Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Bacchides, sent back by Demetrius into Judea, devastates it: Judas, leading out only eight hundred men into battle, engages him and conquers; but while pursuing the fleeing enemy, wounded from behind, he gloriously falls. Then the Jews make a pact with Bacchides, who while afflicting the allies of Judas, the faithful Jews substitute Jonathan his brother for the deceased Judas, verse 28. Then, verse 35, the sons of Jambri capture and kill John, the brother of Jonathan, who therefore avenges John's death: next, verse 44, he fights with Bacchides and slays a thousand men; Alcimus also is struck by God, verse 44. Bacchides, verse 58, recalled to Judea by the apostates, now tries to capture Jonathan by deceit, now by force, but repulsed everywhere, finally, after killing the apostates, enters into a stable treaty with Jonathan.
Vulgate Text: 1 Maccabees 9:1-73
1. Meanwhile, when Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his army had fallen in battle, he resolved to send Bacchides and Alcimus again into Judea, and the right wing with them. 2. And they went by the road that leads to Gilgal, and encamped in Mesaloth, which is in Arbela: and they took it, and killed many people. 3. In the first month of the one hundred and fifty-second year, they brought their army to Jerusalem: 4. and they arose and went to Berea with twenty thousand foot soldiers and two thousand cavalry. 5. And Judas had pitched camp at Laisa, and three thousand chosen men were with him; 6. and they saw the multitude of the army, that they were many, and they were greatly afraid: and many withdrew from the camp, and there remained of them only eight hundred men. 7. And Judas saw that his army had melted away, and war was pressing upon him, and he was broken in heart, because he had no time to gather them, and he was dismayed. 8. And he said to those who remained: Let us arise and go against our adversaries, if we are able to fight against them. 9. And they tried to dissuade him, saying: We are not able, but let us save our lives now, and return to our brothers, and then we will fight against them; for we are few. 10. And Judas said: Far be it from us to do this thing, to flee from them; and if our time has drawn near, let us die bravely for our brothers, and let us not bring a stain upon our glory. 11. And the army moved from the camp, and they stood to meet them: and the cavalry was divided into two groups, and the slingers and archers went before the army, and all the front-line warriors were mighty men. 12. Bacchides was on the right wing, and the legion advanced from both sides, and they sounded the trumpets. 13. And those who were on the side of Judas also shouted, and the earth shook from the noise of the armies: and the battle was joined from morning until evening. 14. And Judas saw that the stronger part of the army of Bacchides was on the right, and all the stout-hearted gathered with him: 15. and the right wing was crushed by them, and he pursued them to Mount Azotus. 16. And those who were on the left wing saw that the right wing was crushed, and they followed after Judas and those who were with him from behind: 17. and the battle grew fierce, and many wounded fell on both sides. 18. And Judas fell, and the rest fled. 19. And Jonathan and Simon took their brother Judas and buried him in the tomb of their fathers in the city of Modin. 20. And all the people of Israel mourned him with great lamentation, and they grieved many days, 21. and they said: How has the mighty one fallen, who made safe the people of Israel? 22. And the rest of the words of the wars of Judas, and of the valiant deeds which he performed, and of his greatness, have not been written down: for they were very many. 23. And it came to pass that after the death of Judas, the wicked arose in all the borders of Israel, and all those who worked iniquity appeared. 24. In those days there was a very great famine, and the whole country surrendered itself to Bacchides along with them. 25. And Bacchides chose impious men and made them lords of the country; 26. and they sought out and searched for the friends of Judas, and brought them to Bacchides, and he took vengeance on them and mocked them. 27. And there was great tribulation in Israel, such as had not been since the day that no prophet appeared in Israel. 28. And all the friends of Judas gathered together and said to Jonathan: 29. Since your brother Judas died, there is no man like him to go out against our enemies, Bacchides, and those who are enemies of our nation. 30. Now therefore we have chosen you today to be our prince and leader in his place, to fight our war. 31. And Jonathan accepted the leadership at that time, and rose up in the place of his brother Judas. 32. And Bacchides learned of it, and sought to kill him. 33. And Jonathan learned of it, and Simon his brother, and all who were with him: and they fled into the wilderness of Tekoa, and encamped by the waters of the pool of Asphar. 34. And Bacchides learned of it, and on the sabbath day he came himself with all his army across the Jordan. 35. And Jonathan sent his brother as leader of the people, and asked the Nabateans, his friends, to lend them their equipment, which was abundant. 36. And the sons of Jambri came out from Medeba, and seized John and everything he had, and went away with it. 37. After this, it was reported to Jonathan and Simon his brother that the sons of Jambri were celebrating a great wedding, and were bringing a bride from Medeba, the daughter of one of the great princes of Canaan, with great pomp. 38. And they remembered the blood of John their brother: and they went up and hid themselves under the cover of the mountain. 39. And they lifted up their eyes and looked; and behold, there was tumult and much baggage: and the bridegroom came forth, and his friends and his brothers, to meet them with drums and musicians and many weapons. 40. And they rose up against them from ambush, and killed them, and many fell wounded, and the rest fled to the mountains, and they took all their spoils: 41. and the wedding was turned into mourning, and the voice of their musicians into lamentation. 42. And they avenged the blood of their brother, and returned to the bank of the Jordan. 