Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The brave and faithful deeds of the Romans are recounted, on account of which Judas enters into an alliance with them. Thereupon the Romans command Demetrius to cease from his harassment of the Jews.
Vulgate Text: 1 Maccabees 8:1-32
1. And Judas heard of the reputation of the Romans, that they are powerful in strength, and they consent to all that is requested of them; and that whoever has come to them, they have established friendships with them, and that they are mighty in strength. 2. And they heard of their wars and the brave deeds they had done in Galatia, that they had subdued them and brought them under tribute; 3. and how much they had accomplished in the region of Spain, and that they had brought under their power the mines of silver and gold that are there, and had gained possession of every place by their counsel and patience; 4. and places that were very far from them, and kings who had come against them from the ends of the earth — they had crushed them and struck them with a great blow; and the rest pay them tribute every year. 5. And Philip, and Perseus king of the Macedonians, and the rest who had taken up arms against them, they had crushed in war and subdued them. 6. And Antiochus the Great, king of Asia, who had brought war against them, having one hundred and twenty elephants, and cavalry, and chariots, and a very great army — he was crushed by them. 7. And they had taken him alive, and decreed that he and those who would reign after him should pay a great tribute, and give hostages and a settlement, 8. and the region of the Indians, and the Medes, and the Lydians — some of the best of their provinces — and having received these from them, they gave them to King Eumenes. 9. And those who were in Greece planned to go and destroy them; and the matter became known to them, 10. and they sent one general against them, and fought against them, and many of them fell; and they took their wives and children captive, and plundered them, and possessed their land, and destroyed their walls, and reduced them to slavery to this day. 11. And the remaining kingdoms and islands, which at some time had resisted them, they destroyed and brought under their power. 12. But with their friends and those who relied on them they maintained friendship, and they gained possession of kingdoms both near and far; for all who heard their name feared them. 13. Those whom they wished to help to reign, reigned; and those whom they wished, they removed from their kingdom; and they were greatly exalted. 14. And in all these things no one wore a diadem or was clothed in purple to be magnified by it. 15. And they had made a senate for themselves, and three hundred and twenty men deliberated daily, always taking counsel about the people, that they might do what is worthy. 16. And they entrust their magistracy to one man each year to rule over their whole land, and all obey the one, and there is neither envy nor jealousy among them. 17. And Judas chose Eupolemus the son of John, the son of Jacob, and Jason the son of Eleazar, and sent them to Rome to establish friendship and an alliance with them, 18. and to remove from them the yoke of the Greeks, for they saw that they were pressing the kingdom of Israel into slavery. 19. And they went to Rome, a very long journey, and entered the senate and said: 20. Judas Maccabeus, and his brothers, and the people of the Jews have sent us to you to establish alliance and peace with you, and to enroll us as your allies and friends. 21. And the proposal was pleasing in their sight. 22. And this is the copy of what they wrote back on bronze tablets and sent to Jerusalem, that it might be there with them as a memorial of peace and alliance: 23. May it be well with the Romans and with the nation of the Jews, on sea and on land forever; and may the sword and the enemy be far from them. 24. But if war should come first upon the Romans, or upon any of their allies in any of their dominions, 25. the nation of the Jews shall give aid, as the time shall dictate, with a full heart; 26. and to those who fight they shall not give or supply grain, arms, money, or ships, as it has pleased the Romans; and they shall keep their commands, receiving nothing from them. 27. And likewise if war should come first upon the nation of the Jews, the Romans shall give aid willingly, as the time shall permit them; 28. and to those giving aid there shall not be given grain, arms, money, or ships, as it has pleased the Romans; and they shall keep their commands without deceit; 29. according to these terms the Romans have made a treaty with the people of the Jews. 30. But if after these terms either party should wish to add or remove anything, they shall do so by mutual agreement; and whatever they add or remove shall be binding. 31. And concerning the evils that King Demetrius has done to them, we have written to him saying: Why have you made your yoke heavy upon our friends and allies the Jews? 32. If therefore they appeal to us again, we shall do them justice against you, and we shall fight you by sea and by land.
