (1) Judas intimidated his foes and
established his prestige; (2) he was able to rescue thousands of Jews from
the hands of the heathen; and (3) by bringing them back to Judea he
increased its population and laid the foundations of that kingdom which
rose as the result of his patriotic achievements.

IV. The Battle of Beth-zacharias. There was still a Syrian outpost in
the heart of Judea: it was the citadel at Jerusalem, which looked down
upon the temple area. This Judas attempted to capture, but in so doing
incited to action the Syrian king, Antiochus Eupator, who had succeeded