Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Judas routs two battle lines of Gorgias, and then Lysias himself, the viceroy of Syria; who, while he prepares war again, Judas purifies the temple and restores the sacred rites of God.
Vulgate Text: 1 Maccabees 4:1-61
1. And Gorgias took five thousand foot soldiers and a thousand chosen horsemen; and they moved their camp by night, 2. to attack the camp of the Jews and strike them suddenly; and the men who were from the citadel were their guides. 3. And Judas heard of it, and he himself rose up with the valiant men, to strike the forces of the king's armies that were in Emmaus. 4. For the army was still dispersed from the camps. 5. And Gorgias came to the camp of Judas by night, and found no one, and he sought them in the mountains; for he said: These men are fleeing from us. 6. And when day came, Judas appeared in the field with only three thousand men, who did not have armor and swords; 7. and they saw the strong camp of the Gentiles, and men in armor, and cavalry around them, and these were trained for battle. 8. And Judas said to the men who were with him: Do not fear their multitude, and do not dread their attack. 9. Remember how our fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with a great army. 10. And now let us cry to heaven, and the Lord will have mercy on us, and will remember the covenant of our fathers, and will crush this army before our face today. 11. And all nations shall know that there is One who redeems and delivers Israel. 12. And the foreigners lifted up their eyes and saw them coming from the opposite side. 13. And they went out of the camp to battle, and those who were with Judas sounded the trumpet. 14. And they engaged; and the Gentiles were routed and fled into the plain. 15. But the hindmost all fell by the sword, and they pursued them as far as Gazara, and to the plains of Idumea, and Azotus, and Jamnia; and there fell of them up to three thousand men. 16. And Judas returned with his army following him. 17. And he said to the people: Do not covet the spoils; for the battle is still against us, 18. and Gorgias and his army are near us on the mountain; but stand now against our enemies and fight them, and afterward you will take the spoils in safety. 19. And while Judas was still saying this, behold, a certain part appeared looking down from the mountain. 20. And Gorgias saw that his men had been put to flight, and they had set the camp on fire; for the smoke that was seen declared what had happened. 21. When they perceived this, they were greatly afraid, seeing at the same time both Judas and the army in the field ready for battle. 22. And they all fled into the country of the foreigners; 23. and Judas returned to plunder the camp, and they took much gold and silver, and blue cloth, and sea purple, and great riches. 24. And returning, they sang a hymn, and blessed God in heaven, because He is good, because His mercy endures forever. 25. And there was a great deliverance in Israel on that day. 26. And all of the foreigners who had escaped came and reported to Lysias all that had happened. 27. When he heard it, he was dismayed and his spirit failed, because things had not turned out for Israel as he wished, and as the king had commanded. 28. And the following year Lysias gathered sixty thousand chosen foot soldiers and five thousand horsemen, to subdue them. 29. And they came into Judea, and pitched camp at Beth-horon, and Judas met them with ten thousand men. 30. And they saw that the army was strong, and he prayed and said: Blessed are You, O Savior of Israel, who crushed the attack of the mighty man by the hand of Your servant David, and delivered the camp of the foreigners into the hand of Jonathan the son of Saul, and of his armor-bearer. 31. Shut up this army in the hand of Your people Israel, and let them be confounded in their army and their horsemen. 32. Give them fear, and cause the boldness of their strength to melt away, and let them be shaken by their own destruction. 33. Cast them down by the sword of those who love You; and let all who know Your name praise You with hymns. 34. And they joined battle, and there fell of the army of Lysias five thousand men. 35. And when Lysias saw the flight of his men, and the boldness of the Jews, and that they were ready either to live or to die bravely, he went to Antioch and chose soldiers, so that having increased them, they might come again into Judea. 36. Then Judas and his brothers said: Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us now go up to cleanse the sanctuary and renew it. 37. And the whole army assembled, and they went up to Mount Zion. 38. And they saw the sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned, and the gates burned, and shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest or on the mountains, and the priests' chambers destroyed. 39. And they tore their garments, and mourned with great lamentation, and put ashes on their heads. 40. And they fell on their faces to the ground, and sounded the signal trumpets, and cried out to heaven. 