Verse 1: And Judas Heard The Reputation
1. AND JUDAS HEARD THE REPUTATION (fame of military prowess and political virtues) OF THE ROMANS. — Note: The word 'heard' signifies that the heroic deeds of the Romans, which are subsequently narrated, were brought to Judas and the Jews by report and fame. However, it does not follow from this that all those things are true. For fame is often greater than truth, and amplifies or distorts a matter beyond the truth, as each person adds or subtracts something from the report — as we experience daily in the accounts not only of those who have heard, but even of eyewitnesses. This could be the response to the Innovators who expunge the Books of Maccabees from the canon, objecting that they attribute greater things to the Romans than Livy, Florus, Diodorus, and Plutarch attribute to them. So Serarius, Salianus, Sanchez, and others. But if each individual thing said about them here is examined closely, there is nothing that can be proven false, and nothing that cannot be properly reconciled with the secular historians, as I shall show in detail. So in the Gospels, many things are said by the Jews about Christ — for example, that He was a Samaritan, a wine-drinker, a demoniac — which were completely false; but that the Jews said these things is completely true, and this is all that Scripture intends, as St. Augustine teaches in Question 6 to Orosius.
THEY CONSENT TO ALL THAT IS REQUESTED OF THEM — provided, of course, that the requests are fair and just, and not contrary to the interests or rights of the Romans.
Verse 2: And They Heard Of Their Wars
2. AND THEY (Judas and the Jews) HEARD OF THEIR WARS AND THEIR BRAVE DEEDS — in Greek andragathias, that is, manly deeds, exploits, things bravely done, feats of valor, famous deeds; for andragatheō means 'I act manfully, I conduct myself as a man, I act bravely, I show myself a strong and good man.'
WHICH THEY DID IN GALATIA — for the Romans subdued it by arms around this time, as is clear from Livy, Josephus, Justin, and others. By Galatians he means the Gallo-Greeks, whom the Romans attacked in war because they had assisted Antiochus the Great in his fight against the Romans. Against them they sent Manlius Vulso, who defeated them and two years later triumphed over them, as Livy attests in Book 38.
Verse 3: And How Much They Had Accomplished In The Region Of Spain
3. AND HOW MUCH THEY HAD ACCOMPLISHED IN THE REGION OF SPAIN (by subjugating it through many long wars); AND THAT THEY HAD BROUGHT UNDER THEIR POWER THE MINES OF SILVER AND GOLD THAT ARE THERE. — For that there were most productive gold and silver mines in Spain in that era, Pliny, Strabo, and others attest. That silver mines still exist there, Mariana and other chroniclers and historians attest. See Pineda, Book 4, On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 4, number 6.
AND THEY POSSESSED EVERY PLACE (all the cities and fortresses of Spain) BY THEIR COUNSEL AND PATIENCE — in Greek makrothymia, that is, long-suffering, which the Romans most greatly demonstrated in subduing Spain; for they did not subdue all of it except after 231 years during which they continually, but progressively advancing, waged wars with its inhabitants; for they occupied other provinces far more quickly. So Livy, Diodorus, Justin, Florus, and others. In Spain, Scipio Africanus, and his father and uncle, performed illustrious deeds.
Morally, learn here from the Romans that all enemies, both of the body and of the soul, and therefore all desires and passions of the mind, and all vices, are overcome by counsel and patience — that is, by long-suffering, and by long-suffering constancy and perseverance in conquering them. For there is nothing so unusual, so powerful, so fierce that counsel and constancy cannot tame, as St. Basil, Cassian, and others teach. Mystically, Hugh says: The saints possess heaven by counsel, namely by following the counsel of Christ: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 5); but they possess the earth by patience, according to the saying of Christ in the same place: 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' Again, the Martyrs obtain heaven by patience, the Confessors by counsel.
Verse 4: And Places That Were Very Far From Them
4. AND PLACES THAT WERE VERY FAR FROM THEM (both in Asia and in Africa, and especially Carthage, the rival of Rome, etc.) THEY CRUSHED. — For the wars of the Romans with Hannibal and the Carthaginians were waged at this time through Quintus Fabius Maximus and Publius Scipio Africanus; hence Josephus explains this verse as referring to them.
Verse 5: And Philip
5. AND PHILIP, AND (his illegitimate son) PERSEUS (whom Livy and others call Perseum) KING OF THE MACEDONIANS (that is, of the Macedonians, as I said in chapter 1, verse 1, and of Epirus), etc., THEY CRUSHED — through Lucius Aemilius Paulus, who after a four-year war brought Perseus captive to Rome in triumph, and subjected Macedonia and Epirus to the Romans, in the year 585 from the founding of the city.