43. And Bacchides heard of it, and came on the sabbath day to the bank of the Jordan with a great force. 44. And Jonathan said to his men: Let us arise and fight against our enemies; for today is not like yesterday and the day before. 45. For behold, battle is before us, and the water of the Jordan is on this side and on that, and banks and marshes and thickets: and there is no place to turn aside. 46. Now therefore cry to heaven, that you may be delivered from the hand of your enemies. And the battle was joined. 47. And Jonathan stretched out his hand to strike Bacchides, but he turned back from him. 48. And Jonathan and those who were with him leaped into the Jordan, and swam across the Jordan to them. 49. And there fell of Bacchides' side that day a thousand men. And they returned to Jerusalem, 50. and they built fortified cities in Judea, the fortress that was in Jericho, and in Emmaus, and in Beth-horon, and in Bethel, and Timnath, and Pharathon, and Tephon, with high walls and gates and bars. 51. And he placed garrisons in them, to harass Israel. 52. And he fortified the city of Beth-zur, and Gazara, and the citadel, and placed in them troops and stores of food; 53. and he took the sons of the chiefs of the country as hostages, and put them in the citadel in Jerusalem in custody. 54. And in the one hundred and fifty-third year, in the second month, Alcimus commanded that the walls of the inner court of the sanctuary be torn down, and that the works of the prophets be destroyed: and he began to tear them down. 55. At that time Alcimus was struck down: and his works were hindered, and his mouth was stopped, and he was paralyzed, nor could he speak another word or give orders about his house. 56. And Alcimus died at that time in great torment. 57. And Bacchides saw that Alcimus was dead: and he returned to the king, and the land was quiet for two years. 58. And all the wicked took counsel, saying: Behold, Jonathan and those who are with him dwell in quiet confidently; now therefore let us bring Bacchides, and he will seize them all in one night. 59. And they went and gave him counsel. 60. And he arose to come with a large army: and he secretly sent letters to his allies who were in Judea, to seize Jonathan and those who were with him; but they could not, because their plan became known. 61. And he seized from the men of the region, who were the ringleaders of wickedness, fifty men, and killed them: 62. and Jonathan and Simon and those who were with him withdrew to Bethbessen, which is in the wilderness, and he rebuilt its ruins and they fortified it. 63. And Bacchides learned of it and gathered all his forces: and he notified those who were in Judea. 64. And he came and encamped above Bethbessen: and he besieged it for many days; and he made siege engines. 65. And Jonathan left Simon his brother in the city and went out into the country, and came with a force, 66. and he struck Odomera and his brothers and the sons of Phasiron in their tents, and he began to slay and to grow in strength. 67. And Simon and those who were with him went out from the city and burned the siege engines, 68. and they fought against Bacchides, and he was crushed by them: and they afflicted him greatly, because his plan and his assault had been in vain. 69. And he was angry against the wicked men who had counseled him to come into their region, and he killed many of them: and he himself planned to depart with the rest to his own country. 70. And Jonathan learned of it, and sent ambassadors to him to make peace with him and to return the captives. 71. And he gladly accepted, and acted according to his words, and swore that he would do him no harm all the days of his life. 72. And he returned to him the captives whom he had previously taken from the land of Judah: and he turned and went away to his own land, and he did not come again into their borders. 73. And the sword ceased from Israel: and Jonathan dwelt in Michmash, and Jonathan began to judge the people there, and he destroyed the ungodly out of Israel.
Verse 3: In The First Month
3. IN THE FIRST MONTH (Nisan, that is, March) OF THE YEAR 152 (of the Greeks), THEY BROUGHT THEIR ARMY (Bacchides and Alcimus: Gorionides says there were thirty thousand armed men, book III, ch. xxv) TO JERUSALEM, to besiege and capture it; but hearing that Judas was gathering his men to raise the siege, they left it and went to meet Judas.
Verse 4: They Went To Berea With Twenty Thousand
4. AND THEY WENT TO BEREA WITH TWENTY THOUSAND FOOT SOLDIERS AND TWO THOUSAND CAVALRY, to fight with Judas; for of the thirty thousand, Bacchides distributed the remaining eight thousand among garrisons, so that he led out against Judas only twenty-two thousand.
Verse 6: And Many Withdrew From The Camp
6. AND MANY WITHDREW FROM THE CAMP, namely two thousand two hundred; for out of three thousand only 800 remained with Judas, whom he led into battle against Bacchides. It is amazing that they, forgetful of the divine help so often experienced and of so many victories of Judas, so shamefully deserted him! But this is the weakness, inconstancy, and faithlessness of men, which sudden fear and terror produce. Especially when the guilty conscience of thefts, lusts, and other military crimes is added: for this makes soldiers timid, so that they dare not die in battle.
Verse 7: And He Was Broken In Heart
7. AND HE WAS BROKEN IN HEART, that is, 'as being affected with weariness, says St. Thomas, because he had immense zeal and could not carry it out,' just as Christ (of whom Judas was a type) in the garden began to fear and to be weary, Matt. xxvi. Secondly and more fully, meaning: Struck and shaken by a great disturbance of spirit, he nearly collapsed: for he did not know what counsel to take in such dire straits, but when nature and natural resources and counsel failed, he raised his spirit through his accustomed confidence in God and magnanimity, resolving to fight with his few against so numerous an enemy, and either gloriously to conquer or to die. So Julius Caesar did not flee from many powerful enemies, but sought them out, in order to display his military valor in them, as St. Augustine testifies, book V of The City of God, ch. xii; but Julius fought with roughly equal numbers, whereas Judas fought with vastly inferior numbers against the most numerous forces, and laid them low.