41. Then Judas appointed men to fight against those who were in the citadel, until they should cleanse the sanctuary. 42. And he chose priests without blemish, who had devotion to the law of God; 43. and they cleansed the sanctuary, and took away the stones of defilement to an unclean place. 44. And he considered what to do about the altar of holocausts, which had been profaned. 45. And a good plan came to them, to destroy it, lest it should be a reproach to them, because the Gentiles had contaminated it, and they demolished it. 46. And they stored the stones on the temple mount in a suitable place, until a prophet should come and give a decision about them. 47. And they took whole stones according to the law; and they built a new altar according to the one that had been there before. 48. And they rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple; and they consecrated the temple and the courts. 49. And they made new holy vessels, and brought in the lampstand, and the altar of incense, and the table into the temple. 50. And they put incense on the altar, and lit the lamps that were on the lampstand, and they gave light in the temple. 51. And they set the loaves on the table, and hung up the veils, and completed all the works they had undertaken. 52. And they rose before dawn on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month (this is the month of Kislev), in the one hundred and forty-eighth year; 53. and they offered sacrifice according to the law, on the new altar of holocausts which they had made. 54. At the very time and on the very day on which the Gentiles had contaminated it, on that same day it was renewed with songs and harps and lyres and cymbals. 55. And all the people fell on their faces, and worshipped, and blessed heaven, even Him who had prospered them. 56. And they kept the dedication of the altar for eight days, and offered holocausts with joy, and sacrifices of deliverance and praise. 57. And they adorned the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; and they dedicated the gates and the priests' chambers, and put doors on them. 58. And there was very great joy among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was removed. 59. And Judas and his brothers and the whole congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their season, from year to year, for eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev, with gladness and joy. 60. And at that time they built up Mount Zion, with high walls and strong towers all around, lest the Gentiles should come and trample it down, as they had done before. 61. And he stationed a garrison there to guard it, and he fortified Bethsura to guard it, so that the people might have a fortress against Idumea.
Verse 1: And Gorgias Took Five Thousand Foot Soldiers
1. And Gorgias took five thousand foot soldiers AND A THOUSAND CHOSEN HORSEMEN, AND THEY MOVED THEIR CAMP BY NIGHT. — Gorgias was one of the three generals of Antiochus and Lysias, most experienced in war, which he also shows here, when with chosen soldiers he invades the camp of Judas by night, to catch him sleeping with his men by surprise. For by this stratagem Hannibal defeated the Romans, and the Romans defeated Hasdrubal, Hannibal's brother, as Livy attests.
Verse 2: And The Men Who Were From The Citadel Were Their Guides
2. AND THE MEN WHO WERE FROM THE CITADEL WERE THEIR GUIDES. — That is, the soldiers of Antiochus who were born or raised in the citadel of Zion, and therefore knew the region and its places, guided them through dark roads (for it was night), winding and hidden, of which they themselves were ignorant, being foreigners and strangers.
Verse 3: And Judas Heard, And Rose Up, He And The Valiant Men
3. AND JUDAS HEARD, AND ROSE UP, HE AND THE VALIANT MEN (strong commanders and soldiers) TO STRIKE THE FORCES of the king's armies — that is, the entire camp left behind by Gorgias. The Greek has only dynamin, that is, the might, strength, power, army, and troops of the king. But because in this camp were armies of various nations, quite strong and numerous, hence our translator rendered it: "the forces of the king's armies." Judas therefore learned through scouts the stratagem and plan of Gorgias, and turned it back against him. For on the same night, he himself attacked the remaining camp of Gorgias left at Emmaus, which was secure and sleeping, and overwhelmed them unexpectedly.
Verse 4: For The Army Was Still Dispersed From The Camps
4. FOR THE ARMY WAS STILL DISPERSED FROM THE CAMPS — that is, the soldiers of Gorgias had not yet been gathered together and arranged in their ranks and battle lines in the camps, but were wandering about aimlessly, gradually collecting and organizing themselves in the camps. Judas, knowing this, attacked them while dispersed and in disorder, and easily overthrew them.
Verse 5: And Gorgias Came To The Camp Of Judas And Found No One
5. AND GORGIAS CAME TO THE CAMP OF JUDAS AND FOUND NO ONE — because Judas with his men had gone that same night to Emmaus, to cut down those left behind by Gorgias, as I said.
