Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
From verse 1 to 10, there is recounted a part of the epistle written by the Jerusalemites to the Jews dwelling in Egypt in the year 169 of the Greeks, as is clear from verse 7, in which they exhort them to also celebrate the feast of Tabernacles. Then, from verse 10 to chapter II, verse 20, there is recounted another epistle, or rather another part of the same epistle, written by the Jerusalemites in the year 188 of the Greeks, as is clear from verse 10, in which they narrate the history of the fire given from heaven, and therefore exhort them to celebrate the feast of the fire given by God. From verse 20 of chapter II to the end of the book, they narrate the deeds of Judas Maccabeus against Antiochus Epiphanes and Eupator, and their generals Bacchides, Timothy, Nicanor, etc., and the martyrdom of the seven brothers together with their mother, of Eleazar, and of other martyrs.
Vulgate Text: 2 Maccabees 1:1-36
1. To the brethren who are throughout Egypt, the Jews, the brethren who are in Jerusalem, Jews, and those in the region of Judea, send greeting and good peace. 2. May God do good to you, and remember His covenant which He spoke to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, His faithful servants: 3. and may He give you all a heart to worship Him, and to do His will with a great heart and a willing spirit. 4. May He open your heart in His law and in His precepts, and make peace. 5. May He hear your prayers, and be reconciled to you, and not forsake you in time of evil. 6. And now we are here praying for you. 7. In the reign of Demetrius, in the year one hundred and sixty-nine, we Jews wrote to you in the tribulation and distress that came upon us in those years, from the time when Jason departed from the holy land and the kingdom. 8. They burned the gate, and shed innocent blood: and we prayed to the Lord, and were heard, and we offered sacrifice and fine flour, and lit the lamps, and set forth the loaves. 9. And now celebrate the days of the feast of Tabernacles of the month Casleu. 10. In the year one hundred and eighty-eight, the people who are in Jerusalem and in Judea, and the Senate and Judas, to Aristobulus, teacher of King Ptolemy, who is of the race of the anointed priests, and to the Jews who are in Egypt, greeting and good health. 11. Having been delivered from great dangers by God, we give Him great thanks, inasmuch as we have fought against such a king. 12. For He Himself made those who fought against us and the holy city to boil forth from Persia. 13. For when the leader himself was in Persia, and with him an immense army, he fell in the temple of Nanea, deceived by the counsel of the priests of Nanea. 14. For Antiochus came to the place intending to dwell with her, along with his friends, and to receive great sums of money under the title of a dowry. 15. And when the priests of Nanea had set them forth, and he with a few had entered within the enclosure of the temple, they shut the temple. 16. When Antiochus had entered, they opened a hidden entrance of the temple, and hurling stones they struck the leader and those who were with him, and dismembered them, and cutting off their heads cast them outside. 17. Blessed in all things be God, who delivered up the impious. 18. Since we are about to celebrate the purification of the temple on the twenty-fifth day of the month Casleu, we thought it necessary to inform you: that you also may celebrate the day of the feast of Tabernacles, and the day of the fire that was given, when Nehemiah, having built the temple and the altar, offered sacrifices. 19. For when our fathers were being led into Persia, the priests, who were then worshippers of God, secretly took the fire from the altar and hid it in a valley, where there was a deep dry well, and they secured it there, so that the place was unknown to all. 20. But when many years had passed, and it pleased God that Nehemiah should be sent by the king of Persia, he sent the descendants of those priests who had hidden it to search for the fire: and as they reported to us, they did not find fire, but thick water. 21. And he commanded them to draw it out and bring it to him; and the priest Nehemiah commanded the sacrifices that had been laid upon the altar to be sprinkled with the same water, and the wood, and what had been placed upon it. 22. And when this was done, and the time came when the sun, which before was in a cloud, shone forth, a great fire was kindled, so that all marveled. 23. And all the priests offered prayer while the sacrifice was being consumed, Jonathan leading and the rest responding. 24. And the prayer of Nehemiah was in this manner: O Lord God, Creator of all things, terrible and strong, just and merciful, who alone are a good King, 25. alone excellent, alone just and almighty, and eternal, who deliver Israel from every evil, who made the fathers chosen and sanctified them: 26. receive the sacrifice for Your whole people Israel, and guard Your portion, and sanctify it. 27. Gather together our dispersion, deliver those who serve the Gentiles, and look upon those who are despised and abominated; that the Gentiles may know that You are our God. 28. Afflict those who oppress us and act insolently in their pride. 29. Establish Your people in Your holy place, as Moses said. 30. And the priests sang hymns until the sacrifice was consumed. 31. And when the sacrifice was consumed, Nehemiah commanded that the larger stones be drenched with the remaining water. 32. And when this was done, a flame was kindled from them; but it was consumed by the light that shone back from the altar. 33. And when the matter became known, it was reported to the king of Persia that in the place where the priests who had been carried away had hidden the fire, water appeared, with which Nehemiah and those who were with him purified the sacrifices. 34. And the king, considering the matter and examining it diligently, made a temple for it to prove what had happened. 35. And when he had proved it, he gave the priests many goods and various gifts, and taking them in his own hand, he distributed them. 36. And Nehemiah called this place Nephtar, which is interpreted as purification. But it is called by many Nephi.
