Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Onias clears himself before King Seleucus from the calumnies objected against him by Simon. Then, at verse 7, Seleucus being dead, Jason, brother of the Pontiff Onias, having excluded him, purchased the Pontificate from Antiochus Epiphanes, brother and successor of Seleucus, for 360 talents. And he leads the Jews from Judaism to Gentilism. Then, at verse 23, Jason, who had thrust his brother Onias from the Pontificate by money given to the king, was in a similar manner fraudulently thrust out by Menelaus, the brother of Simon; and Menelaus in turn was thrust out in a similar manner by his brother Lysimachus. Then, at verse 34, the Pontiff Onias is killed by Andronicus at the request of Menelaus; but Antiochus Epiphanes, at the insistence of the people, commanded Andronicus to be killed in the same place. Finally, at verse 39, the sacrilegious Lysimachus is killed by the people in a sedition; but Menelaus, having corrupted Ptolemy with money, extorts an unjust sentence of acquittal.
Vulgate Text: 2 Maccabees 4:1-50
1. But the aforesaid Simon, the betrayer of the money and the fatherland, spoke ill of Onias, as though he himself had instigated Heliodorus to these things and had been the inciter of the evils; 2. and he dared to call the provider for the city, the defender of his nation, and the zealot of the law of God, a plotter against the kingdom. 3. But when the enmities proceeded so far that murders were committed by certain of Simon's associates: 4. Onias, considering the danger of the contention, and that Apollonius was raging, being governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, to increase the malice of Simon, went to the king, 5. not as an accuser of his citizens, but considering within himself the common welfare of the whole multitude within himself. 6. For he saw that without royal providence it was impossible for peace to be given to affairs, and that Simon could not cease from his folly. 7. But after the death of Seleucus, when Antiochus, who was called the Noble, had assumed the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias sought the high priesthood: 8. having approached the king, promising him three hundred and sixty talents of silver, and eighty talents from other revenues, 9. besides this he promised another one hundred and fifty, if it should be granted to his authority to establish a gymnasium and training school for youth, and to enroll those who were in Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch. 10. When the king had agreed and he had obtained the leadership, he immediately began to transfer his kinsmen to pagan rites. 11. And setting aside those things which had been established for the Jews by their kings out of humanity, through John the father of Eupolemus, who had fulfilled a legitimate embassy to the Romans concerning friendship and alliance, he destroyed the rights of citizens and enacted wicked institutions. 12. For he dared to establish a gymnasium under the very citadel, and to place the best of the young men in houses of ill repute. 13. Now this was not a beginning, but a certain increase and advance of pagan and foreign ways of life, because of the nefarious and unheard-of crime of the impious Jason, who was no priest: 14. so that the priests were no longer devoted to the services of the altar, but despising the temple and neglecting the sacrifices, they hastened to partake in the wrestling school and its unjust prizes, and in the exercises of the discus. 15. And counting their ancestral honors as nothing, they considered Greek glories the best: 16. on account of which a dangerous rivalry possessed them, and they emulated their institutions, and in all things desired to be like those whom they had considered enemies and destroyers. 17. For to act impiously against the divine laws does not go unpunished; but the following period will make this clear. 18. Now when the quinquennial games were being celebrated at Tyre, and the king was present, 19. the wicked Jason sent sinful men from Jerusalem, carrying three hundred silver didrachmas for the sacrifice of Hercules: but those who carried them requested that they should not be spent on sacrifices, because it was not fitting, but that they should be assigned to other expenses. 20. But these were indeed offered by the one who sent them for the sacrifice of Hercules; however, on account of those present, they were given for the construction of triremes. 21. Now when Apollonius, son of Mnesthenus, was sent to Egypt on account of the chief men of King Ptolemy Philometor, when Antiochus learned that he had been excluded from the affairs of the kingdom, consulting his own interests, he departed from there and came to Joppa, and from there to Jerusalem. 22. And being received magnificently by Jason and the city, he entered with torchlight processions and praises; and from there he directed his army into Phoenicia. 23. And after a period of three years, Jason sent Menelaus, the brother of the above-mentioned Simon, carrying money to the king, and to bring back answers concerning necessary business. 