Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
By the command of God the Midianites are slain, that is, all males and all corrupted women: only virgins are spared. Second, in verse 19, God commands both the spoil and the soldiers, as returning from slaughter and from dead bodies, to be purified. Third, in verse 25, He commands half the spoil to be divided among the soldiers, yet so that they give from it one animal out of every five hundred to Eleazar and the priests: the other half He commands to be divided among those who had remained in the camp, yet so that they give from it every fiftieth animal to the Levites. Fourth, in verse 48, each one offered to God all the gold they had seized, because not a single one of the Hebrews had fallen in battle.
Vulgate Text: Numbers 31:1-54
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2. First avenge the children of Israel upon the Midianites, and so you shall be gathered to your people. 3. And immediately Moses said: Arm men from among you for battle, who may exact the Lord's vengeance upon the Midianites; 4. let a thousand men from each tribe be chosen from Israel to be sent to war. 5. And they gave a thousand from each tribe, that is, twelve thousand equipped for battle; 6. and Moses sent them with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and he delivered to him also the holy vessels and the trumpets for sounding. 7. And when they had fought against the Midianites and conquered them, they killed all the males, 8. and their kings, Evi and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five princes of the nation: they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9. And they took their women captive, and the little ones, and all the cattle, and all the goods: whatever they could possess, they plundered: 10. both the cities and the villages and the fortifications the flame consumed. 11. And they carried away the spoil, and everything they had taken both of men and of beasts, 12. and they brought them to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole multitude of the children of Israel; and the rest of the goods they carried to the camp in the plains of Moab near the Jordan opposite Jericho. 13. And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. 14. And Moses was angry with the commanders of the army, the tribunes and centurions who had come from the battle, 15. and said: Why have you spared the women? 16. Are not these the ones who deceived the children of Israel at the suggestion of Balaam, and caused you to transgress against the Lord in the sin of Peor, whence the people were also struck? 17. Therefore kill all males, even among the children: and the women who have known men in intercourse, slay; 18. but the girls and all the virgin women reserve for yourselves; 19. and remain outside the camp seven days. Whoever has killed a man, or touched one who has been killed, shall be purified on the third and seventh day. 20. And of all the spoil, whether it be a garment, or a vessel, or anything prepared for use, of goatskins, and of hair, and of wood, it shall be expiated. 21. Eleazar the priest also spoke to the men of the army who had fought, saying: This is the precept of the law which the Lord commanded Moses: 22. Gold, and silver, and bronze, and iron, and lead, and tin, 23. and everything that can pass through flames shall be purified by fire; but whatever cannot endure fire shall be sanctified by the water of expiation: 24. and you shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and being purified you shall afterward enter the camp. 25. The Lord also said to Moses: 26. Take the sum of the things that were captured, from man to beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the chief of the people; 27. and you shall divide the spoil equally between those who fought and went out to battle, and the whole remaining multitude; 28. and you shall separate a portion for the Lord from those who fought and were in the battle, one life out of five hundred, both of men, and of oxen, and asses, and sheep; 29. and you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are the first-fruits of the Lord. 30. From the half also of the children of Israel you shall take the fiftieth head of men, and of oxen, and of asses, and of sheep, of all living things, and you shall give them to the Levites, who keep watch over the tabernacle of the Lord. 31. And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord had commanded. 32. Now the spoil which the army had taken was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33. seventy-two thousand oxen, 34. sixty-one thousand asses: 35. and of human beings of the female sex, who had not known men, thirty-two thousand. 36. And the half was given to those who had been in the battle: of sheep, three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred; 37. of which six hundred and seventy-five were counted as the Lord's portion. 38. And of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen, 39. of the thirty thousand five hundred asses, sixty-one asses. 40. Of the sixteen thousand human beings, thirty-two persons fell to the Lord's portion. 41. And Moses delivered the number of the first-fruits of the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as had been commanded him, 42. from the half of the children of Israel, which he had separated from those who had been in the battle. 43. And from the half that fell to the rest of the multitude, that is, of three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44. and of thirty-six thousand oxen, 45. and of thirty thousand five hundred asses, 46. and of sixteen thousand persons, 47. Moses took the fiftieth head and gave it to the Levites, who kept watch in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded the Lord. 48. And when the commanders of the army had come to Moses, both the tribunes and centurions, they said: 49. We your servants have counted the number of the fighting men who were under our command; and not even one is missing. 50. For this reason we each offer as gifts to the Lord whatever gold we could find in the spoil: ankle-bracelets, and armlets, rings and bracelets for the right hand, and small necklaces, that you may pray to the Lord for us. 51. And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in its various forms, 52. weighing sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from the tribunes and centurions. 53. For each man kept for himself what he had seized in the spoil. 54. And having received it, they brought it into the tabernacle of the testimony, as a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord.