Verse 10: Far Be It From Us To Flee From Them
10. FAR BE IT FROM US TO DO THIS THING, TO FLEE FROM THEM; (for it is shameful for a noble leader to flee, and by fleeing to confess himself beaten, and to prefer to save his life by running rather than to die gloriously fighting: although therefore Judas could lawfully and prudently have fled, and said with Demosthenes: 'A man who flees will fight again,' nevertheless because of his greatness of soul, and because he had never yet fled but had always fought and by fighting conquered, he deemed it braver and more glorious not to flee but to fight, especially because he trusted in God, by whose help with a few men he had so often routed such numerous enemies. And so he wished either to conquer or to die nobly; he says therefore:) AND IF OUR TIME (of falling and dying) HAS DRAWN NEAR (appointed for us by God and decreed from eternity,) LET US DIE BRAVELY (in fortitude, namely fighting bravely, so that we may fall piously not unavenged but having inflicted great slaughter on the enemy) FOR OUR BROTHERS, for our altars and hearths, for our fatherland, for religion, for God fighting. For what more glorious death can befall us?
AND LET US NOT BRING A STAIN (a mark, a blemish, a disgrace) UPON OUR GLORY, so that we who have always stood gloriously in the battle line and resisted the enemy with an adamantine front, should now timidly turn our backs to him in flight, to be slaughtered and butchered like fleeing sheep by the pursuing enemy as cowards. Therefore Judas here sought not the vain and empty glory of men, but the true and solid glory of God: for he had resolved to fight for God's religion and either conquer or die. So St. Ambrose, book I of Offices, ch. xii: 'Judas,' he says, 'having begun war with nine hundred (our Vulgate and the Septuagint have eight hundred) men, when they wished to yield lest they be overwhelmed by numbers, urged a glorious death rather than a shameful flight: Let us not leave a stain upon our glory. And so, when battle was joined, as the fighting lasted from the first light of day until evening, he attacked the right wing, where he noticed the strongest force of the enemy, and easily routed it. But while pursuing the fleeing enemy he exposed his back to a wound, and so found a death more glorious than triumphs.'
So St. Anthony alone did not flee from the assault of many demons, but challenged them all to combat, preferring to be killed by them rather than to flee. For when he had been beaten by them almost to death, carried home half-dead by his companions, he ordered himself to be brought back to the place of wrestling, and there challenging the demons: 'Behold,' he said, 'here I am, Anthony; I do not flee your combats, even if you do greater things, nothing will separate me from the love of Christ,' and he sang the psalm saying: If armies encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, because the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? The Lord is my helper, and I shall exult over my enemies. So St. Athanasius in his life.
So Judas here, like a lion that never flees no matter how many enemies attack him, refused to flee, but with a few men attacked and overcame very many.
Verse 15: The Right Wing Was Crushed And He Pursued Them
15. AND THE RIGHT WING WAS CRUSHED BY THEM, AND HE PURSUED THEM. Judas was therefore the victor in this battle, all the more glorious because with so few he laid low so many.
In this battle the error committed was that the rest of Judas's soldiers did not oppose themselves to the left wing of Bacchides, and by fighting, or rather by feigning battle, keep it occupied, so that it would not follow Judas and the others from behind and cut them down. For this was the cause of the slaughter of Judas and the flight of his companions. Hence Vegetius, book III, ch. xx, prescribes this method by which few can defeat many: 'When the battle lines come together for the engagement, then you shall separate your left wing from the enemy's right wing at a greater distance, so that neither missiles nor arrows may reach it. But join your right wing to his left wing, and there first begin the battle: thus with your best cavalry and most proven infantry you should attack and outflank his left part, to which you have joined yourself, and by driving back and overrunning reach the enemy's rear. And if you once begin to drive the adversaries from there, with your men advancing you will achieve an undoubted victory, and the part of your army which you have kept away from the enemy will remain secure.'
Verse 17: And Judas Fell
17. And Judas fell, not so much from wounds as from the exertion and weariness of fighting and slaying, says Gorionides. Josephus asserts the same, hear him: 'Those who held the left wing, seeing this, attacked Judas from behind and surrounded him: who seeing no escape remaining, with enemies pressing from all sides, stood his ground with his men, and having slain very many of the enemy, worn out more by weariness than by wounds, he fell unavenged. After his fall, the soldiers having no one left to follow, bereft of so great a commander, only then were they dispersed in flight. So victory fell to Bacchides: not only bloody but even shameful, since against 22 thousand, eight hundred men not only held out the whole day but crushed the very strength of the army, routed and put them to flight, and his own brothers carried their slain leader safe from the battlefield.
Allegorically, Judas the hero was a type of Christ, who falling and dying on the cross conquered death itself, sins, the devil and hell, and most valiantly vanquished all enemies.
The foremost leaders of the pagans imitated the courage of Judas. Leonidas the Spartan, opposing himself with three hundred men against Xerxes leading eleven hundred thousand soldiers into battle at Thermopylae, preferred to fall in victory rather than save his life by flight; whence turning to his men he said: 'Dine, comrades, as if you were to sup in the underworld.' So Valerius Maximus, book IV, ch. vii.
Plutarch in the Laconic Sayings reports the following. The same Leonidas, when asked by Eporis whether he had resolved to do anything else, replied: 'I am doing nothing else than in word impeding the passage of the barbarians, but in truth dying for the Greeks.' The same man, when a soothsayer said from the entrails that victory was portended for the army but death for the commander, joyfully attacked in naval battle and fell in victory, and by his death won victory for his fatherland. The same was done by Codrus, king of the Athenians, who changing his dress provoked the enemy, and being killed by him secured victory for the Athenians by his death according to the oracle. Again Leonidas, when asked why brave men prefer a glorious death to an inglorious life, replied: 'Because they consider the one to be common to nature, the other peculiarly their own. For even the most cowardly live by the benefit of nature, and to die honorably befalls only those endowed with virtue and courage. For to flee is disgraceful both for the leader and the fatherland; whereas to remain and either die or conquer is most honorable for both.'