24. But he, being recommended to the king, when he had magnified the splendor of his power, diverted the high priesthood to himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. 25. And having received the king's mandates, he came, having nothing worthy of the priesthood, but bearing the spirit of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage beast. 26. And Jason indeed, who had taken his own brother captive, was himself deceived and driven as a fugitive into the region of the Ammonites. 27. Menelaus indeed obtained the leadership; but as for the money promised to the king, he did nothing about it, since Sostratus, who was in charge of the citadel, was making the collection; 28. (for the collection of taxes pertained to him) on which account both were summoned to the king. 29. And Menelaus was removed from the priesthood, his brother Lysimachus succeeding him; and Sostratus was placed over the Cypriots. 30. And while these things were going on, it happened that the people of Tarsus and Mallus started a revolt, because they had been given as a gift to Antiochis, the king's concubine. 31. The king therefore came hastily to settle them, leaving one of his companions, Andronicus, as his substitute. 32. Now Menelaus, thinking he had found an opportune time, stole certain gold vessels from the temple and gave them to Andronicus, and had sold others at Tyre and in neighboring cities. 33. When Onias had learned this with certainty, he rebuked him, keeping himself in a safe place at Antioch near Daphne. 34. Wherefore Menelaus, approaching Andronicus, asked him to kill Onias. And when he had come to Onias, and having given his right hand with an oath (although he was suspicious to him), he persuaded him to come out from the asylum, to come out, he immediately killed him, not fearing justice. 35. On account of which not only the Jews, but other nations also were indignant and bore with difficulty the unjust murder of so great a man. 36. But when the king had returned from the regions of Cilicia, the Jews approached him at Antioch, and likewise the Greeks, complaining of the unjust murder of Onias. 37. And so Antiochus, grieved in spirit on account of Onias and moved to pity, shed tears, remembering the sobriety and modesty of the deceased. 38. And being inflamed in spirit, he ordered Andronicus to be stripped of his purple and led around the entire city; and in the same place where he had committed the impiety against Onias, the sacrilegious man was deprived of life, the Lord paying him back a fitting punishment. 39. Now when many sacrileges had been committed in the temple by Lysimachus on the advice of Menelaus, and the report had spread, a multitude gathered against Lysimachus, since much gold had already been carried off. 40. But when the crowds were rising up and their spirits were filled with anger, Lysimachus, having armed nearly three thousand men, began to use unjust force, with a certain tyrant as leader, advanced equally in age and in madness. 41. But when they understood the attempt of Lysimachus, some seized stones, others strong clubs, and some threw ashes at Lysimachus. 42. And many indeed were wounded, and some were struck down, but all were turned to flight; and the sacrilegious man himself was killed near the treasury. 43. Concerning these things, therefore, a trial began to be conducted against Menelaus. 44. And when the king had come to Tyre, three men sent by the elders brought the case before him. 45. And when Menelaus was being defeated, he promised to give Ptolemy much money to persuade the king. 46. And so Ptolemy approached the king, who was stationed in a certain courtyard as if for the sake of cooling off, and diverted him from his decision: 47. and he acquitted Menelaus, who was guilty of all wickedness, of the charges; but those wretched men who, even if they had pleaded their case before the Scythians, would have been judged innocent, these he condemned to death. 48. Quickly, therefore, they suffered an unjust punishment, who had prosecuted the case on behalf of the city, the people, and the sacred vessels. 49. On account of which even the Tyrians, being indignant, were most generous toward their burial. 50. But Menelaus, because of the greed of those who were in power, remained in authority, growing in malice and plotting against the citizens.
Verse 1: As If He Had Instigated Heliodorus
Now the section from verse 4 to 7, in chronological order, should be placed after verse 16, ch. 1, book 1; the latter section, from verse 21 to verse 11, ch. 5, should be placed after verse 20, ch. 1, book 1.
1. AS IF HE HIMSELF (Onias the Holy Pontiff) HAD INSTIGATED HELIODORUS (that is, had impelled him by magical arts) TO THESE THINGS — to suffer the aforementioned scourgings. For thus the impious attribute the miracles of God to magic and the invocation of demons.
Verse 4: Onias Went to the King
4. ONIAS, ETC., BETOOK HIMSELF TO THE KING (Seleucus) — and refuted Simon's calumnies, and through the king imposed silence on Simon.