Verse 1: To the Brethren Who Are Throughout Egypt
1. TO THE BRETHREN WHO ARE THROUGHOUT EGYPT, THE JEWS, THE BRETHREN WHO ARE IN JERUSALEM, JEWS, SEND GREETING. — For Egypt abounded with Jews, both because it was neighboring to them, and because Ptolemy Lagus, the first king of Egypt after Alexander the Great, had led 220,000 Jewish captives into Egypt, and because recently under Ptolemy Philometor, Onias the son of Onias the third Pontiff had built a magnificent temple at Heliopolis in Egypt similar to the one in Jerusalem, and there acted as Pontiff, to which therefore many Jews flocked, especially because in Egypt they were safe from the Seleucids, namely from the Antiochuses and Demetriuses, who continually harassed Judea. The Jews of Jerusalem therefore write to the Jews who were in Egypt, as to brethren, that is, their kinsmen and fellow tribesmen, friendly and fraternal letters, both to keep them in the true faith, religion, and union with the Synagogue or Church, lest they create a schism from Jerusalem and the temple on account of their own Heliopolitan temple, just as at the same time the Jews dwelling in Samaria, by erecting a temple on Mount Gerizim, created a schism from the Jews and the temple of Jerusalem, as is clear from John chapter IV. See concerning the Heliopolitan temple Josephus, Book XII, chapters I and VI, and Book XIII, chapter VI. To remove this schism, therefore, the Jews from Jerusalem and Judas wrote this epistle to the Jews dwelling in Egypt.
Verse 4: May He Open Your Heart in His Law
4. MAY HE OPEN YOUR HEART IN HIS LAW — that is to say, may God with heavenly light through His grace enlighten and inflame you so that you may fully know His law and, having known it, fulfill it, and especially so that from your Heliopolitan temple, its own Pontiff, and the sacrifices forbidden by God there, you may return by right of postliminium to Jerusalem and our temple and the Pontiff Jonathan. For God had forbidden that sacrifice be offered to Him anywhere other than in the temple of Jerusalem, Deuteronomy chapter XII, 11 and Leviticus VII, 3.
AND MAY HE MAKE PEACE — both from wars, and more especially from the division and schism of the temple, so that you may coalesce with us into one synagogue, and come together with us to one temple, and there celebrate the feast of Tabernacles, as follows.
Verse 7: In the Reign of Demetrius
7. In the reign of Demetrius (the younger called Nicanor, son of Demetrius Soter) in the year one hundred and sixty-nine — of the Greeks, for this was the third year of the reign of Demetrius, who after three years, namely in the year 172 of the Greeks, was captured by Arsaces king of the Parthians, as was said in I Maccabees XIV, verses 4 and 3.
From the time when Jason departed — concerning whom see chapter IV, verse 7.
Verse 8: They Burned the Gate
8. THEY BURNED THE GATE, that is to say: At the instigation of the impious Jason, Antiochus through his soldiers burned the gates of Jerusalem and the temple and the remaining cities of Judea. But WE PRAYED TO THE LORD, AND WERE HEARD, so that through the valor of Judas Maccabeus there was a purging and new dedication of the profaned temple, in which, being now newly dedicated, WE OFFERED SACRIFICE, and restored the rest to its former state, namely WE LIT THE LAMPS, seven on the golden seven-branched candelabrum, AND SET FORTH THE 12 LOAVES — corresponding to the 12 tribes of Israel on the table of showbread.
Verse 9: Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles
9. AND (that is, therefore) NOW CELEBRATE (and by celebrating frequenting) THE DAYS OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES — that is, the feast of the Dedication instituted by Judas Maccabeus in memory of the purging and new dedication of the temple made by him, and that on the 25th day of the month Casleu, which corresponds to our November. Note that the feast of Tabernacles properly was the feast of Booths, which was celebrated for eight days in the month Tisri, that is, in September; but here by catachresis they call the feast of the Dedication the feast of Tabernacles, because it was similar: for both were celebrated with great joy of the whole people with branches, thyrsi, trumpets, and drums for eight days, as is clear from I Maccabees IV, 54 and II Maccabees X, 6, where it is said that the feast of the Dedication was instituted and celebrated 'in the manner of the feast of Tabernacles'; hence it is called 'the Tabernacles of Casleu,' not of Tisri. They therefore exhort the Jews in Egypt to celebrate the feast of the Dedication by carrying green branches, by the blowing of trumpets, and similar signs of joy, but not to offer victims to God in the Heliopolitan temple: for this was forbidden by the law of God. Thus the Maccabees, fugitives in the mountains, celebrated the feast of Tabernacles with thyrsi without sacrifices, as is clear from chapter X, verse 6.
Verse 10: The Senate and Judas to Aristobulus
10. In the year 188 (of the Greeks), THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN JERUSALEM AND IN JUDEA, AND THE SENATE AND JUDAS. — This Judas, says Rupert, Book X On the Victory of the Word of God, chapter XV, Serarius, Salianus, Mariana, and others, seems to be the author of this latter epistle, and therefore of this entire second book of Maccabees, namely Judas the Essene, who, as Josephus says in Book XIII, chapter XIX, was at this time held in great esteem by all on account of his gift of prophecy, and 20 years later predicted the death of Antigonus, son of John Hyrcanus, which indeed followed shortly after. And Josephus adds that his predictions never failed, but always came true in reality.