Verse 6: Judas Appeared In The Field With Three Thousand Men
6. AND WHEN DAY CAME, JUDAS APPEARED IN THE FIELD WITH ONLY THREE THOUSAND MEN (foot soldiers), WHO DID NOT HAVE ARMOR (that is, iron breastplates or cuirasses and shields) AND SWORDS — that is, not such as they wished, as the Greek and many Latin codices add; as if to say: they did not have swords that were polished, sharp, broad, and long, such as they desired and such as the enemy had; but unpolished ones, covered with rust, blunted, narrow, and short; many also marched armed not with swords but only with poles, clubs, hammers, hoes, sickles, and other rustic weapons, which they had found at home or in the field. All the greater, therefore, was God's power and the soldiers' bravery, and the victory. This is what Josephus says, Book XII, chapter 11: "Leading three thousand men not sufficiently equipped with arms because of poverty." So Dionysius the Carthusian and Josephus; Stephanus here adds that many of them were slingers, who did not customarily use swords, so as to be free in hurling stones from slings. Less probably, Tirinus, reading "because" for "who," explains it thus: that is, Judas led out only three thousand armed swordsmen into the battle line because the rest of the Jews did not have swords and shields to fight with. Moreover, that they did have swords is clear from verse 15, where it says: "But the hindmost of them fell by the sword," and from the fact that shortly before, the Jews had plundered the camp of Apollonius, and from there took swords and other weapons.
Verse 7: And They Saw The Strong Camp Of The Gentiles
7. AND THEY SAW THE STRONG CAMP OF THE GENTILES, AND MEN IN ARMOR, AND CAVALRY. — Note: Judas and the Maccabees fought on foot, and had no cavalry; for no mention is made of horses, while the enemy had an abundant cavalry as well as infantry. The reasons were various. First, because God, in Deuteronomy 17:16, had forbidden the Jews an abundance of horses, lest they trust in them rather than in Him. So St. Basil and others, whom I cited there, although Abulensis seems to deny it. Second, because Judea is mountainous and rugged; hence barely passable for horses and horsemen and inconvenient for battle. Third, because Judea lacked an abundance of horses and used donkeys and mules in their place, and procured horses from Egypt (as Solomon had done); but to buy them there and bring them into Judea was too burdensome and expensive for the Maccabees. Fourth, God willed it so, to show more clearly His own power and the virtue and might of the Maccabees: namely, that they alone, relying on God, as Judas here acknowledges, having implored His help — few against many, foot soldiers against cavalry, nearly unarmed against armed men — nevertheless overthrew them, according to that saying of David: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God," Psalm 19:8.
Verse 10: And Now Let Us Cry To Heaven
10. And now let us cry to heaven — saying: Mi camocha baelim Jehova, that is: "Who is like You among the mighty, O Lord?" Exodus 15. For this was the emblem and watchword of Judas; whence from the initial letters of that verse joined together, he was called Machabi, that is, Maccabeus, as is sufficiently gathered from these his words and similar ones. For Judas everywhere placed his hope of victory not in arms nor in soldiers, but in God alone, and invoked Him, and by this confidence and suppliant prayer always obtained victory, except in the last battle, in which he fell wounded, because it is not recorded that before that battle he invoked God, as he was accustomed to do on other occasions.
AND HE WILL REMEMBER THE COVENANT OF OUR FATHERS — that is, God will remember the pact and covenant made with our fathers, namely that we worship Him as our God, and He in turn be our God, that is, our protector, provider, guardian, and keeper; and therefore deliver us from so many and such great enemies, and overthrow them before us.
Verse 15: But The Hindmost All Fell By The Sword
15. But the hindmost (of the fugitives) all fell — slain by Judas and his companions, who pursued the fleeing enemy and harried the rear of the host and cut down the last ones.
Verse 17: Do Not Covet The Spoils
17. AND JUDAS SAID: DO NOT COVET THE SPOILS, FOR THE BATTLE IS STILL AGAINST US. — See here the military prudence of Judas, by which he kept his men under their standards and did not permit them to seize the enemy's spoils, lest the fleeing enemies, seeing this, rally again and attack the Jews as they were scattered about and weighed down with plunder, and defeat them. For thus in this century we saw the Germans and Transylvanians, after they had slain many thousands of Turks, cut down by those same Turks, because having rushed prematurely to the spoils, they gave the Turks the opportunity to regroup in the mountains and to attack and slaughter those weighed down with plunder.
