The Beth Horon pass in the era was exceptionally narrow; according to a
baraita tale: "Two camels climbed Beth Horon Ascent and met each other. If both were going up together both would fall; if one after the other, they would both go up." Nevertheless, it was still part of the main road from Jerusalem to the west during the era, as other routes involved even greater difficulties. This makes it plausible as a spot for a small force to inflict major damage, as coordination among a surprised procession would be difficult, and superior numbers would count for little. The speech described before this battle does not particularly fit the situation of preparing for an ambush. The precise date of the battle is not known, but is likely between 166–165 BC.
Mattathias's death is recorded as happening in the 146th year of the
Ancient Macedonian calendar of the count used in Babylon & Judea, the equivalent to between Spring 166 BC to Spring 165 BC of the
Gregorian calendar, and the structure of the narrative implies that Mattathias was already dead by the time the battle with Seron was fought. Bar-Kochva suspects that the author of 1 Maccabees was not an eyewitness to this battle, although was able to interview someone who was. He thinks that the description is basically accurate, although the author inflated the number of enemy soldiers as well as Seron's rank in the army to make the victory seem more impressive. For this early stage of the revolt, it is more plausible that the Maccabees ambushed a smaller detachment of soldiers rather than attacking a huge army. The claim that "terror" befell the Gentiles in their vicinity as a result of the victory against Seron seems somewhat overblown; later events in the text would show that they were not so afraid as to avoid antagonizing the Maccabees. The non-Jewish Idumeans, Samaritans, and Greek residents of coastal towns would go on to cause quite a bit of trouble for the Maccabees as the Maccabean Revolt proceeded, forcing Judas and his army to protect Jews in the outlying areas and escort them to Judea as refugees during the
campaigns of 163 BC. The identity of the "godless" allies of Seron is not entirely clear either; possibilities include outlying
Samaritans or
Ammonites hostile to the Jews, Thracian mercenaries similar to Seron himself (if he really was Thracian), and Hellenized Jews who had been recruited as soldiers by the Seleucid government. ==Notes==