Verse 2: Avenge the Children of Israel
2. "Avenge the children of Israel upon the Midianites" -- because they provoked the Israelites by prostituting their daughters to them, for fornication and for the idolatry of Baal-Peor, and with this intent and purpose, that afterward they might invade and slay them as if abandoned by God, as I said at the beginning of chapter xxv.
Verse 3: The Lord's Vengeance Upon the Midianites
3. WHO MAY EXACT THE LORD'S VENGEANCE UPON THE MIDIANITES. -- This vengeance is called the Lord's, first, because it will be accomplished by the Lord helping you and fighting before you and overthrowing the Midianites: so the Septuagint. Second, it will be the Lord's vengeance by which you will avenge the injury inflicted upon the Lord's people, and consequently upon the Lord Himself, by the Midianites. So the Chaldean.
Verses 5-6: Twelve Thousand with Phinehas
5 and 6. "Twelve thousand," etc., "he sent with Phinehas" (because Phinehas most courageously prevented this crime and scandal of Baal-Peor by killing the Midianite woman, chapter xxv, verse 7), "the holy vessels also, and THE TRUMPETS (of which chapter x, 2) FOR SOUNDING HE DELIVERED TO HIM." -- The "holy vessels" were the ark with the tables of the law, the Cherubim and the propitiatory; for the Jews carried these with them when going to war, so that they might, as it were, bring God Himself with them, sitting upon the propitiatory, who by His presence would scatter and crush the camps of the enemy. These, therefore, together with the trumpets, were entrusted to Phinehas the priest, that is, committed to his care. For Phinehas went forth to this war, not so much to be the leader of the battle, as to preside as priest over the sacred rites.
Let military commanders learn from this to have upright priests in their camps, who may promote piety and restrain offenses against God and sins. Let soldiers also learn to reverence sacred things and holy persons and God: for it is God who gives victory. Today it is not rarely otherwise; hence disasters and tears. Hear Peter of Blois, epistle 94: "Formerly," he says, "soldiers bound themselves by oath that they would stand for the welfare of the republic, that they would not flee in battle: but even today recruits receive their swords from the altar, that they might profess themselves sons of the Church. But matters have turned to the contrary; for from the moment they are decorated with the military belt today, they immediately rise up against the Lord's anointed, and rage against the patrimony of Christ: they despoil and plunder Christ's poor subjects, and miserably and mercilessly afflict the wretched, so that in their sufferings they may satisfy their illicit appetites for others' goods and their extraordinary desires." He adds secondly: "Those who should have exerted their strength against the enemies of the cross fight in drinking bouts and drunkenness. They are idle, they waste away in gluttony, and spending a degenerate life in impurities, they dishonor the name and office of the military. These men praise plundering in peace, flight in battle, victories over wine, since they are lions in headquarters but hares in combat." He adds thirdly: "The rule of soldiers now is to keep no rule; for he whose mouth is defiled with the filth of evil words, who swears more detestably, who fears God less, who despises the ministers of God, who does not reverence the Church: he is today reputed the braver and more renowned in the assembly of soldiers." These are helmeted hares, who are brave at stealing, drinking, debauching, and driving off the cattle of friends; but who have no strength in the battle line, no honor in victory, no disgrace in flight: an army readier with the tongue than the hand, a plunderer of its own allies, and itself the prey of enemies.
Allegorically, these vessels and the Cherubim are the holy angels, who fight together with pious and upright men against demons and sins, and encourage and help them. The trumpets are the sermons and exhortations of divine preachers. Phinehas is Christ, who is the leader and director of this war. So Cyril, book IV of On Adoration.