So Tomyris, queen of the Scythians, feigning flight, left a camp full of feasts and wine for Cyrus and the Persians to plunder: but soon returning, she slaughtered to the last man those same Persians buried in wine and sleep, as Justin, Herodotus, and others attest. Boleslaus II routed Frederick, king of Bohemia, in three successive battles. But while he gave his soldiers leave to plunder, and did not pursue the victory, Frederick, having rallied his soldiers, defeated him who was swelling with his triple victory, and forced him to return to exile. So Delrio, Book XIII, gives more examples about Alexander, Hannibal, and Tiberius. See Frontinus, Book II, chapter 5.
Greed, therefore, and eagerness for plunder deceives prudence, wrests victory from the victors, and transfers it to the vanquished, and causes the place of victory to become the place of slaughter. Therefore wise war leaders restrain their soldiers from plunder, keep them armed in battle formation, and pursue the fleeing enemy until the victory over them is complete; for then the plundering and spoiling is safe. For this reason, generals defeated in war, to delay the pursuing enemy and escape him, scatter money and precious goods behind them, so that the enemy, occupied in collecting these, may cease the pursuit.
So Tryphon, king of Syria, defeated and fleeing the entire way, scattered gold and silver, and by this means delayed the cavalry of Antiochus pursuing him and escaped, as Julius Frontinus attests, Book II of Stratagems, chapter 13, who also adds that the Gauls did the same when fighting with Attalus. Plutarch reports in his Life of Lucullus that Mithridates, defeated by Lucullus and the Romans, escaped the hands of his pursuers by casting the royal treasure in the Romans' path. So the beaver escapes from the hunters' hands by cutting off and casting at them his testicles; for he knows that it is for these that they hunt him, so that from his parts they may provide castoreum for physicians. Hear Polybius, Book X: "And since most men gape at plunder and cannot achieve a complete victory, it happens that they are endangered in the whole affair. It has befallen many that, although they achieved their aim and either broke into the enemy camp or captured a city, nevertheless they were not only driven out, but incurred the peril and loss of their whole cause."
Tropologically, we who wrestle constantly with demons must leave behind earthly spoils, lest if we brood over them, we be seized and overcome by them: "Therefore let us wrestle naked with the naked," says St. Gregory.
Verse 20: And They Set Fire To The Camp
20. And they set fire to the camp. — Judas set fire to the camp, that is, the tents of the enemy, so that Gorgias, watching from a distance on the mountain, would know that his men had been slain, and therefore the camp had been set on fire by Judas, and thus fearing for himself and his men he would take flight. Which indeed happened.
Verse 23: Blue Cloth And Sea Purple
23. Blue cloth (that is, garments of hyacinth or violet color) and sea purple — which is made from the juice of marine shellfish, and especially of the little fish called the purple, and this above all at Tyre; whence it is called Tyrian purple, and Sarranian (for Tyre in Hebrew is called Sor) purple, as Pliny attests, Book IV, chapters 38 and 39; for the purple that is made from violets and other herbs is pale and cannot be compared with Tyrian purple; for this is fiery and almost flame-colored. Hence Virgil, Aeneid IV: "The wool glowed with Tyrian dye."
Moreover, Chaldean as well as Persian soldiers wore garments of purple and scarlet, partly for adornment. Hence Xenophon, Book IV of the Cyropaedia: "The soldiers, he says, were all armed with the same weapons as Cyrus, with scarlet tunics;" and partly so that in battle the wounded could conceal their flowing blood and wounds with the matching purple tunic, lest they dismay their companions and give boldness to the enemy, as Valerius Maximus attests, Book II, chapter 6; and Aelian, Book VI, chapter 6.
Verse 24: And Returning They Sang A Hymn
24. And returning, they sang a hymn — namely a victory song to God, attributing the victory to His help and power, not their own; by which gratitude they so bound God to themselves that He would give them new victories; for victory is a gift of God, who grants it freely to the grateful, denies it to the ungrateful, or takes it back once given. Hence Christians, after gaining a victory, sing: "We praise Thee, O God."
