Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He narrates that Jeremiah during the Babylonian captivity hid the ark, the tabernacle, and the altar of incense on Mount Nebo. Then, from verse 20, the author of this second book prefaces that he will briefly narrate the deeds of Antiochus Epiphanes and Eupator, and of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, written at length by Jason and others.
Vulgate Text: 2 Maccabees 2:1-33
1. It is found moreover in the writings of Jeremiah the prophet that he commanded those who were being deported to take the fire, as has been indicated, and as he charged the deportees. 2. And he gave them the law, lest they forget the precepts of the Lord, and lest they go astray in their minds seeing the gold and silver images and their ornaments. 3. And saying other such things, he exhorted them not to remove the law from their hearts. 4. It was moreover in that same writing, how the prophet, having received a divine oracle, commanded the tabernacle and the ark to accompany him, until he went out to the mountain where Moses ascended and saw the inheritance of God. 5. And coming there, Jeremiah found a cave: and the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense he brought in there, and blocked up the entrance. 6. And some who followed came together to mark the place for themselves; and they could not find it. 7. And when Jeremiah learned of this, blaming them he said: That the place shall be unknown until God gathers together the congregation of the people and shows mercy; 8. and then the Lord will show these things, and the majesty of the Lord will appear, and there will be a cloud, as it was manifested to Moses, and as when Solomon asked that the place be sanctified for the great God, He manifested these things. 9. For he treated wisdom magnificently; and as one having wisdom, he offered the sacrifice of dedication and completion of the temple. 10. Just as Moses prayed to the Lord, and fire descended from heaven and consumed the holocaust, so also Solomon prayed, and fire descended from heaven and consumed the holocaust. 11. And Moses said: Because that which was for sin was not eaten, it was consumed. 12. Similarly Solomon also celebrated the dedication for eight days. 13. These same things were moreover recorded in the writings and commentaries of Nehemiah: and how, building a library, he gathered from the regions the books of the Prophets, and of David, and the letters of the Kings, and concerning the offerings. 14. Similarly also Judas gathered all those things that had been lost through the war that had befallen us, and they are with us. 15. If therefore you desire these things, send those who may carry them to you. 16. Since we are about to celebrate the purification, we have written to you; you will therefore do well if you celebrate these days. 17. Now God, who delivered His people, and restored the inheritance to all, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, and the sanctification, 18. as He promised in the law, we hope that He will soon have mercy on us, and will gather us together from under heaven into the holy place. 19. For He rescued us from great dangers, and purified the place. 20. Now concerning Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, and the purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the altar; 21. and also the battles that pertain to Antiochus the Noble and his son Eupator; 22. and the illuminations that came from heaven to those who fought bravely for the Jews, so that they recovered the whole region, though they were few, and put to flight a barbarous multitude, 23. and recovered the most famous temple in the whole world, and liberated the city, and restored the laws which had been abolished, the Lord being gracious to them with all tranquility; 24. and likewise what was contained in five books by Jason of Cyrene, we have attempted to abridge in one volume. 25. For considering the multitude of books, and the difficulty for those wishing to undertake the narrations of histories on account of the multitude of events, 26. we have taken care that for those wishing to read there may be delight of mind; for the studious, that they may more easily commit it to memory; and for all readers, that benefit may be conferred. 27. And for ourselves indeed, who have undertaken this work of abridging, we have assumed no easy labor, but rather a task full of vigils and sweat. 28. Just as those who prepare a banquet and seek to satisfy the wishes of others for the sake of many people's favor, we willingly sustain the labor. 29. Conceding the truth about individual matters to the authors, but ourselves studying brevity according to the given plan. 30. For just as the architect of a new house must attend to the whole structure, while he who undertakes to paint must seek out what is suitable for ornament, so must it be judged in our case. 31. For to gather the material, and to arrange the discourse, and to inquire more carefully into each individual part, befits the author of the history; 32. but to pursue brevity of expression and to avoid detailed execution of matters, must be allowed to the abridger. 33. From here therefore we shall begin the narration: to have said this much about the preface may suffice; for it is foolish to be diffuse before the history and concise in the history itself.