The Lacedaemonians, says Plutarch, taught their youth nothing else than to obey their magistrates and, despising all dangers to life, either conquer in battle or fall bravely.
Agesilaus, when asked by what means a commander might gain glory, replied: 'If he despises death,' for nothing great can be done by one who fears for and looks after his own life.
Bias, besieged by Iphicrates, when asked what should be done in that crisis, replied: 'What else but that you should be saved, and I should die fighting?'
A Lacedaemonian woman, placing a shield upon her son: 'My son,' she said, 'either this or upon this,' meaning: Conduct yourself so in battle that you either bring back the shield as victor, or be brought home dead upon it.
Pelopidas, about to go into battle, when his wife begged him to look after his life, said this should be said to a private citizen, not to a commander. For it is the commander's part to fall bravely fighting for his fatherland. All these from Plutarch in the Laconic Sayings.
Epaminondas, says Valerius Maximus, book III, ch. ii, in battle, 'pierced by a spear at Leuctra, failing in blood and breath, trying to revive himself, first asked whether his shield was safe; then, whether the enemy had been completely routed. When he learned that both were as he wished: This is not the end, he said, comrades, of my life, but a better and higher beginning has arrived. For now your Epaminondas is born, because he dies thus. I see Thebes made the capital of Greece under my leadership and auspices, and the brave and spirited city of Sparta lies cast down by our arms, Greece is freed from bitter domination, and childless as I am, I do not die altogether without children: for I leave behind my wonderful daughters Leuctra and Mantinea.' He then ordered the spear to be drawn from his body, and expired from that wound. Had the immortal gods allowed him to enjoy his victories, he would not have entered the walls of his fatherland more glorious while alive.'
These are the commanders of the world: what then should the commander and soldier of Christ do, fighting and contending not for vain and perishable glory, as they did, but for true and everlasting glory?
AND THE REST FLED, as soldiers flee when their leader is slain, and sheep when the shepherd is killed, and as the Apostles fled when Christ was crucified, of whom Judas was here a type: for in him consisted the entire strength of Israel.
You will ask: Whence came such a great disaster for Judas and the Jews who were so brave and invincible? I respond. The first cause was the fear and treachery of the soldiers, because two thousand two hundred deserted their leader Judas, and with him remained only 800 who by human strength could not long resist 22 thousand enemies. Add the soldiers' plundering, debaucheries, and other crimes which God wished to punish.
The second cause was human weakness and inconstancy, by which it happens that even the most valiant and most skilled in their art sometimes err in it: just as it is impossible that an archer most skilled in archery, such that his arrow almost always hits the target, should never miss the target if he shoots at it repeatedly, say a hundred times; so it is impossible that commanders and the most warlike soldiers should always fight and conquer without ever being defeated. Hence just as the most skilled swimmers perish by swimming, so the best commanders and soldiers perish by fighting.
Third, because battle is a most dangerous thing; for missiles and arrows fly everywhere through the air like hail: and so they strike now this man, now that, and kill them. For as Sirach ch. III, verse 27 says: 'He who loves danger will perish in it;' and as David said of Uriah slain in battle: 'Now this man, now that, the sword consumes,' II Sam. xi, 25.
I knew in Belgium a most daring commander whose axiom was that a noble soldier cannot live long; because since he boldly exposes himself to constant dangers to his life, he can hardly escape being quickly killed by some lethal blow. Hence also the Poet:
An old soldier is a disgrace: an old man in love is a disgrace.
For God permits secondary causes to run their course: and even though He often protects His own, He nevertheless finally permits them to follow the course of nature, especially because everyone must die once. Therefore He permits each one to die in his own work and exercise, such as a soldier in war, a farmer in farming, a craftsman in working, a teacher in study, etc. So God preserved many martyrs unharmed from fire, lions, water, etc.; but finally permitted them to be slain by the sword, so that He might crown them with the laurel of martyrdom.
The fourth was that Judas, seeing himself deserted by the flight of his men, in his dismay refused to flee, as he could have prudently done, but from magnanimity of soul preferred to fall fighting. For this is becoming to a commander, and therefore this death is glorious for him: hence noble soldiers desire no other death than to die in battle. Therefore this death of Judas was glorious, inasmuch as he died in a battle in which with a few men he broke the right wing of very many enemies, slew so many thousands of them, and while pursuing the fleeing enemy received a lethal wound from behind and fell as victor. Therefore this death of Judas was like a triumph, and a trophy of so many victories, as it was for Samson, Jonathan, Josiah, and the other heroes, says Serarius. The Talmudists add: 'In this holy war, most while they lived were children of the devil and of sin. But after death, children of God, their sins being expiated by martyrdom;' and Genebrard adds on Psalm LXXVIII: 'You hear how great is the power of holy war against the Turks and heretics, that it makes the barely good into saints and martyrs: where to be conquered is salutary, to conquer is glorious.' Yet they teach this should be properly understood, in light of what was replied by the Bishops to the emperor Phocas, who wanted the name and honor of martyrs to be bestowed on all soldiers falling against the enemies of the faith; as Balsamon writes in Canon XIII, and Baronius in volume VIII of the Annals, year of Our Lord 610. So Serarius.