Verse 25: And There Was A Great Deliverance
25. AND THERE WAS A GREAT DELIVERANCE, that is, victory, IN ISRAEL — for this victory brought deliverance to Israel. Therefore the cause is metonymically put for the effect. See the remarks on chapter 3:6. Add: "salvation," like "peace" among the Hebrews, signifies every benefit, every good fortune, every good thing. Hence that saying of Psalm 17: "Magnifying the salvations, that is, the benefits and gifts of his king;" hence he immediately calls them "mercy" or grace.
Verse 28: Lysias Gathered Sixty Thousand Foot Soldiers
28. AND THE FOLLOWING YEAR LYSIAS GATHERED SIXTY THOUSAND CHOSEN FOOT SOLDIERS AND FIVE THOUSAND HORSEMEN — whom Judas, though few, relying on God, overthrew with equal fortitude and success, verse 34.
Verse 32: Give Them Fear
32. GIVE THEM FEAR (send upon them a panic terror, so that they think formidable battle lines of soldiers or angels are coming against them, and thus struck with terror they flee, or even attack one another, thinking their own comrades are enemies, and thus) LET THEM BE SHAKEN BY THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION — so that, by mutually battering each other, they may crush, trample, and slaughter one another, as happened to the Midianites under Gideon, who cut each other down in mutual slaughter, Judges 7:22.
AND CAUSE TO MELT (in Greek tēxon, that is, liquefy, as wax dissolves and melts before fire) THE BOLDNESS OF THEIR STRENGTH.
Verse 35: When Lysias Saw The Flight Of His Men
35. But when Lysias saw the flight of his men, and the boldness of the Jews, and that they were ready to live or to die bravely — "bravely" is to be referred nobly both to "live" and to "die"; for he lives bravely in battle who conquers; and he dies bravely who is overcome by the number of enemies but is killed fighting bravely.
HE WENT TO ANTIOCH. — Lysias wisely departed, because against men who are resolved and desperate, battle is most dangerous, as I showed in the commentary on Judges and Kings. Therefore Judas, having soldiers who had determined either to conquer or to die, ground down all the enemy's battle lines and obtained marvelous victories. For this determination of soldiers makes them fearless and courageous, like lions, so that through weapons, through stones, through fire they charge at the enemy like thunderbolts, and strike, overthrow, and scatter them.
Verse 36: Behold, Our Enemies Are Crushed
36. THEN JUDAS AND HIS BROTHERS SAID: BEHOLD, OUR ENEMIES ARE CRUSHED; LET US NOW GO UP TO CLEANSE THE HOLY THINGS — namely the holy temple, the holy altars and vessels, so that we may expiate and renew them, which had been profaned and polluted by the Gentiles through idols and superstitions, that is, restore them to their former beauty, honor, and glory, and to the worship of God. See here the piety as well as the shrewdness of Judas, who uses the leisure from wars granted him by Lysias for the holy task of expiating the temple and restoring God's sacrifices and worship in it. Let our leaders and soldiers imitate Judas, so that with military bravery they may combine the fear, worship, and piety of God: and thus they will be heaped by God with victories and all goods, present and eternal.
Verse 38: And They Saw The Sanctuary
38. AND THEY SAW THE SANCTUARY (that is, the holy place, or the temple; namely the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies) DESERTED, AND THE PRIESTS' CHAMBERS DESTROYED. — The pastophoria were rooms of the priests attached to the temple, in which the vestments and treasures of the temple were kept; hence they were also called treasuries and chambers, Ezekiel 40. For pastos in Greek means a bridal chamber and an alcove, because in them there were seats for sitting and resting.