Verse 1: The Writings of Jeremiah the Prophet
1. IT IS FOUND MOREOVER IN THE WRITINGS OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET, THAT HE COMMANDED THOSE WHO WERE BEING DEPORTED TO TAKE THE FIRE — from Judea, captured by the Chaldeans going to Babylon. He confirms what he said about the fire being hidden from the writings of Jeremiah himself. He calls 'descriptions' the writings of Jeremiah, as he explains in verse 4, that is, a codex, or tablet, or commentary, as it is called in verse 13, in which Jeremiah had described the things he said and did when Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans, namely: first, that he commanded the fire of the temple to be hidden in a well; second, that he exhorted the Jews who were being led captive to Babylon not to allow themselves to be enticed to worship the golden idols they would see there, but to steadfastly worship God alone. Hence he gave them a volume of the divine law, namely Deuteronomy or the Pentateuch, so that they would read it frequently in Babylon and console themselves and their captivity with it, and confirm themselves in the true worship of God; third, that he carried the ark, tabernacle, and altar of incense and hid them in a cave of Mount Nebo.
Moreover it is uncertain whether this book was canonical and approved by the Synagogue and regarded as Sacred Scripture, such as the prophecy of Jeremiah. It is certain however that this book was of great authority, inasmuch as it was written by the prophet Jeremiah, and is cited here as an indubitable witness to the sacred fire being hidden. Finally, through the injury of time this book perished, as did many others written by Jeremiah, namely his lament on the death of King Josiah, concerning which see II Chronicles XXXV. Likewise his book on the destruction of the city and the captivity of the people. Also the book on the destruction of Babylon, which he commanded to be tied to a stone and thrown into the Euphrates, Jeremiah LI, 60; and many others which I treated in the Prologue to Jeremiah.
Verse 2: He Gave Them the Law
2. AND HE GAVE THEM THE LAW (namely a copy of Deuteronomy, in which the whole law repeated by Moses is contained; or a copy of the entire Pentateuch, so that the captives might read it constantly in Babylon. Again, 'he gave them the law,' that is, he gave them a commandment and earnestly impressed it upon them with a solemn adjuration), LEST (namely) THEY FORGET THE PRECEPTS OF THE LORD (but would continually set them before the eyes of their mind and body). AND LEST THEY GO ASTRAY IN THEIR MINDS — lest, that is, from the splendor of gold gleaming in idols they should be led into the error that in the idols there was something of august divinity.
Verse 4: The Tabernacle and the Ark Carried to Mount Nebo
4. IT WAS MOREOVER IN THAT SAME WRITING, HOW THE PROPHET COMMANDED THE TABERNACLE AND THE ARK, HAVING RECEIVED A DIVINE ORACLE, TO ACCOMPANY HIM; UNTIL HE WENT OUT TO THE MOUNTAIN (Nebo) WHERE MOSES (about to die) ASCENDED AND SAW THE INHERITANCE OF GOD — that is, he saw from afar the land of Canaan, which God had promised to Abraham and his posterity as an inheritance to be possessed, Genesis XIII. 'To accompany,' that is, to be carried with him and borne by his companion priests or Levites: for Jeremiah could command these, not Angels; so Lyranus. Serarius however thinks that Angels carried the ark after Jeremiah (just as the same carried the house of the Blessed Virgin, in which she, at the announcement of Gabriel, conceived the Son of God, from Palestine to Italy, namely to Loreto), yet in such a way that the ark was seen by some, who therefore following it noted the place where it was deposited by Jeremiah.