Verse 6: And Antiochus The Great
6. AND ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT (father of Seleucus and Antiochus Epiphanes, grandfather of Demetrius as well as of Antiochus Eupator) WAS CRUSHED BY THEM — namely by the Romans through Scipio Asiaticus, the brother of Scipio Africanus. For as Livy says in Book 37: 'About 50 thousand infantry are said to have been killed that day, four thousand cavalry, 1,400 captured, and fifteen elephants with their drivers.' Nor is it surprising that Antiochus brought 120 elephants into the battle line against the Romans, since he brought 102 against Ptolemy Epiphanes, as Polybius attests in Book 5.
Verse 7: And They Took Him Alive
7. AND THEY TOOK HIM ALIVE. (This is not asserted by Appian, Livy, and Justin, but neither do they deny it; indeed they imply it when they narrate that Antiochus was so hemmed in and cornered by the Romans that he virtually surrendered to the victorious Scipio, and conceded everything he demanded, and especially) A GREAT TRIBUTE (of two thousand talents per year, to be paid by himself and his successors); AND HE SHOULD GIVE HOSTAGES — among whom the chief was Antiochus Epiphanes, his younger son.
AND A SETTLEMENT — in Greek diagōgēn, that is, a distinction and division, namely that his kingdom being divided into two parts, he should give the better one to King Eumenes of Pergamum, his rival and friend of the Romans, while retaining the lesser part for himself, and ruling almost in Syria alone and in the territories on this side of Mount Taurus. For Antiochus was compelled to pay the Romans this settlement, as it were, as the fixed tribute of his kingdoms. Hence explaining, he adds:
Verse 8: And The Region Of The Indians
8. AND THE REGION OF THE INDIANS — so he calls the provinces situated beyond Mount Taurus, which Antiochus had occupied, as Serarius demonstrates from Procopius, Strabo, and others.
AND THE MEDES AND THE LYDIANS, FROM THE BEST OF THEIR PROVINCES (that is, Antiochus was compelled to cede to the Romans the regions beyond Taurus, as well as Media and Lydia, which were the best provinces of himself and of his fathers and descendants, which) HAVING RECEIVED THEM (the Romans) GAVE TO KING EUMENES — a friend of the Romans but an enemy of Antiochus. Daniel predicted this in chapter 11, verse 8. See what was said there.
Verse 9: And Those Who Were In Hellas
9. AND THOSE WHO WERE IN HELLAS (in Greek, 'in Hellade,' that is, in Greece; for Hellenes means Greeks), WISHED TO GO AND DESTROY THEM — stealthily and by ambush to massacre the Roman legions dwelling in their vicinity. It also refers to the Aetolians, who were the first of the Greeks to wage war against the Romans. For their leader Damocritus told Titus Quintius Flamininus, when he demanded an answer, that he would give it in Italy when the Aetolians had pitched their camp on the Tiber.
Verse 10: And The Matter
10. AND THE MATTER (the affair, that is, the plot for massacre) BECAME KNOWN TO THEM (namely, to the Romans).
AND THEY SENT (the Romans) AGAINST THEM (the Greeks) ONE GENERAL — Nabis, and then others, who by various engagements gradually tamed and subdued all the Greeks, as Livy and others narrate.
Verse 12: But With Their Friends And Those Who Had Peace With Them
12. BUT WITH THEIR FRIENDS AND THOSE WHO HAD PEACE WITH THEM (in Greek, those who complied with the Romans, accommodating themselves faithfully to their orders or demands) THEY MAINTAINED FRIENDSHIP — and they raised them to great wealth and honors, as has already been said about Eumenes. The same happened to Gelo, king of Syracuse, and Masinissa, king of Numidia, and the Ptolemies Philometor and Physcon, kings of Egypt.
Verse 14: Nor Was Anyone Clothed In Purple
14. NOR WAS ANYONE CLOTHED IN PURPLE — that is, in a purple military cloak, as a king or emperor over the rest. For otherwise Roman Senators were adorned with the purple toga. The consular purple was therefore different from the royal purple; indeed the consuls did not properly have purple togas, but only togas bordered with purple, as Salianus shows from Livy.
Verse 15: And They Had Made A Senate
15. AND THEY HAD MADE A SENATE — that is, a council of elderly and wise men, namely the Patricians, and they built a senate house for them, so that they might daily assemble in it to deliberate and cast their votes on public affairs.
AND THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MEN DELIBERATED (consulted among themselves) DAILY — senators, or patricians. Romulus first established one hundred senators; then as the Roman Republic grew, he increased their number to two hundred. After that Tarquinius Priscus, says Dionysius of Halicarnassus, raised it to three hundred, indeed 320, as is said here. But during the tumults of Gracchus it grew to six hundred, then to 900 and 1,000, as Livy, Florus, and others narrate.