Verse 7: Jason Sought the High Priesthood
7. BUT AFTER THE DEATH OF SELEUCUS (the death inflicted on him by treachery by Heliodorus) WHEN ANTIOCHUS, WHO WAS CALLED THE NOBLE (namely Epiphanes) HAD ASSUMED THE KINGDOM (and he was the brother of the slain Seleucus) JASON (in Hebrew he was called Jesus, but taking a Greek form he assumed a pagan name and was called Jason) THE BROTHER OF ONIAS WAS SEEKING THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD — namely the pontificate.
Verse 8: Promising Three Hundred and Sixty Talents
8. HAVING APPROACHED THE KING, PROMISING HIM 360 TALENTS OF SILVER. — How great this sum was, calculate from what I said in the preceding chapter, verse 11.
Verse 9: A Gymnasium and Training School
9. BESIDES THIS HE PROMISED ANOTHER 150, IF IT SHOULD BE GRANTED TO HIS AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH A GYMNASIUM AND A TRAINING SCHOOL FOR YOUTH — in the city of Jerusalem. What these were I explained in Book I, ch. 1, verse 15; and Peter Faber treats of them at length, Book III Agonist. ch. 27 and 28, where among other things he says: Lyranus very well explained the training school as a house of ill fame for the most handsome young men; and Athenaeus, Book XI Dipnos., says: "Youths are prostituted boys, who in 4 Kings 24 are called in Hebrew Kadesim, that is, foul and wicked." Our translator renders "effeminate men"; Lyranus, "male brothels." The same are called kedeschim, that is, initiated and consecrated, namely to Astarte, or Venus, or Priapus. For the goddess of the Syrians was Astarte or Venus. The same wore a broad hat, which was therefore called a petasus from petannymi, that is, "I spread out." Or the petasus was a curtain, which was drawn over a brothel to conceal their filth. Again, the same Faber interprets the training school as taverns and eating-houses for feasting and carousing; for they wished to imitate their king Antiochus Epiphanes, who was accustomed to feast and carouse with common people whom he found in taverns, and to revel and dance with young men; whence by some, instead of Epiphanes, he was called Epimanes, that is, madman, as Athenaeus testifies, Book V Dipnos., page 57. Hence brothels were joined to taverns: for a belly satiated with food and wine overflows into lust; and, as St. Jerome says, it foams over. Faber adds the reason, saying: "In Syria, since on account of the fertility of the region most people were exempt from the labors necessary among other nations, frequently arranged banquets among the inhabitants with bathing, exercises of playful competitions, and very extravagant anointings with precious oil; so much so that even in the grammar schools (for so they called the public places of feasting, with a more decent name concealing the disgrace of the thing) no less than each private person in his home, they spent the greatest part of the day stuffing their bellies with food and wine, not without the pleasure of the ears (which the many-toned sound of the lyre would also delight), and afterward they would carry away portions of delicacies home with them; Athenaeus taught me this," Book V Dipnos., page 66.
AND TO ENROLL THOSE WHO WERE IN JERUSALEM AS ANTIOCHENES. — Antioch was the capital of the kingdom of Syria; therefore the Antiochenes had obtained ample privileges from their kings, such as the Alexandrians and Romans also had. Whence St. Paul, saying "I am a Roman citizen," was exempted from the scourging already prepared, Acts 22:25.
11. AND HAVING SET ASIDE THOSE THINGS (ancestral institutions, namely the laws, customs, and rites of the Jews) WHICH HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR THE JEWS OUT OF HUMANITY (goodwill) BY THE KINGS (of the Persians and Greeks, although they were pagans and idolaters). (For these kings had allowed the Jews to live by their own laws, and had forbidden them to be compelled to adopt the religion and customs of the Gentiles. These, I say, having been set aside, the impious and apostate Jason introduced pagan rites; and this he did) THROUGH JOHN THE FATHER OF EUPOLEMUS, WHO (Eupolemus later, in the time of Judas Maccabaeus) HAD FULFILLED A LEGITIMATE EMBASSY TO THE ROMANS CONCERNING FRIENDSHIP AND ALLIANCE (to be entered into with Judas and the Jews) (1 Maccabees 8:17) DESTROYING THE RIGHTS OF CITIZENS (abrogating, abolishing, destroying them) HE ENACTED WICKED INSTITUTIONS (of the Gentiles and Paganism).