Where Moses. — The ark and tabernacle therefore were placed in the same location where Moses died and was buried, who had been the maker of the ark and tabernacle. Moreover Saint Epiphanius, and from him Saint Thomas, recount the manner of the depositing of the ark; hear them: 'Epiphanius says: This is Jeremiah, who foreknowing that the temple would be destroyed, took the ark of the covenant with the things that were in it; and by his prayers caused it to be absorbed into the rock: and designating the rock with his finger, he impressed the name of God upon it, and it became a seal in the likeness of writing carved with iron, and the very name of the Lord was so concealed by a covering of cloud that from then on no one could recognize the place or read the name to this day, and until the end; and in the likeness of fire of its former form, a cloud often appears there in the nighttime, because the glory of the Lord does not depart from His law. That rock is in desert land, between two mountains, between which lie buried Moses and Aaron, and Jeremiah said to those present: The Lord ascended from Sion to heaven, and will return thence with power, and it shall be a sign of His presence when all nations shall worship wood, and he said that no one will be able to bring forth this ark except Moses the chosen prophet of God. And the tablets that are in it, no priest will open, nor any of the Prophets, except Aaron the chosen of God. And in the first resurrection this ark will rise and come forth from the rock, and will be placed on Mount Sinai, and all the Saints will gather to it, awaiting the return of the Lord, and to escape the adversary who will seek to destroy them as they flee.' So he.
Dorotheus has the same in his life of Jeremiah. The credibility of these accounts rests with the authors themselves.
Moreover Jeremiah could have done these things, and in fact did so either before the capture of Jerusalem, not under the reign of Zedekiah (for he was then in prison), but of Jehoiachin: for Jeremiah was held in veneration by him, hence at his persuasion Jehoiachin surrendered to the Chaldeans. Or he did it after Jerusalem had already been captured by the Chaldeans, before the temple was burned by them. For Jeremiah was held in great repute for holiness by Nebuchadnezzar, because he had predicted that Jerusalem would be taken by him; hence he obtained from him whatever he wished, as is clear from Jeremiah XXXIX, 42. Therefore the Innovators have nothing here by which to derogate from the authority of this book.
Verse 7: The Place Shall Be Unknown
7. THAT THE PLACE (of the ark, tabernacle, and altar of incense) SHALL BE UNKNOWN UNTIL GOD GATHERS THE CONGREGATION OF THE PEOPLE. — One may ask whether and when this was accomplished or is still to be accomplished. Some think it was accomplished under Nehemiah and Darius Hystaspis, when the Jewish people dispersed in Babylon returned from there and were gathered in Jerusalem and the temple, and there recovered the fire hidden by Jeremiah through the thick water converted into fire; for then in a similar manner the tabernacle and altar hidden by him seem to have reappeared in the new temple by God's revelation. For these were the proper vessels by which God wished to be worshipped in it, and therefore through Moses He had commanded them to be made and placed in the temple. So Melchior Canus, Book II On Places, chapter XI, Torniel at the year of the world 3601, Sanchez here, and Ribera on chapter I of Haggai, number 45, who however in the end inclines more toward the contrary opinion.
But the contrary opinion, as it is the more common, so it is the truer, namely that the ark, tabernacle, and altar of incense were not found together with the sacred fire under Nehemiah and Darius, but are to be revealed at the end of the world, when God through Elijah and Enoch will convert His people, that is, the Jews, to Christ, and will gather them into one Church with the Gentiles: for then Elijah, to confirm them in the faith of Christ, will show them the ark here promised by Jeremiah for that age. This is proven first because if these things had been found together with the fire, the author here would narrate this, as he narrated about the fire: for this was clearly pertinent to the present matter. But he narrates nothing of the sort here. Second, because under Nehemiah the complete gathering of the people did not occur, as is clear from verse 18 and chapter II, verse 37. For many Jews remained in Babylon; others were dispersed to other regions. Third, if they had been found, then in the spoliation of the second temple carried out by Titus, the ark would have been placed among the spoils. But it is not mentioned by Josephus, Book VII On the War, chapters XVII and XIX. Indeed the same author, Book VI, chapter VI, expressly teaches that at that time there was absolutely nothing in the Holy of Holies. When Pompey entered the same Holy of Holies, explaining what he saw in the temple, the same Josephus carefully enumerates, Book XIV Antiquities, chapter VIII; but about the ark he is always silent. Hence in Rome on the triumphal arch of Titus we see depicted the golden candelabrum and the table of showbread, but not the ark. Fourth, because this is the common opinion of the Hebrews, who consistently assert that these vessels were lacking in the second temple. The same is asserted by Latins and Greeks: Saint Epiphanius and Dorotheus already cited in the life of Jeremiah, Saint Thomas, Lyranus, and Dionysius here, Peter Galatinus, Book IV, chapter IX, Genebrardus, Book II of Chronology, at the year of the world 3730, Bellarmine, Book I On the Word of God, chapter XV. Abulensis on chapter XV of Exodus, Question IV, where he asserts that these vessels were hidden in the same place where the body of Moses was buried, and will appear when the body of Moses rises and appears, which will be at the end of the world. So also Dorotheus in the life of Jeremiah says he hid the ark in the sepulchre of Moses and Aaron. The same is held by Cosmas Magalianes, preface to Joshua, section VI.