Verse 40: And They Sounded The Signal Trumpets
40. AND THEY SOUNDED THE SIGNAL TRUMPETS — the trumpets are called "signal" trumpets because by their sound the feast days and the convocation of the people, or assembly, were signaled, Numbers 10:1 and 10. More truly, however, it seems that these trumpets were not the sacred trumpets of the temple; for those had already been taken by the soldiers of Antiochus when they profaned the temple; but rather the secular trumpets of the camp and of war. These are called "signal" trumpets because they signaled to the soldiers what was to be done, and especially that the enemy was present, so that they might prepare for battle against him. For these were the trumpets of Judas the commander and his soldiers, so that while stationed among the enemy they might be summoned by the trumpet blast and roused to keep watch and to fight, during the time when the priests and their attendants were cleansing the temple, lest the minions of Antiochus occupying the citadel of Zion might rush from it into the temple and slaughter those doing the cleansing. So Sanchez; hence, explaining further, he adds:
Verse 41: Judas Appointed Men To Fight
41. THEN JUDAS APPOINTED MEN TO FIGHT AGAINST THOSE WHO WERE IN THE CITADEL, UNTIL THEY SHOULD CLEANSE THE SANCTUARY — the places, courts, and vessels of the temple. For the enemies, that is, the soldiers of Antiochus, held the citadel of Zion, and Judas could not expel them from there that year 148 of the Greeks, but after two years in the year 150 of the Greeks he began to besiege the citadel, and the Maccabees besieged it for 23 years, after which they finally captured it in the year 171 of the Greeks, as is stated in chapter 13:50.
Verse 42: Who Had Devotion To The Law Of God
42. WHO HAD DEVOTION TO THE LAW OF GOD. — "Devotion," that is, a pious inclination, desire, and zeal for promoting the law and worship of God.
Verse 43: And They Took Away The Stones Of Defilement
43. AND THEY TOOK AWAY THE STONES OF DEFILEMENT — from which the Gentile idolaters had built their idols, altars, statues, etc., with which they had contaminated and profaned both the stones and the temple, chapter 1:50 and Book II, chapter 10.
TO AN UNCLEAN PLACE — namely to Topheth, or Gehenna, where they used to burn children to the idol Moloch. For this place was most unclean and accursed, 4 Kings 23:10. So in former times the altars and temples of idols were completely torn down and destroyed by Christians up to St. Gregory, who in Book IX, Epistle 71 to Mellitus decrees that they should not be destroyed but expiated, and transferred from the worship of idols to the worship of God.
Verse 44: What To Do About The Altar Of Holocausts
44. And he considered what to do about the altar of holocausts (which Ezra and the priests had formerly erected in the rebuilt temple), which had been profaned (by the idol of Jupiter Olympius, which the followers of Antiochus had placed on it) — whether to cleanse it for use, or rather to remove it as unworthy for use.
Verse 45: A Good Plan Came To Them, To Destroy It
45. AND A GOOD PLAN CAME TO THEM, TO DESTROY IT, LEST IT SHOULD BE A REPROACH TO THEM — lest the idolaters reproach them for sacrificing on an altar polluted by the idol of Jupiter Olympius, and for sacrificing not to God but to Jupiter; for the idol of Jupiter had been placed on it.
Verse 46: And They Stored The Stones On The Temple Mount
46. AND THEY STORED THE STONES ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT (that is, on Mount Zion, on which the house of God, or the temple, had been built) UNTIL A PROPHET SHOULD COME — some prophet, especially the Messiah; for the Jews had eagerly awaited Him for many centuries, and His coming was already near. For from the year 148 of the Greeks, when these events took place, to the birth of Christ, only 159 years elapsed. Learn from this that in the time of the Maccabees there was no prophet in Israel; for the last prophets were Zechariah and Malachi. You may ask: Why did Judas, since he was High Priest, not consult God through the oracle of the Ephod, or through the Urim and Thummim? Josephus answers that this oracle had been silent and had ceased two hundred years before Christ. So he says, Book III, chapter 11. Abulensis and others hold the same view. Or certainly this Ephod that gave oracles had already been taken away by the ministers of Antiochus, and especially by the pseudo-high priests Jason, Menelaus, and Alcimus, apostates and traitors, so that Judas could not use it or consult God through it. So Sanchez.