Sanchez, however, thinks this Judas was the son of John Hyrcanus the leader and Pontiff, who at this time had succeeded his father and was leader and Pontiff of Israel, according to Josephus, Book XX Antiquities, chapter VIII. Where he adds that this Judas was called by another name Aristobulus, and reigned for only one year; therefore having died without a son, he left the kingdom and pontificate to his brother Alexander, who by another name was called Jannaeus. But against this stands the fact that this Judas or Aristobulus was the first to place a diadem on his own head and name himself king of Judea, and starved his own mother to death in chains: and killed his brother Antigonus already named; and held his remaining brothers in chains as long as he lived, according to Josephus, Book XIII Antiquities, chapters XIX and XX, all of which seems unworthy of a sacred writer. Add that this Aristobulus reigned not in the year 188, as is said here, but in the year 200 of the Greeks, as Salianus and others show. Therefore in this year 188, Aristobulus's father John Hyrcanus still presided over Israel, and it was therefore his rather than his son Aristobulus's place to write this epistle. Finally Bellarmine, Book I On the Word of God, chapter XV, thinks this Judas is Judas Maccabeus. But he had already fallen in battle 36 years before.
Moreover here begins the latter epistle, and what follows is scarcely its title. For Rupert, Book X, chapter XV, the Gloss, Lyranus, Bellarmine, Melchior Canus, Book II On Places, chapter X, Medina, Book VI On the Faith, chapter XIII, hold that two epistles are joined here. But it seems more true that there are not two, but only one epistle written in the year 188 of the Greeks, in which however they recall and renew the epistle written by them in the year 169 of the Greeks, as if to say: These things indeed we wrote in that year, but in this year we write to you what follows; but for that expression they repeat the greeting, with the addition of the proper names of those who send the letters and of those to whom they are sent, which had been omitted at the beginning. So Salianus and Sanchez.
TO ARISTOBULUS, TEACHER OF KING PTOLEMY, WHO IS OF THE RACE OF THE ANOINTED (that is, anointed with holy oil) PRIESTS. — This Aristobulus, says Rabanus, was a Jew by nation, but is recognized as a Peripatetic philosopher, who wrote commentaries of explanations on Moses for Ptolemy Philometor, as the chronographers report. So Rabanus. He means Eusebius, whose words in the Chronicle under the beginning of Philometor's reign are these: 'Aristobulus, whom the second book of Maccabees mentions at the beginning, and who is known to have been skilled in Aristotelian philosophy: similarly declares in the book which he wrote to Ptolemy that hands and other members, when spoken of God, are to be understood figuratively, etc.' Clement of Alexandria asserts the same, Book V of the Stromata. Eusebius adds that he was from Pareadi, where the Jordan has its source. 'He seems,' says Salianus, 'to have obtained the title of teacher of the king, either from that written book in which he taught King Philometor, or because he taught him the matters of the Mosaic law, which he then encompassed in that book.' Others however think he was the teacher of Ptolemy Lathurus, who was the son of Ptolemy Physcon: for the words seem to mean this. For as Rupert says in the place cited: 'The kings of Egypt had been accustomed ever since the times of Ptolemy Philadelphus (who had the law translated for himself by the 72) to have Jewish teachers.' Note here: Physcon was the younger brother of Philometor; hence when Philometor died without children he succeeded him in the kingdom, and he reigned at this time: hence he seems to have given Aristobulus, a Jewish priest, as teacher to his son Lathurus.
Verse 11: We Give Him Thanks
11. WE GIVE HIM THANKS, INASMUCH AS WE HAVE FOUGHT AGAINST SUCH A KING — who was afterwards killed in Persia by the priests of the goddess Nanea, as follows.
One may ask who this king was. First, some think it was Antiochus the Great, who was the father of Antiochus Epiphanes and, fighting with Hannibal against the Romans, was defeated by Scipio, who thence received the surname Asiaticus. But this Antiochus had died 58 years before, namely in the year 124 of the Greeks. Add that he was not an enemy of the Jews but a friend, according to Josephus, Book XII, chapter III.
Second, others take it to be Antiochus Epiphanes, who was the fiercest enemy of the Jews and the temple. So Torniel, Bellarmine in the place cited, and Pererius, Book IX on Daniel. But Epiphanes was not killed in the temple of Nanea, as is said here, but stricken by God in Babylon expired, as we shall hear in chapter IX. Emmanuel Sa responds that this epistle does not have the authority of Sacred Scripture, just as neither do the other epistles of the Spartans, Romans, and others cited in these books, and therefore it can be mistaken and err, and Sacred Scripture only narrates that they wrote thus. But this is harsh to say. For then the same could be said of this entire book, which is the Epistle of Judas and the Jerusalemites to the Egyptian Jews: which God forbid.