Some add that the Hebrews, lacking the ark, tabernacle, and altar of incense made by Moses, fabricated similar ones and placed them in the second temple (for the temple required this adornment proper to it); and this is sufficiently gathered from I Maccabees I, verse 23, where it is said that Antiochus Epiphanes took from the temple the golden altar and the candelabrum of light and the table of showbread; and from Hegesippus, Book I, chapter XVII, where he says Pompey saw the tablets of the covenant and cherubim (not the Mosaic ones, but similar to the Mosaic ones) in the temple.
Moreover the ark of the covenant was absent from the second temple because in it Christ, prefigured by the ark, was going to appear and teach. Hence mystically Saint Ambrose, Book I of Offices, chapter XIV, and Rupert, chapter XXIV, hold that this prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled when, in the temple with the whole people gathered, Christ showed Himself to be seen, who is the true ark of the New Testament, containing the tablets of the Evangelical law and the manna of the Eucharist. See what was said on Exodus XXV, 10.
Verse 8: The Majesty of the Lord Will Appear
8. AND THE MAJESTY OF THE LORD WILL APPEAR, AND THERE WILL BE A CLOUD — that is to say: When God reveals the ark, then He will likewise show His glory in a splendid cloud, just as He manifested the same to Moses and Solomon in the dedication of the altar and the temple, as is said in verse 10. HE MANIFESTED THESE THINGS — namely, His majesty in a splendid cloud. The Greek text refers this to what follows in this manner: so that the place might be sanctified magnificently; then a period. For this was manifested, or it became manifest, that as one having wisdom he offered sacrifice.
Verse 9: Solomon Treated Wisdom Magnificently
9. FOR HE TREATED WISDOM MAGNIFICENTLY (Solomon, the wisest of mortals), AND AS ONE HAVING WISDOM HE OFFERED THE SACRIFICE OF DEDICATION AND COMPLETION OF THE TEMPLE — that is to say: Solomon, as he was the wisest, so most wisely imitated Moses, and by praying he obtained that God would show His majesty in the temple built by him and now dedicated, through a glorious cloud, III Kings VIII, 10; hence explaining, he adds:
Verse 10: Fire Descended from Heaven
10. JUST AS MOSES PRAYED TO THE LORD, AND FIRE DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN AND CONSUMED THE HOLOCAUST (Leviticus IX, 24), SO ALSO SOLOMON PRAYED, AND FIRE DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN AND CONSUMED THE HOLOCAUST — that is to say: In a similar manner therefore heavenly fire descended from heaven at the dedication of the temple made by Nehemiah, and afterwards by Judas Maccabeus, and consumed their victims, and therefore the feast of the Dedication was instituted as well as that of the given fire, to which we Jerusalemites exhort you, O Egyptian Jews, to celebrate it with us in praise of God and giving of thanks.
Verse 11: Moses Said: It Was Consumed
11. AND MOSES SAID: BECAUSE THAT WHICH WAS FOR SIN WAS NOT EATEN, IT WAS CONSUMED — that is to say: Since the sacrifice of Moses was for sin, and therefore seemed unclean, just as sin itself, and therefore had not been eaten by the priests, for this reason it was consumed by the flame. These words are taken from Leviticus X, 16, and seem to be continuous with the foregoing, so that just as the fire burned the other victims, so also it consumed the sin offerings; so Serarius, Sanchez, and others.