Verse 48: And They Rebuilt
48. AND THEY REBUILT (they restored what had been torn down or broken by the idolaters) THE SANCTUARY, that is, the first part of the temple, which was called the "Holy Place" or "Sanctuary" in the plural, as it is called here, AND WHAT WAS WITHIN THE HOUSE INSIDE — that is, also those things that were in the rear and inner part of the temple, which was called the "Holy of Holies," that is, the most holy place. In the Holy Place were the table of the showbread, the golden lampstand, and the altar of incense, which had been taken away by the minions of Antiochus; hence Judas made new ones, as is stated in verse 49. In the Holy of Holies there was only the Ark with the Cherubim and the Mercy Seat; but shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, Jeremiah removed these from the temple and hid them. Hence the Hebrews assert that in the second temple, rebuilt after the return from Babylon by Zerubbabel, there was no Ark. Others say there was an Ark, not the one fabricated by Moses — for Jeremiah removed that one — but another one similar to the Mosaic one, fashioned by the Jews after their return; on which more in Book II.
AND THEY CONSECRATED THE TEMPLE AND THE COURTS. — "Temple" (aedes) refers to the Holy of Holies, mentioned just before; hence the word "temple" is not in the Greek: the "courts" were around the temple on all sides, in which the people gathered and watched the sacrifices; all these, contaminated and polluted by the idolaters, Judas sanctified, that is, purged from idols and superstition, expiated with lustral water, and again solemnly dedicated to God with a blessing.
Verse 52: On The Twenty-Fifth Day Of The Ninth Month
52. ON THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY OF THE NINTH MONTH (THIS IS THE MONTH OF KISLEV — which corresponds partly to our November and partly to December. For the Hebrews used lunar months, while we use solar months. Therefore on this same day, the 25th of Kislev, the Jews celebrated annually the feast of Hanukkah, or the dedication of the temple, which was done on this day in this passage by Judas. The reason for the feast was the greatness of the benefit and the resulting joy, and therefore it was celebrated for eight days.
Hear 2 Maccabees 10:3: "On the very day on which the temple had been polluted by the foreigners, on that same day the purification took place, on the twenty-fifth of the month, which was Kislev; and they celebrated with joy for eight days in the manner of the Feast of Tabernacles, remembering that a short time before they had kept the solemn day of Tabernacles in the mountains and in caves after the manner of wild beasts. Therefore they carried wands and green branches and palms in honor of Him who had prospered the cleansing of His own place, etc." And Josephus, Book XII: "So great a joy at the restoration of their ancestral rites and their ancient religion seized the spirit of the nation, especially because this happiness had come unexpectedly, that a law was enacted for posterity commanding this feast of the restored temple to be celebrated with ceremonies for eight days every year; and from that time the custom has prevailed among us, and we call this festival the Festival of Lights, I think because such great happiness shone upon us unexpectedly," etc.
Tropologically, the feast of Hanukkah signifies the feast that the Angels and Saints celebrate over a sinner doing penance, when he cleanses the temple of his soul, which he had profaned by sin, through contrition, and dedicates it anew to God. See Ribera, Book V, On the Temple, chapter 17.
Verse 54: At The Same Time And On The Same Day
54. AT THE SAME TIME AND ON THE SAME DAY (that is, on the very same day, namely the 25th of Kislev) ON WHICH THE GENTILES HAD CONTAMINATED IT — three years before, chapter 1:62; as if to say: just as in the year 145 of the Greeks, on the 25th day of the month of Kislev, Antiochus profaned the temple, as was stated in chapter 1:62, so Judas three years later, in the year 148 of the Greeks, on the same day, the 25th of the month of Kislev, expressly purified the temple and dedicated it again to God, as is stated in Book II, chapter 10:5. Therefore the same day was the day of profanation and dedication, of desolation and consolation, of mourning and joy. Moreover, Judas dedicated the temple in the year 148 of the Greeks, while Antiochus was still alive; for he died the following year, 149 of the Greeks, as is stated in chapter 6:16.
AND WITH HARPS AND LYRES. — These two musical instruments were similar and distinguished from each other only by their size, and perhaps by the number of their strings, as among the Italians there are violas and violins. Hence our translator in 2 Chronicles 9:11 and elsewhere renders "lyres" (as the Greek has) as "harps," for the harp in Hebrew is called kinnor, that is, cinyra.