Again, the ark containing manna, that is, Christ, is the Blessed Virgin, who bestows victory against men and demons. Theophanes, Anastasius, and Cedrenus report, and from them Baronius in the year of Christ 625, that the Emperor Heraclius overcame Chosroes king of the Persians by the help of the Blessed Virgin, through whom it came about that hailstones of marvelous size crushed the Persians.
In the year of the Lord 886, the Emperor Basil defeated in war the Prince of the Saracens, who had mocked Christ and His mother, by invoking the Blessed Virgin, as Curopalatus reports, and from him Baronius.
John Tzimisces, Emperor of the Greeks, defeated the Bulgarians, Russians, etc., by the help of the Blessed Virgin, who sent Saint Theodore the martyr, who was seen sitting on a white horse in the front line, fighting for the Romans and breaking the strength of the enemy; whence Tzimisces built a temple in his honor.
Pelagius, prince of the Asturians, with the help of the Blessed Virgin with a few men defeated the Goths; for the weapons of the enemy were turned back upon themselves by divine power, so that Alchamam their leader was slain with twenty thousand. Thence the Spaniards began to recover the kingdom occupied by the Goths. There still exists the cave in which Pelagius hid with his men, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and called Saint Mary of Covadonga: so Tadensis, Rodrigo, and from them Baronius, in the year of Christ 718.
Narses the Great, a client and devotee of the Blessed Virgin, under the Emperor Justinian obtained wonderful and famous victories against Totila and the Goths by the help of the Virgin; for the Blessed Virgin used to appear to him and indicate when battle should be joined: wherefore he did not go down into the battle line unless he had learned the opportune time from her, as Procopius, Evagrius, and from them Baronius, in the year of Christ 568, report.
Stephen, king of the Hungarians, about to go against the enemy, humbly implored the help of the Blessed Virgin, saying: "If it pleases you, O Lady of the world, to allow part of your inheritance to be devastated by enemies, and the new planting of Christianity to be uprooted, do not, I beg, allow this to be imputed to my lack of trust, but rather to the disposition of your will. If the fault of the shepherd has committed anything wrong, let him himself pay: do not, I beg, allow the innocent sheep to be afflicted." As Antonius Bonfinius reports, book I of On the Affairs of Hungary, decade 2.
Well known is the celebrated victory of John of Austria, which he won against the Turks by the help of the Blessed Virgin: whence the faithful recall its memory every year, calling it the feast of Saint Mary of Victory, which they celebrate at the beginning of October. It took place in the year of the Lord 1571, in the Corinthian Sea.
Verse 7: All the Males Slain
7. AND WHEN THEY HAD FOUGHT AGAINST THE MIDIANITES AND HAD CONQUERED, THEY SLEW ALL THE MALES -- who, that is, were in Midian: for it is clear that some, upon hearing the rumor of approaching war, had fled from Midian to neighboring places, from the fact that they later restored the nation of Midian, which afterward was hostile to the Jews, especially in the time of Gideon. So Abulensis.
Verse 8: The Five Kings and Balaam
8. AND THEIR KINGS, EVI, AND REKEM, AND ZUR, AND HUR, AND REBA -- these are five kings, that is, princes of Midian, of whom Zur was the father of the Midianite woman whom Phinehas killed, chapter xxv, verse 18. THEY ALSO SLEW BALAAM THE SON OF BEOR WITH THE SWORD. -- Hence it is clear that Balaam crossed over from Balak, king of Moab, into Midian, and there schemed similar things against the Hebrews as he had done in Moab: and therefore he was justly slain by the Hebrews in Midian together with the others.
Verse 13: Moses and Eleazar Went Out
13. AND MOSES AND ELEAZAR WENT OUT -- to congratulate the victors returning from Midian.
Verse 16: The Sin of Peor
16. WHO MADE YOU TRANSGRESS AGAINST THE LORD, IN THE SIN OF PEOR. -- "Peor" is Baal-Peor, as I said at chapter xxv, verse 3.
Verse 17: Slay All Males, Even Children
17. THEREFORE SLAY ALL, WHATEVER IS OF THE MALE SEX, EVEN AMONG THE CHILDREN. -- This was peculiar in this war, that the children were slain by the command of God (who is the Lord of death and life of all) and of Moses. This was done, first, because of the enormity and detestation of the crime committed by the Midianites against the Hebrews; second, lest the children, when they had grown up, should avenge the death of their parents.