Fifth, that Judas, broken in spirit, seeing himself placed in such dire straits, did not expressly take refuge in God, nor implore His aid, as he was accustomed to do, but committed himself entirely and his men to the pressing and urgent conflict. For although implicitly and virtually he placed all his trust in God, nevertheless he did not explicitly and formally beseech God: therefore God left him to himself and to nature, according to which alone he succumbed to so many enemies. Learn from this that men placed in dire straits are often so absorbed by their difficulties that they do not think of invoking God; which they ought especially to do at that time, since they can be rescued from them by no one else but God. Therefore let us be wise by the example of Judas, so that when placed in great dangers or temptations, we immediately implore God's grace and help with supplication and great confidence; for thus we shall obtain it, and through it we shall be saved.
Sixth, God by this event wished to humble Judas, lest he become proud of his own strength and victories. So God permits holy men to fall into certain lesser sins, so that they may escape graver ones, especially those of vainglory and pride.
Seventh. God wished to show Judas and the others that all things in this world are vain, fragile, and transitory, and to transfer him from them through death to true life and blessed immortality: for death leads to this, as a road, and that death often appears miserable, abject, and, as it seems to men, unworthy of such great men. So God permitted the chief Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul, to be ignominiously killed by Nero, so that through this they might merit to receive a greater crown of patience in heaven. So He permitted Jordan, who succeeded St. Dominic in the generalship of the Order of Preachers, to drown at sea, and when some grieved and nearly murmured that so holy a man had suffered so base a death, he himself appeared to some of them and rebuked them, asserting that through that death, purified of all faults and blemishes, he had passed to blessed immortality. For the just man, by whatever death he is overtaken, will be at rest, because he dies in his righteousness and God's grace. So St. Francis Xavier, planning the conversion of the Chinese, at the very entrance to their land, in extreme destitution of all things, abandoned by all, died a death that seemed wretched to men, but worthy of an Apostolic man.
Another cause is given by Rupert, book X of On the Victory of the Word of God, last chapter. Peter of Blois, Epistle CXLVI, Emmanuel Sa, and some others, namely that the treaty entered into by Judas and Jonathan with the Romans displeased God, because they did not sufficiently trust in God alone, and therefore after this treaty everything went badly for them and they soon fell. But I have shown above that this treaty was prudently entered into by them; for one must trust in God in such a way that human means are not neglected: so Serarius at the end of the book, Question XXIII.
Moreover, Judas was leader of Israel for only six years, during which he accomplished so many and such great deeds as hardly any accomplished who governed the Republic for 50 years. For he assumed the leadership in the year 146 of the Greeks, when his father Mattathias died, I Macc. II, 70; but he fell in the year 152 of the Greeks, as is clear from this chapter, verse 3, which was the second year of Demetrius king of Syria, the twentieth of Ptolemy Philometor king of Egypt, and the year 159 before the birth of Christ. So Salianus and others.
Verse 22: And The Rest Of The Words
22. AND THE REST OF THE WORDS (that is, deeds and acts to be expressed in words and histories) OF THE WARS OF JUDAS AND OF THE VALIANT DEEDS (in Greek andragathion, that is, manly works, or heroic exploits) WHICH HE PERFORMED, AND OF HIS GREATNESS, HAVE NOT BEEN WRITTEN DOWN: FOR THEY WERE VERY MANY, meaning: I have recounted but a few of Judas's many heroic deeds, so that from the claw you may recognize the lion: for he accomplished far more, which it would be too long to narrate. From this it is clear that Judas was an incomparable war leader, than whom none was superior, hardly any equal or comparable; for no one with so few men so often overcame and laid low such great forces of enemies; no one for his fatherland, for the faith, for the temple, for the worship of God, until death through his entire life so exerted himself, so fought, and finally fell fighting, as Judas. Therefore there is no doubt that he is inscribed by God in the catalog of Holy Leaders (if not of martyrs, which nevertheless some maintain), and is adorned with crowns of merit for so many exploits in heaven, even though we do not read his name inscribed in the martyrologies of Christians. However, the Scholastic History and Peter of Natale, Bishop of Equilium, call Judas a Saint, and inscribe him in the catalog of Saints in the month of October. See him in book IX of the Catalog of Saints, ch. ii, where he narrates at length the life of Judas as a holy man, and in the following chapter of his brothers Jonathan and Simon, as well as their father Mattathias, all of whom he calls saints and reviews their heroic virtues as those of Saints.
Verse 23: After The Death Of Judas The Wicked Emerged
23. AFTER THE DEATH OF JUDAS THE WICKED EMERGED, meaning: the apostates, who while he was alive did not dare to open their mouths, after his death raised their horns, to introduce the paganism and idolatry of king Demetrius into Israel. These therefore pressed the Jews to surrender to Bacchides, the general of Demetrius, especially because, as follows:
Verse 24: In Those Days There Was A Very Great Famine
24. IN THOSE DAYS THERE WAS A VERY GREAT FAMINE, both from the vengeance of God punishing the apostates, and because Bacchides had either consumed or destroyed the grain: for these reasons the whole country surrendered itself to Bacchides, except for Jonathan and Simon and their followers, by whose election and request.
Verse 31: Jonathan Accepted The Leadership At That Time
31. JONATHAN ACCEPTED THE LEADERSHIP AT THAT TIME, both civil and sacred, that is, both the Generalship and the Pontificate.
Verse 33: And They Fled
33. AND THEY FLED (because they were few, and could not resist so many enemies and apostates) INTO THE WILDERNESS OF TEKOA, from which came that woman of Tekoa who reconciled Absalom with David, II Kings xiv, 2.