Third, and most probably, Serarius and Salianus here, and Rupert, Book X On the Victory of the Word of God, chapter XVI, Michael Medina, Book VI On Right Faith in God, chapter XIII, Sigonius, in Book II of Sulpicius, hold this to be Antiochus Sidetes, son of Demetrius Soter, and brother of Demetrius Nicanor, who when Nicanor was captured by Arsaces seized the kingdom of Asia and Syria: for he, as we heard in Book I, chapter XV, under Simon the Pontiff, and under John Hyrcanus the son of Simon, afflicted the Jews and besieged Jerusalem and John in it, according to Josephus; but under the pressure of the Parthian war he made peace with John and the Jews, and led them with him against the Parthians, where he also perished. For Sidetes was reigning at this time, while Epiphanes and his father had long since departed this life.
Therefore the word 'to boil forth' signifies three things. First, the great multitude and ardor of the soldiers of Sidetes, namely that like flies, or most numerous frogs from water, that is, from Syria and Persia they boiled forth and invaded Persia with all streaming in from every side to plunder it. Second, that in Persia a great number were slain and died, just as flies and frogs, shortly after they are born from water, are suffocated and die in the same. Third, that Persia expelled and cast out those now made corpses from itself into graves and the abyss, just as the sea spews out corpses and vomits them onto the shore.
Verse 12: He Made Them Boil Forth from Persia
12. FOR HE (God) HIMSELF MADE THOSE WHO FOUGHT AGAINST US AND THE HOLY CITY TO BOIL FORTH FROM PERSIA — namely Jerusalem which Sidetes besieged. See Josephus. This verse is difficult; for the phrase 'from Persia' is not in the Greek at this point, but at the end of the verse in this manner: For He Himself made those who fought against us and the holy city to boil forth into Persia. Hence Salianus, instead of 'from Persia,' thinks we should read 'into Persia,' so that the sense is, as if to say: God caused Sidetes, our enemy, boiling and raging as it were with great forces and ardor, to rush into Persia and there perish. But all manuscripts have 'from Persia.' Therefore some give this sense, as if to say: God caused Sidetes to gather great forces not only from Syria but also from Persia, from the remnants which his brother Demetrius Nicanor, defeated and captured by Arsaces, had left there. Hence it also came about that, like his brother, he was slaughtered there by the Persians. But this sense does not cohere well with what follows: 'For when in Persia,' etc., where his slaughter is narrated.
I say therefore: for 'made to boil forth' the Greek is exebrasen, that is, he cast out, spewed forth, vomited; for ekbrassein means to cast out, to boil forth, to surge, to overflow, to expel, and is attributed to the sea which, surging in its tide, casts shells and corpses onto the shore; likewise to a boiling pot which, overflowing, vomits forth foam and water: hence ekbrasmata are called the remains of a ship cast back onto shore from a shipwreck; also the blisters that erupt on the lips after an illness. The sense therefore is, as if to say: God made Antiochus Sidetes, our enemy, with his seething forces to boil forth from Persia, that is, He cast him out, expelled him, vomited him from Persia like a carcass or corpse; for He caused him in Persia, in the temple of Nanea, when he wished to plunder it, to be killed by the priests, as follows.
Verse 13: He Fell in the Temple of Nanea
13. FOR WHEN THE LEADER HIMSELF WAS IN PERSIA (that is, when Antiochus Sidetes, the king and commander of the army, invaded Persia), AND WITH HIM AN IMMENSE (Greek: anupostatos, that is, irresistible, which could hardly be resisted) ARMY, HE FELL (Greek: katekopēsan, that is, they were struck down) IN THE TEMPLE OF NANEA — the profane historians disagree with Scripture and among themselves (and therefore we should believe not them but Sacred Scripture here) concerning the manner of the death of Antiochus Sidetes. For Josephus and Justin, Book XXXVIII, assert that he was killed in battle by the Parthians or Persians. Appian in his Syriaca asserts that, defeated by the Parthians, he killed himself. Elian, Book X On Animals, chapter XXXIV, says he threw himself headlong. Eusebius says: 'Arsaces the Parthian killed Antiochus.' Others think he was killed by his brother Demetrius, released by Arsaces and reclaiming his kingdom. But this disagreement proves that they had nothing certain on this matter, and trusted various false rumors of the populace. Therefore we should believe Sacred Scripture, which here asserts that he was stoned and killed by the priests in the temple of Nanea when he wished to plunder it.
Moreover, Nanea was a goddess of the Gentiles, who was either Diana, as Saint Thomas, Lyranus, Pererius, and Pagninus think (in his Hebrew Names he says Nanen in the Persian language is Diana); or rather Venus, as Serarius and Salianus show from Agabas, Berosus, Clement, Athenodorus, Symmachus, Giraldus, and others; for the Persians worshipped both Venus and Diana; but what follows better suits Venus.
Verse 14: Antiochus Came Intending to Dwell with Nanea
14. FOR INTENDING TO DWELL WITH HER, ANTIOCHUS CAME TO THE PLACE (the temple of Nanea), along with his friends, AND TO RECEIVE GREAT SUMS OF MONEY UNDER THE TITLE OF A DOWRY. — For 'intending to dwell' the Greek is synoikein, that is, intending to dwell with her as with his wife. Antiochus therefore pretended that he wished to enter into marriage with the goddess Nanea, so that under this honorable pretext he might plunder her temple, as if he were to receive all her offerings in place of a dowry; but the priests, having detected the fraud and plunder, gave a dowry not of gems but of stones, that is, they stoned and killed him.