12. FOR HE DARED UNDER THE VERY CITADEL (of Sion) TO ESTABLISH A GYMNASIUM (in which young men might practice gymnastics, and learn to wrestle, run, jump, ride horses, fight with swords, etc.) AND TO PLACE THE BEST OF THE YOUTHS (that is, adolescents) IN HOUSES OF ILL FAME — for unspeakable and unnatural lust. In Greek, pubescent young men are called ephebi, adolescents: for ephebeia means puberty, the adolescence which in males occurs at the age of 14; for hebe means youth: whence in Hebrew she is called the wife of Hercules, and the goddess of puberty and youth, born of Jupiter and Juno, says Hesiod in the Theogony. In Greek it reads: Placing the best of the young men under the hat, he led them. The petasus was a broad hat, which was the mark of catamites, or rather the petasus was a veil and curtain covering the brothel, so that sheltered by it they might shamelessly practice their shameful and nefarious lusts.
SO THAT THE PRIESTS, ETC., HASTENED TO PARTAKE IN THE WRESTLING SCHOOL (that is, to watch the athletes contending in the arena, in wrestling, running, with swords and spears, and even to compete in these same contests themselves, and to gain the prize appointed for the victor: whence explaining he adds) AND IN ITS UNJUST PRIZES — the rewards which were customarily given to the winners, such as gold, silver, crowns, garments, arms, etc., which he calls unjust, that is, wrongful, because they were unworthy of priests, being secular, youthful, immodest, and wanton.
AND IN THE EXERCISES OF THE DISCUS. — What these were I explained in Book I, ch. 1, verse 15. The Greek text has, after the challenge of the discus: for the discus was customarily carried around through the arena, and the prize proposed for the winner was placed on the discus, so that by this they might invite and challenge more people to the discus competition, as Peter Faber teaches, Book II Agonist., ch. 22.
Verse 15: Greek Glories
15. GREEK GLORIES. — So he calls the games of the Greeks, the Olympic and Isthmian games, which were celebrated at Corinth, and other similar rites of the pagans, in which the Greeks, that is, the pagans, gloried, especially those who in them had won the palm and the prize.
Verse 16: A Dangerous Rivalry
16. ON ACCOUNT OF WHICH A DANGEROUS RIVALRY POSSESSED THEM — that is, they dangerously strove to emulate the games and rites of the Greeks and pagans, and one tried to surpass another in them, and gloried in it. Note the word "dangerous"; for there was a danger both of quarrels and fights, lest they attack and destroy each other; and lest by the Greeks, namely the Antiochid kings of Asia, they be completely subjugated as Greeks; but especially there was a danger from God, lest He Himself sharply punish their apostasy from Himself and Judaism to paganism and demons.
WHOM THEY HAD CONSIDERED ENEMIES AND DESTROYERS — both previously under Ptolemy Philopator, who fiercely persecuted the Jews, as is clear from the book of 3 Maccabees; and shortly after under this Antiochus Epiphanes, and this as punishment for their apostasy; whence it follows:
Verse 17: Impiety Against Divine Laws
17. FOR TO ACT IMPIOUSLY AGAINST THE DIVINE LAWS DOES NOT GO UNPUNISHED. — For God punishes injuries to Himself slowly but severely. For as the saying goes: "The gods have woolen feet, but iron hands;" and as Valerius Maximus says, Book I, ch. 2: "The divine wrath proceeds with slow step to its vengeance, and compensates for the tardiness of punishment with its severity."
Verse 18: The Quinquennial Games at Tyre
18. NOW WHEN THE QUINQUENNIAL GAMES WERE BEING CELEBRATED AT TYRE. — Agon means the athletic games already mentioned, similar to the Olympic games and contests, which were celebrated after every fourth year, and therefore were called "quinquennial games." Therefore this contest was different from the Olympic contest, which was celebrated every fourth year and did not fall in the present year, as Salianus shows.