Verse 35: And Jonathan Sent His Brother
35. AND JONATHAN SENT HIS BROTHER (John, mentioned in ch. II, 2, appointed leader of the people by Jonathan, to be his lieutenant and military commander:) AND ASKED THE NABATEANS (inhabitants of the noble and distinguished city of Nebo, situated in the tribe of Reuben, Numbers xxxii, 38,) HIS FRIENDS, TO LEND THEM THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT, of arms and war machines, which Jonathan and the Jews lacked, since they had fled nearly unarmed into the wilderness of Tekoa, as was said in verse 33.
Verse 36: And The Sons Of Jambri Went Out From Medeba
36. AND THE SONS OF JAMBRI WENT OUT FROM MEDEBA, favoring Bacchides rather than Jonathan. Medeba was in the tribe of Reuben, not far from Nebo and the Nabateans. Hear Adrichomius: 'Madaba, or Madeba, in Hebrew means the same as waters of grief, or flowing, formerly the chief city of the Ammonites, situated on a plain to which it also gave its name, later of the Amorites, because they had taken it by right of war and surrounded it with walls. It has mountains, marshes, and forests around it. When its citizens had killed John Maccabeus, many of them were slain by Jonathan in vengeance. Afterward Hyrcanus took it not without difficulty, only in the sixth month; it lasted until the time of Jerome, retaining its ancient name.'
THEY SEIZED JOHN, plundered and killed him; but Jonathan splendidly avenged his death, as follows in verse 37.
Verse 41: And The Wedding Was Turned Into Mourning
41. AND THE WEDDING WAS TURNED INTO MOURNING, the bridegroom having been slain along with his attendants, and the rest plundered. So often in this world applause turns to lamentation, song to weeping, and grief occupies the end of joy. Let the wise man therefore despise the world and seek heaven.
Verse 43: With A Great Force
43. WITH A GREAT FORCE, that is, with a great and powerful army; for this is what dynamis means, that is, virtue, strength, power, fortitude.
Verse 44: Let Us Arise And Fight Against Our Enemies
44. LET US ARISE AND FIGHT AGAINST OUR ENEMIES: FOR TODAY IS NOT LIKE YESTERDAY AND THE DAY BEFORE, so that we could freely depart, or decline battle, or escape by flight. For we are close to numerous enemies and nearly surrounded by them; for on the other side we are hemmed in by the Jordan, marshes, and thickets in the roads, so that we cannot escape; therefore it is necessary to fight with Bacchides. Let us therefore make a virtue of inevitable necessity, and fight most fiercely, not so much for our lives as for our fatherland, the temple, and God, so that we may either conquer or die fighting, as my brother Judas did, verse 9.
That this is the meaning is clear from what he adds:
45. For behold, battle from the front (from Bacchides pressing upon us threatens us), and the water of the Jordan on this side and that surrounds us and prevents our crossing. This is a sharp spur for the soldier to fight, which commanders set before him, so that he fights nobly when he must either conquer or die. In a similar way Hannibal, according to Livy, book XXI: 'Two seas shut us in on right and left, we have not even a ship for escape, etc.; here, soldiers, you must either conquer or die.' Likewise in book XXII, about the Romans driven into a narrow space: 'Mountains and lakes closed them in on the flanks; the enemy's line hemmed them in from front and rear, and it became clear that no hope of safety lay except in the right hand and the sword.'
Verse 47: And Jonathan Stretched Out His Hand To Strike
47. AND JONATHAN STRETCHED OUT HIS HAND TO STRIKE (to kill) BACCHIDES, BUT HE TURNED BACK FROM HIM, meaning: Bacchides, by turning himself and springing backward, dodged Jonathan's blow.
Verse 48: And Jonathan Leaped
48. AND JONATHAN LEAPED (some Greek and Latin manuscripts and Hugh have 'jumped down') AND THOSE WHO WERE WITH HIM INTO THE JORDAN, AND THEY SWAM ACROSS THE JORDAN TO THEM, meaning: Jonathan, having repelled the force of the enemy, having slain a thousand men and nearly the commander Bacchides himself, and seeing that he could not long fight with so few poorly armed men against so many thousands of well-armed enemies, had time to withdraw himself and his men safely. For he jumped into the Jordan and swam across it fully clothed and armed; nor did the enemies, having been cut down by him and driven back, dare to pursue him or prevent the crossing of the Jordan. And so Jonathan and the Jews safely 'swam across to them,' namely to their own men, who shortly before had crossed the Jordan. 'They swam across,' I say, 'the Jordan;' hence the Greek more clearly and fully reads: And Jonathan and those who were with him of the Jews leaped in and swam across to the further bank, and they did not cross (the enemies, namely Bacchides' soldiers) the Jordan to them. And Josephus: 'When,' he says, 'Bacchides had cautiously dodged Jonathan's blow, Jonathan and his men, leaping down, committed themselves to the river and swam out to the opposite bank, the enemies not daring to cross.' Hence Salianus suspects there is an error in the Vulgate, and that instead of 'they swam across to them,' one should read 'they did not swim across to them;' meaning: The enemies did not dare to swim across the Jordan and follow Jonathan and the Jews who had crossed it, lest they be killed by them or drowned in the waters. But all Latin manuscripts read affirmatively 'they crossed to them,' according to the sense stated at the beginning. So Sanchez.
Verse 49: There Fell Of Bacchides' Side A Thousand Men
49. AND THERE FELL OF BACCHIDES' SIDE THAT DAY A THOUSAND MEN. Josephus, as is his custom, inflates the number and counts two thousand.
AND THEY RETURNED TO JERUSALEM, not Jonathan, but Bacchides with his forces. For he held the city of Jerusalem, indeed the citadel of Sion, and nearly all of Judea. So Josephus, Salianus, Sanchez, and others, and this is clear from what follows.