Verse 13: The Writings and Library of Nehemiah
13. THESE SAME THINGS WERE MOREOVER RECORDED IN THE WRITINGS AND COMMENTARIES OF NEHEMIAH — that is to say: These things which I have spoken about the sacred fire flashing from the thick waters were written by Nehemiah, not in the second book of Ezra, but in another commentary of Nehemiah which has now perished through the injury of time.
AND BUILDING A LIBRARY. — This is the first solemn library of the Jews, which Nehemiah built. For he preceded Alexander the Great and Aristotle by more than a hundred years, whom Strabo, Book XIII, writes was the first to build a library. By many more years Nehemiah preceded Ptolemy Philadelphus, who was the second to reign in Egypt after Alexander, and who erected there the most famous library, and therefore summoned from Judea the 72 Interpreters to translate Sacred Scripture from Hebrew into Greek. Thus before Ptolemy and Alexander, in the time of Darius Hystaspis, a library existed in Babylon, as is clear from I Ezra VI, 1. The Jerusalemites here seem to celebrate the library of Nehemiah in such a way as to set it beside, compare, or contrast it with the library of Philadelphus, of which the Jews dwelling in Egypt boasted, as if to say: You in Egypt perhaps have more profane books of the Gentiles; but we alone have the sacred books and the histories of our nation, which the library of Philadelphus lacks.
Verse 14: Judas Gathered the Scattered Books
14. SIMILARLY ALSO JUDAS GATHERED ALL THOSE THINGS THAT HAD BEEN LOST THROUGH WAR (that is, with similar care and diligence Judas gathered the sacred Codices scattered by the wars of Antiochus Epiphanes) and they are with us. — By Judas some understand Judas Maccabeus. But since he distinguishes this Judas from the Maccabee, saying at verse 20: 'Now concerning Judas Maccabeus'; for he usually calls him the Maccabee; and because Judas Maccabeus was in continual wars, and therefore his concern was for the armory rather than the library, to forge swords, not books: hence more truly others understand by Judas, Judas the Essene, who, as I said at chapter I, verse 10, was the author of this epistle and book; but because he wrote it in the name of the entire Senate and Jewish people, as is said there, hence here he speaks of himself in the third person. For he assumed the persona of the people and the Senate, in whose name he wrote the epistle, and here introduces them speaking about Judas, that is, about himself, as if about some third person.
Verse 17: God Who Delivered His People
17. NOW GOD, WHO DELIVERED HIS PEOPLE — (from Antiochus Epiphanes, Eupator, Sidetes, Demetrius, and other enemies, and restored the inheritance to all and the kingdom, that is to say: God brought it about that all the Jews possessed the kingdom of Judea not under the title of a kingdom, as before, but of a province given to them by God, as it were by inheritance, and that each one quietly obtained again his hereditary portion therein, snatched from them by the Antiochuses); and the priesthood (so that He would restore to Jerusalem its Pontiff and priests); AND THE SANCTIFICATION — that is, the holy temple with the holy worship of God. For the temple polluted by Antiochus, Judas Maccabeus, purifying it, restored to its former purity and holiness and to the holy worship of the one true God, Book I, chapter IV, verse 52.
Verse 20: Concerning Judas Maccabeus
20. NOW CONCERNING JUDAS MACCABEUS AND HIS BROTHERS. — The meaning of this verse and the four following depends on and is completed by verse 24: 'We have attempted to abridge in one volume,' that is to say: What Jason and others have said and written at length in many volumes about the deeds and battles of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers, we shall briefly narrate in this second book of Maccabees.
Therefore, with the epistle finished at verse 19, Judas the Essene here begins the history of the second book of Maccabees and prefixes to it this title and preface concerning the argument, method, style, etc. of the book: therefore the argument of the second book is the same as that of the first, namely the deeds of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers: for these, briefly written in Book I, are here narrated more fully; many things are also added which were omitted in the first book.