Verse 16: And They Entrust Their Magistracy To One Man
16. AND THEY ENTRUST THEIR MAGISTRACY TO ONE MAN — for in times of danger the Romans created one dictator to preside over the entire Republic. Otherwise they created two consuls, but so that one waged wars abroad while the other alone administered the Republic at home. If several wars threatened in different places, one presided over one army and province, the other over another. Indeed, even if both consuls were in the same camp, each presided on alternate days, so that one held the fasces and commanded on one day, the other on the next day, as is clear from the disaster at Cannae, which occurred around this time for the reason that on that day the Consul Varro presided over the camp, and without listening to his colleague the Consul Paulus, fought against Hannibal most disastrously. So on alternate days the Strategoi held the right of command in Greece, the Epistatai at Athens, and the Decemviri at Rome — for each of these administered justice to the people on the tenth day, says Livy, Book 3, Diodorus, Plutarch, and others. Emmanuel Sa thinks that Judas, deceived by the account of some people, thought there was only one magistrate at Rome — an opinion to which the Dictatorship had given occasion — when in fact it was neither annual nor an ordinary magistracy, as the Consulship was.
AND THERE WAS NEITHER ENVY NOR JEALOUSY AMONG THEM. — There was no envy among the early Romans, who were content with little and disdained wealth and honors, as were Camillus, Cincinnatus, Curius, Fabius, etc. But their descendants, coveting the wealth and offices of the Republic, at the time of Judas Maccabeus began to suffer from ambition and envy, but inwardly: for they did not dare to display it outwardly, lest they be considered proud and avaricious, and therefore be removed from government. Therefore outwardly there did not appear among
them any envy or jealousy, that is, rivalry and contention, as Judas says here. But shortly afterward the internal ambition and envy erupted externally, when Marius contended against Sulla in civil war, Julius Caesar against Pompey, Augustus against Antony; and then their republic was utterly ruined, and monarchy under Augustus and the succeeding emperors replaced the aristocracy. Hear Cato's words in Sallust, On the Catilinarian War, chapter 52: 'Do not think that our ancestors made the Republic great from small by arms alone. If that were so, we would have it far more splendid than they did. For we have a greater abundance of allies and citizens, and moreover of arms and horses, than they had. But there were other things that made them great, things that we entirely lack: industry at home, just rule abroad, a mind free in deliberation, subject neither to lust nor to crime. In place of these we have luxury and avarice, public poverty and private wealth; we praise riches and follow idleness. Between good men and bad there is no distinction; all the rewards of virtue are seized by ambition. And no wonder, when each of you takes counsel separately for himself, when at home you are slaves to pleasures, and here to money or influence. The result is that an assault is made upon an undefended Republic.'
Verse 17: And Judas Chose Eupolemus
17. AND JUDAS CHOSE EUPOLEMUS, etc., AND JASON — that is, Joshua, or Jesus; for so he was called in Hebrew. But because the Hebrews had been subject to the Greeks from the time of Alexander the Great, they likewise adopted Greek names, so that instead of 'Jesus,' meaning 'savior,' they were called 'Jason,' meaning 'healer,' from iaō, meaning 'I heal.' So Eupolemus, Menelaus, and Alcimus are Greek names, and such names the apostates courted in order to win the favor of Antiochus, Demetrius, and the Greeks.
THE SON OF ELEAZAR. — Some think this Jason was the son of Eleazar the brother of Judas Maccabeus, about whom see chapter 2, verse 5; others think he was the son of the ninety-year-old Eleazar who underwent a noble martyrdom for the law of Moses (2 Maccabees 6:18ff.); but nothing certain can be established here.