Verse 50: And They Built
50. AND THEY BUILT (Bacchides and his followers, sent by king Demetrius to occupy Judea) FORTIFIED CITIES IN JUDEA, so that through them they might keep the rest of Judea under their control, lest Jonathan coming upon them should expel them from it.
Verse 51: And He Placed Garrisons In Them
51. AND HE PLACED GARRISONS IN THEM. He calls a garrison the military contingent which Bacchides stationed in the aforementioned cities, to guard and defend them against Jonathan's attacks.
Verse 52: And He Placed In Them Troops
52. AND HE PLACED IN THEM TROOPS (namely, the military garrisons already mentioned) AND STORES OF FOOD, that is, an abundant supply of provisions, so that in his absence they could long endure a siege by Jonathan, lest pressed by hunger they be forced to surrender.
Verse 53: And He Took
53. AND HE TOOK (Bacchides) THE SONS OF THE CHIEFS OF THE REGION AS HOSTAGES, lest the Princes or leading men of Judea should rebel against him and conspire with Jonathan, and therefore he confined their sons as hostages in the citadel of Sion, so that they might be guarded there, lest they escape to their own people.
Verse 54: Alcimus Commanded The Walls To Be Destroyed
54. And in the year 153 (of the Greeks) in the second month, ALCIMUS COMMANDED (the Pseudo-Pontiff and wicked apostate and traitor, who had stirred up king Demetrius to send Bacchides against Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, and to confer the Pontificate on himself excluding Judas, ch. vii, 1 and following) THE WALLS OF THE INNER HOLY HOUSE TO BE DESTROYED, to show himself Pontiff and lord of the temple. In Greek: He ordered the wall of the inner court of the holy ones to be torn down. Some understand this wall to be the one which Judas Maccabeus, ch. IV, 60, had erected around the temple for its protection, lest the Demetrians occupying the neighboring citadel of Sion should burst into it. But this wall was of the outer court, not the inner, and was not the work of the prophets, as follows, but of Judas Maccabeus. Therefore this wall is to be understood as that of the temple, namely the Holy Place and Holy of Holies; or rather of the court of the priests, adjacent to the temple or Holy Place. For this court is called the inner hall or house in relation to the court of the laity, which was called the outer hall or house. For between these two courts there was an intervening wall three cubits high, which Josephus calls the Gysum, to separate the priests from the laity, so that lay people could not approach the court of the priests and the altar of burnt offerings which was in it. Alcimus therefore began to destroy this intermediate wall, both to profane the priests and sacrifices, and so that lay people and Gentiles could approach the altar of burnt offerings and sacrifice on it just as the priests did. So Salianus, Sanchez, and others.
AND TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE PROPHETS, namely the wall of the priests' court just mentioned: for the prophets Haggai and Zechariah had commanded it to be built, along with the rest of the temple, by God's order, and they continually urged the people by their oracles to continue and complete the building of the temple already begun, so that the temple and the works made in the temple for its adornment can and should be called the works of these prophets, as well as of Ezekiel, who also in chapter xl described the plan for building the temple, so that they might build according to it. Perhaps also there were in this court certain special memorials of these and other prophets, by which was signified both their sanctity and prophecy, and that they had been the authors and promoters of the temple's construction.
Verse 55: At That Time
55. AT THAT TIME (when, namely, he was laying sacrilegious hands on the demolition of the sacred wall already mentioned) ALCIMUS WAS STRUCK (by God, the guardian of His temple and the avenger of sacrilege) (the sacrilegious one), AND HIS WORKS WERE HINDERED (in demolishing the wall of the temple court), AND HIS MOUTH WAS CLOSED (the blasphemous mouth with which, as Pontiff, he had ordered this wall to be torn down), AND HE WAS DISSOLVED WITH PARALYSIS, NOR COULD HE SPEAK ANOTHER WORD OR GIVE ORDERS ABOUT HIS HOUSE, meaning: He could not make a will or dispose of the affairs of his household, who had wickedly disposed of the house of God and wished to tear it down. A just therefore this punishment, both just and fitting to the crime and sacrilege of Alcimus, was inflicted by God. This wicked Jew and apostate, to please Demetrius and the Greeks, instead of his proper Hebrew name Joacim, assumed a similar Greek name, and called himself Alcimus, in Greek alkimon, meaning strong, powerful, vigorous, fierce, so that Demetrius might use him as a sort of leader for subduing Judas and Jonathan, and indeed he did use him; but God soon punished the sacrilegious man and dissolved him with paralysis; thus He weakened and laid low him so that he could not utter even a word, namely:
God the avenger follows the proud from behind,
so as to make the alkimon (strong one) into algiston (the most wretched, most sorrowful), worn out with pains and torments.
Verse 56: And Alcimus Died At That Time In Great Torment
56. AND ALCIMUS DIED AT THAT TIME IN GREAT TORMENT, namely in the year 153 of the Greeks, as was said in verse 54, which was the second year of Jonathan's leadership. Therefore Josephus errs when he writes that Judas Maccabeus succeeded Alcimus at his death in the Pontificate. For Judas had already fallen in the previous year, namely 152 of the Greeks, as was said in ch. ix, 3 and following. Therefore Alcimus enjoyed his impiety and pseudo-Pontificate for a short time, namely for only two years. For he assumed it in the year 151 of the Greeks, as was said in ch. vii, 1 and 5; and ended it in 153 of the Greeks, in the second month, as stated here. So brief is the joy of the wicked, so brief is impiety, which is soon followed by the longest eternity of hell.