Verse 59: And Judas Decreed The Feast Of Hanukkah
59. And Judas decreed, etc. — That is, Judas as High Priest established the feast of Hanukkah to be celebrated annually on the 25th of Kislev in memory of the purification and dedication of the temple, done on that same day. St. John mentions this feast in his Gospel, chapter 10:22. See Ribera on this feast, Book V, On the Temple, chapter 17. Hence the feast of the dedication of a church has always been solemn among the faithful, as is evident from the homilies delivered on it by St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. Chrysostom, Bede, Bernard, and others. Indeed, Constantine the Great summoned all the bishops to the dedication of the temple of Jerusalem. Moreover, the Archangel Michael dedicated a church on Mount Gargano; the memory of which event we celebrate annually on September 29th. St. Peter dedicated a church for himself in London, England, as the life of King Edward of England in Surius records. Finally, Christ Himself dedicated the Church of St. Denis in Paris. Robert Gaguin narrates the event in Book III of the Deeds of the Franks.
Verse 60: And They Built Up Mount Zion
60. AND THEY BUILT UP MOUNT ZION. — That is, on Mount Zion they built a citadel opposite the hostile citadel, to keep the enemy in check, lest they harass the temple with their raids. For although in verse 40 Judas had stationed soldiers to ward off those who were purifying the temple, he had not yet built a citadel for them; therefore he builds one here. From this passage the soldiers assigned to guard the temple, and their commanders, seem to have had their origin — those who are called "officers of the temple" in Acts 4:1 and Luke 22:4, whom Chrysostom calls "captains of the temple soldiers," Bede calls "prefects of the temple," the Syriac calls "overseers of the temple," and in Greek they are called strategoi tou hierou, that is, soldiers of the temple, Luke 22:51. These seem to have been Levites from the tribe of Levi, whose number was immense; for the care of the temple and the sacred rites pertained to them, and consequently they had to protect it with their arms and soldiers, lest any disturbance occur in the temple. For the Levites and priests, by daily staining their hands with the slaughter and butchering of sacrificial victims, became accustomed to blood and learned to slaughter the enemies of the temple. In the likeness of these, when Jerusalem was recovered by the Christians in the year 1130 after Christ, the Knights of Jerusalem were established, called the Templars, or soldiers of the temple, whose duty was to keep the roads to the temple safe from the attacks of infidels and brigands, as William of Tyre teaches, Book XII of The Holy War, chapter 7. There is extant to them a famous sermon of St. Bernard, who lived in that century, addressed to the soldiers of the temple, where, in chapter 9, he asserts that they dwelt near the temple. But when at length they refused the authority of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, by whom they had been established, and became insolent because of their enormous wealth, they were suppressed by Clement V, at the instigation of Philip the Fair, King of France, in the year of our Lord 1311, as Platina narrates in his life, as do Genebrardus and Volaterranus, Book XXII of Anthropologia; and this is evident from the Council of Vienne, in which the sentence of condemnation against the Templars was issued together with the decree of suppression of their Order.
Verse 61: To Guard Bethsura
61. TO GUARD BETHSURA. — Bethsura was another fortress built by Judas against the Idumeans, five stadia distant from the citadel of Zion and from Jerusalem (a stadium measures 125 paces), within the mountain gorges, like Thermopylae, says Josephus; hence "Bethsura" in Hebrew means "house of the rock." Hear Adrichomius in his Description of the tribe of Judah, number 61: "Bethsur or Bethsura in St. Jerome's time was a town, or, as others say, the strongest fortress and garrison of all Judea; and because it was surrounded on all sides by mountains, it took its name from this. For Bethsur means house of the rock, of stone, or of strength. It was placed at the mountain passes near the Valley of Rephaim, one mile distant from Jerusalem, situated on the public road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza, as some hold. Rehoboam, King of Judah, fortified this place with buildings, and again Judas Maccabeus; Lysias attacked it; Antiochus Eupator took it by a fraudulent surrender; Jonathan Maccabeus recovered it. At this fortress, the kings of Syria, when they threatened violence against the Jews, were often defeated and routed. Finally, Simon Maccabeus, having occupied it, most strongly fortified it with garrisons against all enemy attacks. In the time of Jerome there was a spring at the foot of Bethsur, which was swallowed up by the very ground from which it sprang, and some think the Eunuch of Queen Candace was baptized by Philip in this spring, and that it hence received the name 'Spring of the Ethiopian.'"