Verse 21: Antiochus the Noble
21. Antiochus the Noble — that is, Antiochus Epiphanes: for epiphanes in Greek means the same as illustrious, noble; he was so called by the Gentiles on account of his illustrious deeds, although more truly he is surnamed by Polybius and others epimanes, that is, foolish and mad, as I said in Book I.
Verse 22: Illuminations from Heaven
22. AND THE ILLUMINATIONS THAT CAME FROM HEAVEN TO THOSE WHO FOUGHT BRAVELY FOR THE JEWS. — He calls illuminations from heaven the signs produced from heaven for Judas and his companions, who, aided by Angels, fighting bravely for the Jews, overthrew the great armies of Antiochus. Hence Angels appeared to Judas and went before his camp as leaders of war, as we shall hear in what follows.
Verse 23: The Lord Being Gracious with Tranquility
23. THE LORD BEING GRACIOUS TO THEM WITH ALL TRANQUILITY — that is to say: The Lord calming and settling the disturbances, tumults, and wars directed by Antiochus against the Jews, and restoring to them their former peace: 'For a tranquil God makes all things tranquil, and to gaze tranquilly is to be at rest,' says one of the Saints.
Verse 24: Jason of Cyrene Abridged in One Volume
24. AND LIKEWISE WHAT WAS CONTAINED IN FIVE BOOKS BY JASON OF CYRENE, WE HAVE ATTEMPTED TO ABRIDGE IN ONE VOLUME — that is, to reduce into this brief volume. Calvin and the Innovators object that this Jason was a Cyrenean, and therefore a Gentile, and consequently this book, which is a compendium of Jason, is not sacred and Canonical. I respond that this Jason was a Jew, not a Gentile: for the Jews were scattered throughout the whole world; and therefore they dwelt in Cyrene also, as is clear from Acts II and VI. For the Gentiles were enemies of the Jews, and mocked, belittled, and corrupted their law, rites, and deeds. But this Jason extols and celebrates all these things, as is clear from what follows. Therefore he was a true worshipper of God, a good and pious man, and zealous for the worship of God.
But even granting that Jason were a Gentile, Judas nevertheless, who selected, arranged, organized, and crafted Jason's writings, making them his own, and reduced them into this book with the Holy Spirit always assisting him lest he err anywhere, made this book Canonical. Therefore He also brought it about that if anything false, impious, or obscene were in Jason's books, Judas would omit or correct it. Note here the Canon: When a Canonical author cites and approves the sayings of some profane author, by that very fact he makes them Canonical. Thus Saint Paul at Titus I, 12, citing that saying of Epimenides: 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons,' and adding: 'This testimony is true,' by that very fact he conferred on it Canonical and infallible authority. Thus that passage of Job V, 13: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness,' as spoken by Eliphaz the Gentile, does not have Canonical authority; yet it obtained such when it was cited and praised by Paul, I Corinthians III, 19. In a similar manner Judas, the Canonical author here, citing and praising the words of Jason, made them Canonical. Thus again Paul, Acts XVII, 28, citing and approving those words of Aratus: 'For we are indeed his offspring,' conferred Canonical authority on them. So Sanchez, Serarius, Bellarmine, and others.
Verse 27: A Task Full of Vigils and Sweat
27. WE HAVE ASSUMED A TASK FULL OF VIGILS AND SWEAT. — For it requires great labor and industry to read very many things, and to compress and encompass them all methodically, elegantly, clearly, and completely in few words. Thus he labored who described Homer's Iliad in letters so small that he enclosed the whole in a nutshell, according to Pliny, Book VII, chapter XXI; and Archimedes, who, as Cicero says in Tusculan I: 'bound the motions of the moon, the sun, and the five wandering stars in a sphere, and that by divine genius.' And because few know how to do this, hence often brevity entails loss. To encompass much in few words is the mark of a great man and a profound genius, which discerns and grasps in a single glance the point of manifold truth. This laconism, that is, brevity of speech, is the sign of a silent, meditative, and wise soul, and therefore the Seven Sages of Greece employed it, whose sayings are these: 'Know thyself. Nothing in excess. Give a pledge, and ruin is at hand,' etc.