Verse 57: And The Land Was Quiet
57. AND THE LAND WAS QUIET (Judea rested from wars and the harassment of Bacchides) FOR TWO YEARS, during which Jonathan built up himself and his followers and armed them.
Verse 58: And All The Wicked Took Counsel
58. AND ALL THE WICKED TOOK COUNSEL, the Jewish apostates and rivals and enemies and traitors of Jonathan, who secretly summoned Bacchides to seize and crush Jonathan by night while he suspected nothing evil, but in vain: for with God directing, their treachery became known to Jonathan.
Verse 61: And He Seized
61. AND HE SEIZED (not Bacchides, as Josephus would have it, but Jonathan seized his own traitors) FROM THE MEN OF THE REGION, WHO WERE THE RINGLEADERS OF WICKEDNESS (treachery) 50 MEN AND KILLED THEM.
Verse 62: Jonathan And Simon Withdrew
62. AND JONATHAN AND SIMON AND THOSE WHO WERE WITH HIM WITHDREW TO BETHBESSEN, WHICH WAS IN THE WILDERNESS: AND HE REBUILT ITS RUINS AND THEY FORTIFIED IT. Jonathan, excluded from all Judea by the treachery of the apostates and traitors and the strong forces of Bacchides, withdrew with his brother Simon and a few followers to the town of Bethbessen, situated in the wilderness of Jericho in the tribe of Benjamin, not far from the Jordan, and fortified it, to defend himself and his men there against Bacchides. Bacchides heard of it, and gathering all his forces besieged Bethbessen, to crush Jonathan and all his men gathered there, and thus end the whole war. What did Jonathan and Simon do in response?
Verse 65: Jonathan Left Simon His Brother
65. AND JONATHAN LEFT SIMON HIS BROTHER IN THE CITY (to defend it against Bacchides), AND WENT OUT INTO THE REGION (the neighboring territory, to gather soldiers), and came with a force, with a numerous army.
Verse 66: And He Struck Odomera
66. AND HE STRUCK ODOMERA. He was one of the friends and commanders of Bacchides. Some, reading 'Odures' instead of 'Odaren,' consider this name to be not a proper noun but a common one, meaning a watcher of roads, or a highwayman and robber; for this is what the Greek hodouros means.
AND HE BEGAN TO SLAY (the allies and friends of Bacchides scattered through the plains, living securely there in their tents, attacking them unexpectedly) AND TO GROW IN STRENGTH. In Greek en dynamesin, that is, in armies, meaning: Jonathan, having gathered a force, attacked Odomera with his men, and slew other allies of Bacchides; then, as more rallied to him and his forces and spirits grew, he attacked the very camp of Bacchides which was besieging Bethbessen, giving a signal to his brother Simon to burst out of the city and attack the besieging enemy from the front while he himself attacked from the rear. So it happened that the enemy, attacked from both sides, were cut down with such force on both sides by both, and thus Simon burned their siege engines with which they were assaulting the city, as follows. So Josephus, book XIII, ch. i, hear him: 'Leaving his brother Simon to guard the town, Jonathan slipped out secretly and, having gathered men of his own faction in the neighboring region, attacked Bacchides' camp by night, and having slain many, caused his brother to recognize his arrival. For as soon as he sensed the tumult in the enemy camp, he made a sortie, set fire to their machines, and inflicted no small slaughter.' So also Hugh, Salianus, Sanchez, and others. Gorionides adds that Bacchides fled into the wilderness, and there, captured by Jonathan, became his suppliant and swore he would return everything he had taken from Judea; and so, with peace established, he was released and returned to Syria to his own people. But Scripture contains nothing of the sort; rather, it indicates the contrary, namely that Jonathan was the first to seek peace from Bacchides, and therefore accepted terms not altogether favorable to the Jews, as will be evident in verse 70.
Verse 69: And He Killed Many Of Them
69. AND HE KILLED MANY OF THEM. Bacchides, defeated by Jonathan, turned his anger against the Jewish apostates who had summoned him from Syria into Judea against Jonathan, promising him an easy victory over one who was not thinking of war; therefore, seeing that he had been led into a trap by them and defeated by Jonathan, he killed them as the authors of his misfortune. See here how bad counsel is worst for the counselor, and returns to his own throat.
AND HE HIMSELF PLANNED TO DEPART WITH THE REST TO HIS OWN COUNTRY. Thinking only of this, says Josephus, how with the pretense of having imposed a siege, consistently with his own and the king's dignity, he could lead his army back to Antioch to king Demetrius without disgrace, and therefore he immediately accepted the terms of peace offered by Jonathan.
Verse 70: Jonathan Sent Ambassadors To Make Peace
70. AND JONATHAN LEARNED OF IT, AND SENT AMBASSADORS TO HIM TO MAKE PEACE AND TO RETURN THE CAPTIVES. For this was the condition of peace, that the captives on both sides be exchanged and returned. Jonathan was the first to seek peace, because his and the Jews' affairs were in a poor state, and therefore he dared not demand from him either Jerusalem, which Bacchides held, or the other cities of Judea.
Verse 73: And The Sword Ceased From Israel
73. AND THE SWORD CEASED FROM ISRAEL, that is, war and battles ceased, in which many are slain by the sword, and in fact many in Israel had been killed here.
AND JONATHAN DWELT IN MICHMASH. The proper seat of Jonathan as Prince and Pontiff was Jerusalem and the temple; but since this was occupied by the forces of Bacchides, Jonathan chose his seat in the town of Michmash, which was situated on the border of the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim, and there he began to administer justice to the people and to exterminate the apostates from Israel and to organize the entire Republic of Israel, just as Samuel, judge and prince, had done in the same place, I Sam. VII, 5.