Note: By a human judge and human authority, innocent children cannot be killed on account of the sin of their parents; they can, however, be killed by the right and authority of God, both because He, having transcendent dominion over all things and consequently over the life of all, possesses lordship; and because children, and all human beings, on account of original sin, are deserving of death: therefore God can inflict it upon them, either sooner or later, whether in this manner or in another at His pleasure. So Abulensis in chapter xxiv of Deuteronomy, Question V.
Verses 17-18: Women and Virgins
17 and 18. AND THE WOMEN WHO HAVE KNOWN MEN IN INTERCOURSE, SLAY THEM: BUT THE GIRLS AND ALL VIRGIN WOMEN RESERVE. -- Note: The Midianite women who had been known by men are ordered to be killed, because through such women the Hebrews had been deceived into fornicating with them, and could have been deceived again through them. So Theodorus, Question XLIX. But the virgins had been free from this crime: hence the Hebrews reserved them, either for the purpose of selling them, or to use them as servants.
The virgins, moreover, could be distinguished from the deflowered, first, by the inspection of matrons, especially midwives; which inspection has also been accepted in the new law, as is evident from the chapter Fraternitatis, extravag. De frigidis. Second, by a revelation of God, indicating and designating the deflowered women to Moses. Abulensis adds three other methods, namely by the jet stone (gagates): for whoever drinks it, if she is not a virgin, is compelled to pass urine. Second, by inspection of urine: for in virgins it is clear and bright, in the deflowered it is cloudy. Third, by inspection of the horoscope and constellations of the sky. But this third method, although Abulensis does not reject it in this place, he nevertheless refutes it elsewhere; for it is superstitious: the first two methods are obscure and uncertain. Concerning the jet stone, however, the same is affirmed by Anselmus Boetius, physician and jeweler of Emperor Rudolf II, book II of On Gems, chapter CLXV: "Virginity," he says, "is revealed not only by fumigation but by drinking. For if a virgin drinks the powder, she will not urinate: if she is deflowered, she will not be able to retain her urine, by the testimony of many." The same is asserted by Camillus Leonardus, a physician of Pesaro, in the treatise On Stones, under Jet.
Verse 19: Purification of Those Who Killed
19. WHOEVER HAS KILLED A MAN, OR TOUCHED ONE WHO HAS BEEN KILLED, SHALL BE PURIFIED ON THE THIRD AND SEVENTH DAY -- according to the law about one who touches a corpse, given in Numbers chapter xix, 14.
Verse 20: Purification of Spoils
20. And of all the spoil, whether it be a garment, or a vessel, etc. IT SHALL BE PURIFIED -- namely by fire, if that can be done, that is, if the vessel or garment can endure fire: but if not, it shall be purified by the waters of lustration, made from the ashes of the red heifer, concerning which see chapter xix, 2 and 12, and this on the third and seventh day, as is explained in the following verses.
Note: These furnishings of the Midianites had to be purified, because they were legally unclean from contact with the dead, according to the law of Numbers xix, 14, and Leviticus xi, 32, because some of these vessels and objects were in the tents of the dying; many of them had also touched the dying themselves, like the garments of the dead: but if there were anything in so vast a quantity of spoil to which neither of these applied, and which therefore was not unclean, it nevertheless, on account of doubt, had to be purified; for it was presumed of all things that they were unclean, because of the corpses of so many slain scattered everywhere. So Abulensis.
Verse 21: The Precept of the Law
21. "This is the precept of the law which the Lord commanded Moses." -- We have not seen this precept written down thus far. Therefore God delivered it to Moses here, or at another time, by word of mouth. For God was accustomed to declare and entrust all His commands to Moses, so that he might afterward report them to the priests and to the people. So Abulensis.
Verse 23: Purification by Fire and Water
23. AND EVERYTHING THAT CAN PASS THROUGH FLAMES SHALL BE PURIFIED BY FIRE. -- The Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint add, "and it shall be purified with the water of lustration," as though in addition to fire, this vessel had to be sprinkled and lustrated with the ash-water of the red heifer.