Hear Plutarch in his treatise On Garrulity: 'The praises of taciturnity and silence must always be heard, and their majesty, sanctity, and likeness to sacred mysteries, and that they are held in greater admiration, more esteemed and wise, than those unbridled and excited people who are well-rounded and brief in speech, and in whose small expressions much meaning resides. For Plato too praises these, teaching that they are like skilled javelin throwers when they send forth words that are crisp, dense, and wound around each other. And Lycurgus, restraining his citizens from boyhood with silence, trained them in this skill of speaking concisely and compactly. For just as the Celtiberians prepare the edge and solidity of their iron by burying it in the ground and purging away the coarse and earthy parts: so Laconic speech was free of bark, and by the removal of the superfluous was forced into effectiveness and sharpened: for that skillful brevity of speech and versatile keenness in replies was the fruit of much silence.'
Verse 29: Conceding Truth to the Authors
29. CONCEDING THE TRUTH ABOUT INDIVIDUAL MATTERS TO THE AUTHORS (Greek: to the author, namely Jason of Cyrene), BUT OURSELVES STUDYING BREVITY ACCORDING TO THE GIVEN (already stated) PLAN — that is to say: I Judas, the writer of this book, did this only: to abridge the writings of Jason; therefore I did not wish to curiously scrutinize the truth of each individual matter, even the most minute, written by him, but I attribute the credit for this truth to Jason, as a reliable, truthful, and exact writer, who first investigated all these things diligently and wrote nothing that was not certainly ascertained. So Judas modestly thinks and speaks of himself, but the Holy Spirit, who used him as His instrument and pen, so directed him that he would write nothing except what was true, pious, and holy, and if he found anything otherwise in Jason, he would either omit or change it.
Verse 30: The Architect and the Painter
30. FOR JUST AS THE ARCHITECT OF A NEW HOUSE. — With the same modesty Judas here compares Jason to the architect of a great edifice, upon whom lies the arrangement and construction of the whole building: but himself to a painter who adorns the already completed building with his painting, as if to say: It is the historian's task to construct the edifice of history; but the abridger's task is to adorn it with his brief and elegant style.
Verse 31: To Gather the Material
31. For to gather the material. — He calls 'the material' the argument or subject matter which the historian gathers and proposes to the reader to be read and understood.
Verse 32: Brevity Allowed to the Abridger
32. TO AVOID DETAILED EXECUTION OF MATTERS MUST BE ALLOWED TO THE ABRIDGER. — Greek: To omit the minute treatment of the business must be allowed to one making an abridgment, that is to say: It is the task of the historical author to curiously investigate and narrate each detail minutely; but the abridger's task is to cut away many of these and encompass much in few words. For the Greek exergasian signifies a work done with great diligence and care, that is, what is treated curiously, exactly, fully, and perfectly. And our author calls this 'executions'; and do not think this word un-Latin. For exsequi means to complete and perfect something, and therefore to do it carefully; hence that saying of Cicero in the Orator: 'How divinely he executes all things.' And that of the same in On the Universe: 'There is no doubt therefore that he preferred to execute eternity, since nothing is more beautiful than the world, nor more excellent than its builder.' And that of the same in the book On Old Age: 'To execute all the duties and functions of a king.' Again, and more to the present point, exsequi means to set forth a matter minutely and amply and to pursue it in narration. Thus Livy, Book V: 'He was then pursuing,' he says, 'what the solemn derivation was.' And Cicero, in Marius, Book XXVII: 'I have,' he says, 'many more hidden things which I can scarcely express in words.' And Pliny, Book XXXV, chapter VIII: 'Now I shall run through those famous in that art with the greatest brevity; for such an execution,' that is, a more prolix and fuller narration, 'is not the purpose of the work undertaken.' Thus here 'executions' are opposed to the abbreviation which our Author here set himself to pursue.