AND HE SENT THEM TO ROME TO ESTABLISH FRIENDSHIP WITH THEM. — Judas was being pressed on one side by the strong forces of Demetrius, on the other by the wiles of Menelaus, Jason, and Alcimus the pseudo-Pontiffs, and therefore apostates, rivals, and enemies. And he saw that with his few faithful Jews he could not resist them for long. Prudently therefore he had recourse to the Romans, then the masters of the world, and by entering into a treaty implored their help; which succeeded according to his wish. For the Romans wrote to Demetrius and ordered him not to harass Judas and the Jews any further. Nor was there in this alliance any danger of idolatry or any other evil, because the Romans allowed all peoples to keep their own gods and ancestral religion. For they were politicians, and studied only to maintain and propagate their own political rule, for which they knew it would be very useful not to change the laws and gods of the nations, but to allow them to live under their ancestral laws and deities. It was different with Jehoshaphat king of Judah, who was rebuked by the prophet (2 Chronicles 19), because he had contracted an alliance and a marriage with Joram the idolatrous king of Israel; for through this, idolatry entered and pervaded the kingdom of Judah. So David, suffering persecution from Saul, took refuge with Achish, the idolatrous king of Gath (1 Samuel 27). Likewise he made a treaty with Nahash king of Ammon (2 Samuel 10); and with Talmai king of Geshur, whose daughter he married (2 Samuel 3:3). So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob made treaties with the idolatrous Philistines and Syrians (Genesis 14, 21, and 26). Therefore Judas lawfully — indeed piously and holily — entered into a pact with the Romans, so that with their help he might protect and defend his fatherland, commonwealth, Church, and the true faith and religion which Antiochus and the apostates were striving to overthrow; even though Rupert, Peter of Blois, and others hold the contrary view, as I shall discuss in the next chapter, verse 18.
You will object: This alliance with the Romans was the occasion for the Romans shortly afterward subduing Judea, and then destroying it when it rebelled. I reply: The cause of this subjugation was not the alliance, but the quarrel between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, the grandsons of Simon Maccabeus, over the leadership. For they chose Pompey as arbiter, who rightly awarded the leadership to Hyrcanus as the elder; but when Aristobulus resisted and seized Jerusalem, Pompey stormed both him and the city, and with Hyrcanus's consent subjected Judea to the Romans, as Josephus narrates at length.
Verse 22: On Bronze Tablets
22. ON BRONZE TABLETS. — The Romans inscribed their treaties as well as their laws on bronze tablets, which they hung up publicly for their perpetuity, so that no one could tear them up or abolish them.
Verse 23: May It Be Well With The Romans And The Jews
23. MAY IT BE WELL WITH THE ROMANS AND WITH THE NATION OF THE JEWS. — From this comes the beginning and auspice of the treaty, by which they wish the treaty well and pray for its success, meaning: May the treaty we are entering into on both sides be fortunate and favorable for both Romans and Jews, praying that it be salutary for both against their enemies, and everlasting.
Verse 25: The Nation Of The Jews Shall Give Aid
25. THE NATION OF THE JEWS SHALL GIVE AID (to the Romans if attacked by war), AS THE TIME SHALL DICTATE, WITH A FULL HEART — that is, with a sincere, whole, and perfect heart; meaning: Most sincerely, most faithfully, and most promptly the Jews shall help the Romans if war should come upon them. Hence instead of 'with a full heart,' verse 27 says 'with all their soul.'
Verse 26: And To Those Who Fight
26. AND TO THOSE WHO FIGHT (the Jews; the Romans) SHALL NOT GIVE OR SUPPLY GRAIN, ARMS, MONEY, OR SHIPS. — But the Jews shall provide all these things at their own expense, to assist the Romans without charge; for otherwise they would not be allies and friends of the Romans so much as mercenaries hired for a price. For friendship requires that free and generous help be given to a friend in need.
AND THEY SHALL KEEP THEIR COMMANDS — so that the Jews, fighting for the Romans, shall be subject in all things to the Roman commander, just as if he were a Jew, and shall fully carry out his commands, as do the other Roman soldiers. For otherwise the help of the Jews would be useless if they wished to follow their own plans, different from — indeed sometimes contrary to — those of the Romans. For then they would create a schism in the army and expose it to slaughter by the enemy.
Verse 27: And Likewise
27. AND LIKEWISE, etc. — That is, the Romans shall provide similar assistance — entirely gratuitous, sincere, and generous — to the Jews, if they should be attacked in any war.
Verse 30: But If After These Terms Either Party
30. BUT IF AFTER THESE TERMS EITHER PARTY (the Romans or the Jews, to the conditions of the treaty already stated) SHOULD WISH TO ADD OR REMOVE ANYTHING, THEY SHALL DO SO BY THEIR OWN ACCORD — namely by the mutual will and consent of both parties.
Verse 31: We Have Written To Him
31. WE HAVE WRITTEN TO HIM — to Demetrius, that he should cease harassing the Jews. But before these letters reached Demetrius, he had already sent Bacchides, and fighting against him Judas indeed conquered but fell, as we shall hear in the next chapter.