Verse 27: Equal Division of Spoils
27. AND YOU SHALL DIVIDE THE SPOIL EQUALLY, BETWEEN THOSE WHO FOUGHT, etc., AND AMONG ALL THE REST OF THE MULTITUDE. -- Note: Neither Moses nor Phinehas the leader of the war appropriated a larger share of the spoil for themselves, but it was all divided among the soldiers: for "it is fitting," says Cato, "that commanders should take glory, and soldiers money, from a victory." Whence Scipio, although he had enriched his soldiers more than any general, having captured Carthage and other cities, upon his death left from so many victories and riches nothing but thirty-three pounds of silver and two of gold, says Plutarch.
Note second, that what he says, "you shall divide equally," is to be understood not as meaning that those who remained in the camp and were far from the hazard and danger of war should receive as much as the soldiers who won the victory at their own risk and labor: but that all those who remained in the camp, taken together, should have as much as those few who actually fought, so that one half of the spoil should go to the soldiers who fought; the other half to the rest who remained in the camp. Wherefore, from this half, each individual who remained in the camp, since they were a very great number, received far less than each soldier who fought received from his half: for the fighters were far fewer in number, and therefore each one individually received a far greater share from his half of the spoil. Moreover, from each half, certain things were offered to the Lord, that is, to the priests and Levites, as follows.
You will object: The law of war is that the lot should be equal for him who goes to battle and him who stays with the baggage, as is said in 1 Kings XXX, 24.
I reply: This law was established later by David, as is said in the same place. Secondly, this law does not apply here; for it is understood of those cases in which both parties equally face the hazard and danger of war, as when, for example, one stronger and more numerous part goes to battle, while the other, weaker and (as is usual) smaller in number, guards the baggage. For then both the one and the other face danger and must expect and sustain the enemy's assault. But here only the few who went to battle faced danger. For all the rest who remained in the camp, since they were very great in number, did not fear so small an enemy, and consequently faced no danger. So Abulensis.
Verse 28: The Lord's Portion
28. YOU SHALL SEPARATE A PORTION FOR THE LORD. -- Here God commands, first, that the soldiers from their half of the spoil should give to Him, that is, to Eleazar and the priests, one soul, that is, one animal out of five hundred, both from the persons and from the cattle, donkeys, and sheep. Whence from this portion, from this spoil, there fell to the priests 675 sheep, 72 cattle, 61 donkeys, and 32 virgins, as is clear from verse 37.
Secondly, that the Israelites who had remained in the camp should give from their half one animal out of fifty to the Levites.
Verse 29: To Eleazar as First-Fruits
29. "You shall give it to Eleazar" -- so that from it he may distribute a share to Ithamar and to the other lesser priests. For these no less than the Levites ought to be partakers of the spoil; but the remainder he should keep for himself, as high priest. We see something similar in chapter XVIII, verse 28.
FIRST-FRUITS -- that is, offering; for in Hebrew it is therumah.
Verses 49-50: Not One Was Missing -- the Gold Offering
49 and 50. "Not even one was missing" (fell in battle): FOR THIS REASON WE EACH OFFER AS GIFTS TO THE LORD WHATEVER GOLD WE COULD FIND IN THE SPOIL. -- Behold, here each one offers to God all the gold and golden vessels which they had seized. The reason follows.
50. THAT YOU MAY PRAY. -- This was the secondary and accessory reason for the offering of gold; for the primary reason was to show themselves grateful to God, who had given them this victory entirely without bloodshed. So all nations have acknowledged their victories as received from God, and therefore they dedicated the spoils or arms of the enemy to their gods.
Aristomenes, in the battle which he successfully waged against the Spartans, when having won the victory he came to Delphi, found there the shield he had lost in battle, and again dedicated it in the same temple. Pausanias writes in his Messenics that he saw this shield.
Leocritus the Athenian, having been the first to assault the town of Piraeus with his men, and having taken it at the same time, dedicated his shield by solemn rite to Jupiter the Liberator, with an inscription of his name and illustrious deed. So Pausanias, book I.
The Philistines hung up the arms of King Saul, whom they had slain, in the temple of Ashtaroth, 1 Kings xxxi, 10.
The banners which the Brescians brought back from the defeated Cremonese are recorded as having been hung in their cathedral church as a perpetual memorial, according to Bergomensis, book XII.
The English hung up in a church at Courtrai the gilded spurs of the French who were slain in the Battle of Courtrai. So Aemilianus, book IX.