Moreover, some ancient kings formerly wished to be regarded as certain terrestrial gods, and therefore boasted of entering into marriages with goddesses. Hear Seneca, Book I of the Suasoriæ: 'The Athenians betrothed Minerva to Antony in marriage; Antony said he would marry her, but imposed on them a thousand talents as dowry.' Thus Antiochus Gryphus boasted of being the husband of the Moon, Numa of Egeria, Anchises of Venus (from whom he is fabled to have begotten Aeneas), Heliogabalus of Urania, Peleus of Thetis; hence some think that from Peleus that rite derived whereby they betroth the sea (Thetis representing Venus) to themselves annually on the feast of the Ascension by the solemn rite of casting a wedding ring into the sea. Moreover, illustrious witnesses to these royal marriages with goddesses are Josephus, Plutarch in the life of Marcus Crassus, Xiphilinus, Herodotus, Isocrates, and Suetonius, who in the life of Gaius Caligula, chapter XXI, writes that he claimed to be the husband of Venus.
Verse 15: The Priests Shut the Temple
15. And when THE PRIESTS OF NANEA had set them forth (that is, had promised Antiochus Sidetes they would give him the money as a dowry), AND HE WITH A FEW HAD ENTERED WITHIN THE ENCLOSURE OF THE TEMPLE (as if about to celebrate the sacred rites of the embrace), THEY SHUT THE TEMPLE.
Verse 16: They Struck the Leader with Stones
16. WHEN ANTIOCHUS HAD ENTERED, AND A HIDDEN ENTRANCE OF THE TEMPLE WAS OPENED (in the upper ceiling or in the walls of the temple, from there) HURLING STONES (Greek: striking with stones as with lightning bolts) THEY STRUCK THE LEADER (King Antiochus Sidetes), AND DISMEMBERED HIM, AND CUTTING OFF THEIR HEADS CAST THEM OUTSIDE — spreading among his soldiers and the populace that Sidetes and his companions had been struck and blasted by some god who was Antiochus's rival and who sought the goddess Nanea as his spouse, lest they themselves, as the authors of the killing, be slain by the soldiers of Sidetes. And hence so many various opinions about the death of Sidetes, which was hidden, spread among the populace, which I reviewed from Justin, Appian, and others at verse 13.
And so the Jews here give thanks to God for the slaying of Sidetes, so great a tyrant and their enemy. Therefore it is laughable that Scaliger and some others write that Antiochus was not slain in the temple of Nanea, but escaped by flight and returned safely to Antioch.
Verse 18: The Purification of the Temple
18. SINCE WE ARE ABOUT TO CELEBRATE THE PURIFICATION OF THE TEMPLE ON THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY OF THE MONTH CASLEU — that is, since we are about to celebrate the feast of the Dedication on the 25th of Casleu in memory of the purification and new dedication of the temple made by Judas Maccabeus, I Maccabees IV, verse 52. WE THOUGHT IT NECESSARY TO INFORM YOU, THAT YOU ALSO MAY CELEBRATE THE DAY OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES (that is, the feast of the Dedication similar to the feast of Tabernacles, as I said at verse 9), AND THE DAY OF THE FIRE. — For on the same day, the 25th of Casleu, when they offered sacrifices at the aforementioned Dedication, fire was sent from God from heaven upon them to consume them, and therefore the feast of the given fire was instituted, which was celebrated on the same 25th of Casleu, or certainly the following day (so that the feast of fire might have its own proper day): the history of which is narrated in detail in what follows.
Verse 19: The Priests Hid the Sacred Fire
19. FOR WHEN OUR FATHERS WERE BEING LED INTO PERSIA (that is, into Chaldea or Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar). — Chaldea is here called Persia both because many Jews, carried off to Chaldea, were scattered through Persia, Media, and other regions subject to the Chaldeans; and because at the time of Nehemiah, when the fire was given, the monarchy of the Chaldeans had been transferred to the Persians; for then Artaxerxes, king of the Persians, ruled over both the Chaldeans and the Persians: therefore all the regions then subject to the Persians, among which was Chaldea, are called Persia, as Serarius proves from Saint Chrysostom, Lucan, and others.
HAVING TAKEN THE FIRE FROM THE ALTAR, THEY SECRETLY HID IT IN A VALLEY WHERE THERE WAS A DEEP DRY WELL — that is, they hid the fire in a well that was in a valley. This fire, as is clear from Leviticus IX, 24, was originally given by God to Aaron when he first offered sacrifice on the altar fabricated by Moses: for it was consumed by this heavenly fire, so that God might approve it and show it was pleasing to Him; hence He also commanded that this fire, with wood and fuel added, should always be preserved thereafter, so that the sacrifices of their posterity would be burned to God by no other than this divine fire, Leviticus VI, 12, whence in chapter X, 1-2, God killed Nadab and Abihu because they had burned incense with profane fire. But when the city, altar, and temple were destroyed by the Chaldeans, the priests carried out this fire lest it perish and hid it in the aforesaid valley and well, hoping that God would revive this fire after their return from Babylon. So Rupert, Book X On the Victory of the Word of God, chapter XVIII: 'The dying fire,' he says, 'which could not be nourished, which had nowhere to be nourished, they entrusted to Him to be revived, in whom is the hope of the resurrection of the dead, nor did their hope deceive them. How?' Because God here through Nehemiah fulfilled their hope.