19. JASON (the simoniacal pseudo-pontiff) SENT SINFUL MEN — as ambassadors, agents, and executors of Jason's impiety and idolatry. Serarius thinks that instead of "sinners" one should read "pray-ers": for this is what the Greek word theoroi means, which however the Complutensian edition translates as "procurators of sacred rites"; others, "consulters of oracles"; Vatablus, "spectators," and so Salianus thinks "sinners" should be read. Concerning whom Suidas and Sigonius, On the Athenian Republic, say: Theoroi were those who were sent to spectacles, festivals, oracles, and the care of religious affairs. Thus Diodorus Siculus calls them those whom Dionysius the tyrant had sent to the Olympic games with his poems. Hence Stratocles, a flatterer at Athens, promulgated a bill that those who were sent publicly by decree of the people to Antigonus and Demetrius should not be called ambassadors but theoroi, just like those who at Delphi and Olympia offer sacrifices for their cities at the solemn assemblies of the Greeks, as Plutarch says in his Life of Demetrius. The Greek text adds: so that they would be considered as Antiochenes, that is, endowed with the rights of citizens of Antioch by Antiochus.
CARRYING THREE HUNDRED SILVER DIDRACHMAS (in Greek it says drachmas) FOR THE SACRIFICE OF HERCULES. — A silver drachma is a Julius or Spanish real; a didrachma therefore is two Julii, or two reals: therefore three hundred didrachmas make six hundred Julii, or reals, that is, sixty Roman gold coins, with which many victims, such as sheep and goats, could be bought for the sacrifice of Hercules. Some, however, thinking this sum too small and paltry for a high priest to win the goodwill of King Antiochus, think these didrachmas were golden; yet they are called "silver," that is, money, as if to say: Jason sent three hundred golden didrachmas of silver, that is, money, which make six hundred Roman gold coins. So says Sanchez; for a gold drachma is one gold coin; a didrachma therefore is two gold coins; therefore three hundred didrachmas of gold are six hundred gold coins.
FOR THE SACRIFICE OF HERCULES — who was worshipped in Syria and Tyre as the god of strength, wars, and contests, and was the proper god of the Tyrians, and therefore was called Hercules of Tyre; see Giraldus, On the Gods of the Nations, under Hercules. Whence many think Hercules was none other than Samson, who near Tyre in Palestine gave examples of his extraordinary strength, as I said in the book of Judges. Hence there the quinquennial contest was celebrated in honor of Hercules, in which the athletes professed to imitate Hercules, and therefore in the gymnasiums there the statues and chapels of Hercules were displayed, as Serarius teaches from Galen, Pausanias, Athenaeus, and others.
THOSE WHO CARRIED THEM REQUESTED, ETC. — that is, Jason sent three hundred didrachmas for the sacrifice of Hercules; but his ambassadors, though impious, yet less wicked than Jason, since as they carried them they were Jews and worshipped the true God and detested idols, asked that they not be spent on sacrifices to Hercules, a god of the pagans, but on other uses. Therefore Antiochus Epiphanes spent the same on the construction of triremes, which he was equipping for his first expedition into Egypt, about which the text continues.
Verse 21: Apollonius Sent to Egypt
21. ON ACCOUNT OF THE CHIEF MEN OF KING PTOLEMY PHILOMETOR (who had defected from their king Philometor, and wished to make his younger brother Ptolemy Euergetes, who was also called Physcon, their king. Therefore Antiochus Epiphanes, seeing the discord of the two brothers, namely Philometor and Physcon, quarreling over the kingdom of Egypt, pretended — being as he was the uncle of both (for Cleopatra, sister of Epiphanes, was the mother of both) — to want to be the arbiter and mediator of the dispute, and to settle the matter between the brothers; but in truth he intended to seize the kingdom from both nephews and claim it for himself. The chief men of Egypt and the guardians of the king, suspecting this, did not want him to meddle in Egyptian affairs. And this is what is said here:) WHEN ANTIOCHUS LEARNED THAT HE HAD BEEN EXCLUDED FROM THE AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM, CONSULTING HIS OWN INTERESTS (of his kingdom in Syria), DEPARTING FROM THERE (namely from Tyre) HE CAME TO JOPPA, AND FROM THERE TO JERUSALEM — where Jason received him as if he were a king, indeed as if he were some earthly god (for Antiochus wished to be so regarded and worshipped): "with torchlight processions and praises," as follows. For "interests" our translator reads in the Greek opheleias; now they read asphaleias, that is, "securities," but the meaning comes to the same thing.
Verse 23: Jason Sent Menelaus
23. AND AFTER A PERIOD OF THREE YEARS JASON SENT MENELAUS, THE BROTHER OF THE ABOVE-MENTIONED SIMON (the betrayer and informer about the money, of whom verse 1) CARRYING MONEY TO THE KING — Antiochus Epiphanes, as a tribute in token of subjection.