The Emperor Phocas, having captured the cities of Tarsus and Mopsuestia from the Saracens, returned to Constantinople bringing their gates with him, and offering them to God as the first-fruits of his expedition, dedicated them to the church of Hagia Sophia.
Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, appointed legate of the Christian army and a great fleet by Pope Honorius, stormed the very strong city of Heliopolis in Egypt, and victorious from a hard-fought battle brought back to Rome a sacred trophy, namely the column to which Christ was bound and scourged, which he erected in the church of Saint Praxedes as a spoil more precious than any price. So Paolo Giovio in the Procession of the Colonna.
David dedicated to God the sword of Goliath, with which he had cut off his very head, and hung it in the tabernacle of God, 1 Kings xxi, 9.
Finally, the Emperor Titus, marveling at the fortifications of Jerusalem and seeing them overcome by himself, said: "Clearly we have fought with God's help," says Josephus, book VII of the War, chapter xvi; indeed he refused to be crowned, saying that the crown of this victory was owed to God. Hear Philostratus, book VI of the Life of Apollonius: "The neighboring nations wished to crown him for the victory; but he replied that he was unworthy of such honor: for he was not the author of such deeds, but had lent his hands to God, who was demonstrating His wrath against the Jews."
Verse 51: All the Gold in Various Forms
51. ALL THE GOLD IN ITS VARIOUS FORMS -- that is, all the gold fashioned into various kinds of vessels. So the Hebrew, Chaldean, Septuagint.
Verse 52: Sixteen Thousand Shekels
52. "Weighing sixteen thousand." -- The word pondo is not in the Hebrew: from which it is clear that pondo here does not signify a pound, but a weight, namely of shekels, as if to say: From the spoil there were offered in gold, by weight, sixteen thousand shekels and 750 shekels, that is, in total 697 pounds of gold and 22 shekels. So the Hebrew.
Verse 53: Each Man Kept His Own Spoil
53. "For each man kept for himself what he had seized in the spoil." -- Understand this of gold and similar things that could be snatched and concealed; for other larger things, such as persons and cattle, were collected in common and divided equally, as was said at verse 25.
Verse 54: Into the Tabernacle as a Memorial
54. THEY BROUGHT IT INTO THE TABERNACLE BEFORE THE LORD -- that is, before the ark, the Cherubim, and the propitiatory.
Lyra's Twelve Causes for Just War
Here Lyra lists twelve causes for which we read in Scripture that war was justly waged. The first is, if war is waged against a land in which God is blasphemed through idolatry, as is stated in Deuteronomy XII, 2: "Overthrow all the places in which the Nations whom you shall possess worshipped their gods." The second, if there is a departure from the worship of God, Deuteronomy XIII, 12: "If you hear in one of your cities that some are saying," etc. The third, if the temporal fidelity owed to one's lord is abandoned, as is clear from 4 Kings III, concerning Joram and Jehoshaphat, who waged war against the king of Moab. The fourth, if rebellion is raised; so David in 2 Kings xx pursued Sheba the son of Bichri. The fifth, if an evildoer is harbored, as is clear from Judges xx, concerning the war waged against Gibeah. The sixth, if a public injury is inflicted upon a ruler, as is clear from 2 Kings x, concerning David's war against the king of Ammon, who had the beards of David's messengers shaved in contempt of him. The seventh, if one's own property is sought to be recovered, as is clear from 2 Kings III, concerning David's war against Ish-bosheth, to recover the kingdom which had been given to him by God. The eighth, that the enemy may be repelled, as is clear from 2 Kings viii, concerning David's war against the Philistines. The ninth, that an enemy who rises up may be attacked in his own territory, as is clear from Numbers xxi, concerning the war of the children of Israel against Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites. The tenth, against him through whom the enemy is strengthened, as is clear from 2 Kings viii, concerning David's war against Syria of Damascus, because it was giving aid to Hadadezer. The eleventh, that a friend may be rescued from enemies, as is clear from Genesis xiv, concerning Abraham's war against the kings who had captured Lot his nephew. The twelfth, if tyranny is exercised by a ruler, as is clear from 1 Maccabees, concerning the war of the Maccabees against Antiochus Illustrious. Thus far Lyra.