In a similar manner Saint Ambrose, Book I of Offices, chapter XIV, praises the faith, hope, and piety of these priests: 'It was not their concern,' he says, 'to bury gold, to hide silver, that they might preserve it for their posterity, but among their last concerns, having care for what was honorable, they thought the sacred fire should be preserved: lest the impure contaminate it, or the blood of the dead extinguish it, or the heap of unsightly ruins destroy it. They therefore departed to Persia free in religion alone, since that alone could not be wrested from them by captivity. But after a very long time, when it pleased God, He gave this thought to the king of Persia, that he should command the temple to be restored in Judea and the lawful practices to be re-established in Jerusalem. For the purpose of this task the king of Persia directed the priest Nehemiah. And he directed with himself the descendants of those priests who, about to depart from their native soil, had hidden the sacred fire lest it perish.'
Verse 20: Nehemiah Sent by the King of Persia
20. THAT NEHEMIAH SHOULD BE SENT BY THE KING OF PERSIA. — Nehemiah was sent three times by the king of Persia to Judea: first, by Cyrus in the first year of his monarchy: for then Nehemiah, together with Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Jesus the Pontiff, returned from the Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem, and so was one of the chief men and leaders of those returning, as is clear from I Ezra II, 2, and Nehemiah VII, 7 and 65. Second, he was sent by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the 20th year of his reign, Nehemiah II, 1. Third, he was sent by the same in the 32nd year of his reign, as is clear from Nehemiah, last chapter, verse 6. The question therefore is which mission is spoken of here, and consequently when this sending of fire from heaven to Nehemiah occurred.
Francis Ribera, Book V On the Temple, chapter XVII, plausibly takes this to refer to the second mission; for this was properly the mission of Nehemiah alone. Therefore these things happened in the 20th year of Artaxerxes during the feast of Tabernacles, which Nehemiah first solemnly celebrated after his return from Persia, as is clear from Nehemiah VII, and therefore at that feast, when he offered the statutory sacrifices according to the law, fire sent from heaven by God ignited and consumed the sacrifices. Wherefore, in memory of this benefit, the Jews thereafter celebrated the feast of the given fire on the very feast of Tabernacles, when it had originally been given, and for this reason it is said here at verse 9: 'And now celebrate the days of the feast of Tabernacles.'
But it is more probable that the fire was given by God shortly after the first mission of Nehemiah undertaken under Cyrus, namely in the sixth year of Darius Hystaspis on the third day of the month Adar, that is, February. For then the construction of the new temple was completed, and its solemn dedication was made with the offering of very many victims, as is clear from Ezra VI, 15 and 16. Therefore at that time the sacred fire was given from heaven by which victims were to be burned according to Leviticus VI, 12, where it is forbidden that victims be burned with common and profane fire, and therefore the priests are commanded to always foster and preserve the sacred fire sent from heaven, Leviticus VIII. Otherwise the Hebrews for 70 years (for that many elapsed from the sixth year of Darius, when the temple was dedicated through sacrifices, to the 20th year of Artaxerxes, who sent Nehemiah a second time to Judea) would have lacked sacred fire in the temple, and would have offered all their victims by lay and profane fire, which God had forbidden by His law.
You may object: In the sixth year of Darius, Nehemiah was young, and Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Jesus the Pontiff were of greater dignity; therefore this sending of fire should be attributed rather to them than to Nehemiah. I respond that all of these were contemporaries of Nehemiah, and therefore equal or nearly equal in age. But these things are attributed to Nehemiah rather than to others: first, because of his zeal for religion in which he excelled; second, because of his nobility and dignity, for he was one of the foremost leaders of the Jews returning from Babylon. Third, because he was in great honor with Artaxerxes, even his cupbearer; hence he was made by him governor and prince of Judea, and rebuilt the walls and houses of Jerusalem, and imbued the city with excellent laws and established them, all of which are evident from the book of Nehemiah.
You may object secondly: From what has been said it follows that the feast of fire should be celebrated on the third day of Adar, that is, February, when the fire was given, and not on the 25th of Casleu, as is said here. I respond that before Antiochus Epiphanes and Judas Maccabeus, the feast of fire was celebrated on the day when it had been given, namely the third of Adar. But because Antiochus Epiphanes, profaning the temple, also extinguished or removed the sacred fire given from heaven, therefore Judas Maccabeus, purifying the temple and restoring the altar and victims on the 25th of Casleu, on the same day received this sacred fire from God again, and therefore decreed that the feast of the given, or rather restored, fire should be celebrated on the same day or certainly the following day as its proper day.
For Judas, the sacred fire having been extinguished, could not sacrifice with profane fire: for this was forbidden by law; therefore it was necessary for God to restore this fire. He did this when from the stones of the temple and altar, formerly ignited under Nehemiah, this sacred fire again shone forth under Judas at God's command, as is expressly asserted in chapter X, 3, where it is said of Judas: 'And having purged the temple, they made another altar, and striking fire from the ignited stones (formerly under Nehemiah), they offered sacrifices.' This however occurred at the purification and new dedication of the temple, which was done by Judas on the 25th of Casleu, as is said there at verse 5. So Sanchez: I understand those ignited stones, he says, to be the ones which Nehemiah drenched with thick water, which they first absorbed, then were burned by the fire that blazed from that water; therefore in these stones the seeds of the sacred fire seem to have been preserved for the future: for from them in the time of Judas the same flame shone forth. So also Serarius, Question XIII. Hence Gorionides: 'When they had arranged the wood,' he says, 'they did not find holy fire; but they cried to the Lord, and fire came forth from a stone that was placed under the altar, when they added wood; that fire lasted until the third captivity,' which namely occurred in the time of Vespasian. Therefore the Hebrews err who say that sacred and heavenly fire was lacking in the second temple, which was built after the return from Babylon.
Verse 21: Nehemiah Commanded the Sacrifices Sprinkled
21. AND THE PRIEST NEHEMIAH COMMANDED THE SACRIFICES THAT HAD BEEN PLACED TO BE SPRINKLED WITH THE SAME WATER — and this twice: once to burn the victims, and a second time to ignite the stones and insert in them the power of kindling fire, concerning which see verses 31 and 32. So Sanchez.
Verse 22: The Sun Shone Forth and Fire Was Kindled
From this it is clear that this epistle, having been written in the year 188 of the Greeks, was sent after the deeds of Judas, Jonathan, and Simon described in Book I, and therefore is fittingly appended to the end of Book I. For the first book ends with the death of Simon, which occurred in the year 177 of the Greeks. Therefore this epistle, or this second book of Maccabees, was written eleven years after Simon's death. The earlier part of the epistle, written in the year 169 of the Greeks, was written shortly before the captivity and death of Jonathan; for this was done by Trypho in the year 170 of the Greeks, as has been said. Simon succeeded Jonathan, as was said in Book I, chapter XIII, verse 41. Therefore this part of the epistle, in chronological order, should be placed in Book I, chapter XII, before verse 39.
22. The time came WHEN THE SUN SHONE FORTH, WHICH BEFORE WAS IN A CLOUD, AND A GREAT FIRE WAS KINDLED. — It seems that God here used the sun and with its rays drew thick vapors from the thick water, and by continually heating them with its rays set them ablaze, and so produced fire, just as in the atmosphere comets, wandering stars, will-o'-the-wisps, halos, fiery meteors, etc. are produced from vapors by the force of the sun.
Tropologically this fire represents the Holy Spirit, who in the form of fire sat upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, and gave them fiery minds and tongues, so that they might set the whole world ablaze with the fire of divine love, and make men who were cold and sluggish like thick water become fiery and flaming. So Saint Ambrose, Book I of Offices, chapter XIV: 'That fire,' he says, 'was a type of the Holy Spirit, who was about to descend after the Lord's ascension and to remit the sins of all; who, like fire, inflames the soul and the faithful mind.' See Ribera, Book V On the Temple, chapter XVII. See also what I have noted at length on this fire at Leviticus IX, 13, where I reviewed 17 analogies of this fire and of charity. Hear Saint Chrysostom, Homily 11 on Hebrews: 'Do we not,' he says, 'marvel that fire once descending consumed all things? It can happen that fire may now also descend, far more wonderful than that; and may consume all things that are set before it, or rather not consume them, but raise them to heaven. For it does not reduce what is offered to ashes, but offers gifts from God. Such were the prayers of Cornelius, Acts X.'
Verse 23: Jonathan Leading the Prayer
23. JONATHAN LEADING — This Jonathan was not the high Priest, as some think, but a Levite and cantor, indeed the chief of the cantors, whose turn it then was. So Lyranus and Serarius.
Verse 31: The Larger Stones Drenched with Water
31. And when the sacrifice was consumed (namely, burned by the fire flashing from the water on the stones) Nehemiah commanded that THE LARGER STONES BE DRENCHED with the remaining water.
Verse 32: A Flame Kindled from the Stones
32. AND WHEN THIS WAS DONE, A FLAME WAS KINDLED FROM THEM; BUT IT WAS CONSUMED BY THE LIGHT THAT SHONE BACK FROM THE ALTAR — that is to say: The bright and burning fire and flame that had consumed the victims on the altar, leaping from it, absorbed the flame kindled from the water on the larger stones. This was so, first, because the greater light of the altar overpowered and absorbed the lesser light of the stones; second, because this fire by the law of Leviticus VI, 12, was to remain on the altar alone, as sacred fire proper to it for burning victims; therefore it could not remain in the stones, lest anyone abuse it for superstition. Third, to signify that this fire had come to light not by the power of the sun, but of God (whose symbol was the altar), using the sun as an instrument and imparting to it a greater power to produce fire from water. Fourth, so that this fire might ignite the stones and impart to them a power, not physical but moral, to produce fire in necessity, as they produced it in the purification and dedication of the temple made by Judas Maccabeus. So Sanchez.
Verse 33: Reported to the King of Persia
33. IT WAS REPORTED TO THE KING OF THE PERSIANS — namely Darius Hystaspis, in whose sixth year these things occurred as I have said; or as others prefer, to Artaxerxes Longimanus, the grandson of Darius, whose cupbearer Nehemiah was.
Verse 34: The King Made a Temple for the Fire
34. And the king, considering. — Serarius thinks that instead of 'considering' we should read 'enclosing' or 'fencing.' For the Greek is periphrazas, that is, 'encircling,' he made a temple for it, meaning the king established a temple for the fire and surrounded it with a fence out of reverence for the place. HE MADE A TEMPLE FOR IT. — First, Saint Ambrose, Book I of Offices, chapter XIV, says the king built a temple in the place where the thick water had been found, which was later turned into fire. For the Persians worshipped fire as a god, according to Brisson, Book II On the Kingdom of the Persians. Second, Genebrardus in his Chronological Notes, and Bede on chapter II of Ezra, whom Serarius cites and praises in Question XIV, hold that the king built some sacred structure in the same place, such as the Probatica Pool was, for the Greek hieron signifies that the place, which was previously profane, was made sacred, so that in it there would be a certain veneration of God and reverence for the divinity: hence the king enclosed it, as the Greek has it.
Third, Lyranus explains it as follows: Darius the king ordered the temple of Jerusalem to be rebuilt. But this had already been rebuilt, for in it the thick water was turned into fire. Fourth, as if to say: King Artaxerxes embellished the temple already built by his grandfather Darius, that is, he splendidly adorned and magnificently enriched it. Thus Nebuchadnezzar says in Daniel IV: 'Is not this Babylon which I have built as the house of the kingdom,' that is, I enlarged, adorned, and established as the royal seat of the Babylonian Monarchy. For before him Babylon had been built by Nimrod, Genesis X. Thus Romulus is said to have built Rome, that is, adorned and enlarged it; for as Virgil says, before Romulus there was 'King Evander, founder of the Roman citadel.' So Saint Thomas, Lyranus, Dionysius, Hugh, and Sanchez. The first sense of Saint Ambrose, as the most obvious, is also the clearest. For the Persians built many temples to fire, which were hence called pyreia (but whether the temple was erected by the king in the same place where the water was found, as Saint Ambrose holds, Sacred Scripture does not express). For fire, the noblest of the elements in its splendor, heat, activity, etc., is an apt symbol of God and divinity, according to that saying: 'Our God is a consuming fire,' Hebrews XII, 29. See what was said there, and Exodus III, 2.
TO PROVE WHAT HAD HAPPENED — that he might praise and celebrate this miracle of fire born from water, and adorn it with a temple for the perpetual memory of the event.
Verse 36: Nehemiah Called This Place Nephtar
36. AND NEHEMIAH CALLED THIS PLACE NEPHTAR, WHICH IS INTERPRETED AS PURIFICATION — from the root Pathar which in Hebrew, Chaldaic, Syriac, Persian, and Arabic means to free, to release, to dismiss, and is applied to a captive who is released free and pure from the filth and squalor of prison, just as here the temple, profaned by the Chaldeans, defiled and turned to ashes, was purified, sanctified, and consecrated to God by Nehemiah through its dedication and the descent of the sacred fire from heaven. Hence Phatir in Arabic is called pure bread, unleavened; and the Chaldean, at Exodus XXIII, 15, calls the feast of Unleavened Bread chagga de pattiraia.
Nephtar alludes to naphtha, which is a kind of 'bitumen,' says Pliny, Book II, chapter 205, 'there is a great affinity of fires with this liquid, and they leap into it instantly from wherever it is seen,' just as here the fires leapt into the thick water for the purification and sanctification of the temple. Moreover among the ancients lustration and purification were done through sulphur and fire. Hence Pliny, Book XXXV, chapter XV: 'Sulphur has a place in religious rites,' he says, 'for purifying houses with fumigation.' They thought, that is, that something heavenly and divine inhered in sulphurous and bituminous fire, because the things that were sacred to them — lightning bolts and flashes — had the smell of sulphur, and their very light was sulphurous, as Pliny writes there. Hence the Greeks call sulphur theion, and the Romans carefully consecrated places that had been struck by lightning, and having raised altars and slain two-year-old animals, named them bidentalia. So Giraldus, Syntagma 17, and from him Serarius. Finally the Syriac text at this place reads: Those of the house of Nehemiah (the Nehemites) called it (the place) Genephath, which means cleanness (or purification); but it is called by many Nephri. The Arabic reads: Those of Nehemiah called this place Techephtha, which means purity. It is called among many Nephi (Syriac) Nephti, from the root nuph, which means many things, namely to wash, to sprinkle, to agitate, to sift: hence nophet is honeycomb and naphah is region, province. Nephi therefore is a place cleansed, elevated, honored, consecrated, and enlarged. For aphti in Syriac means to enlarge.