Verse 24: Menelaus Diverted the High Priesthood
24. BUT HE, BEING RECOMMENDED (by Jason) TO THE KING, WHEN HE HAD MAGNIFIED THE SPLENDOR OF HIS POWER — that is, when he had exalted with ample words the royal power, majesty, and splendor of Antiochus, namely that through it he could accomplish anything in Syria not only in secular and political affairs but also in ecclesiastical and sacred matters, and therefore could appoint at Jerusalem whichever pontiff he wished, and so transfer the pontificate from Jason to himself — by which art and fraud Menelaus DIVERTED THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD (the pontificate) TO HIMSELF FROM (Jason), OUTBIDDING JASON BY THREE HUNDRED TALENTS OF SILVER — that is, offering Antiochus the same amount more than Jason had offered. Therefore just as Jason, by offering Antiochus Epiphanes 360 talents, had bought the pontificate and by it driven out his brother the holy Onias, so likewise Menelaus, sent by Jason, craftily supplanted and drove out Jason himself, promising the king another three hundred talents besides the 360 already promised to him by Jason. Whence the Greek says: surpassing Jason by three hundred talents, that is, Jason had promised the king 360 talents for the pontificate; but Menelaus increased this sum and nearly doubled it: for just as when a thing is sold at auction, each person increases the price, and the thing goes to him who offers the highest price, so here Menelaus, adding three hundred and promising the king in total 660 talents, obtained the pontificate and craftily excluded his master Jason.
25. AND HAVING RECEIVED THE KING'S MANDATES (that the Jews should accept him as pontiff in place of Jason), HE CAME, HAVING NOTHING WORTHY OF THE PRIESTHOOD (both because Menelaus was from the tribe of Benjamin, which was unfit for the priesthood, whereas Jason was from the tribe of Levi and therefore qualified; and because he was impious, and was acquiring the pontificate for himself through simony), BUT BEARING THE SPIRIT OF A CRUEL TYRANT — whence in verse 34 he ordered the true and holy pontiff Onias to be cruelly killed by Andronicus.
26. AND JASON INDEED, WHO HAD TAKEN HIS OWN BROTHER (Onias the Pontiff) CAPTIVE, WAS HIMSELF DECEIVED (by his servant Menelaus) WAS DRIVEN AS A FUGITIVE INTO THE REGION OF THE AMMONITES. — This was a just judgment of God, and a just penalty of retaliation, that he who had supplanted his brother should be supplanted by a servant, and he who had bought the pontificate should be ousted by a bigger buyer; and he who had driven the holy pontiff Onias into exile should himself live wretchedly in exile among the Ammonites. See here how true is that saying in Ecclesiasticus 27:28: "He who throws a stone on high, it will fall upon his own head, and the deceitful blow of the deceitful will divide wounds; and he who digs a pit will fall into it; and he who sets a stone for his neighbor will stumble on it; and he who lays a snare for another will perish in it."
Verse 29: Menelaus Removed from the Priesthood
29. AND MENELAUS WAS REMOVED FROM THE PRIESTHOOD — from the pontificate by Antiochus Epiphanes, because he did not pay the 360 talents he had promised. Therefore Epiphanes appointed Menelaus's brother Lysimachus as pontiff in his place, Lysimachus apparently making the same promises. Thus the impious Menelaus drove out the impious Jason, and was in turn driven out by his impious brother Lysimachus. For when honor and ambition are at stake, a brother does not acknowledge his brother, but hates and supplants him. For each person desires a dignity for himself rather than for his brother; indeed, not infrequently he snatches it away from his brother. So great is the force of ambition and greed in man corrupted by sin.
Verse 30: The Revolt of Tarsus and Mallus
30. IT HAPPENED THAT THE PEOPLE OF TARSUS AND MALLUS STARTED A REVOLT, BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN AS A GIFT TO ANTIOCHIS, THE KING'S CONCUBINE — by Epiphanes, so that from their revenues she might purchase costly garments, necklaces, maidservants, servants, and carriages. Hear Cicero, Act V against Verres: "They say it is customary for the barbarian kings of the Persians and Syrians to have many wives; and to assign cities to these wives in this manner: this city is to provide the woman a headband, this one a necklace, this one hair ornaments; thus they have entire peoples not only as accomplices in their lust, but also as ministers." The same is reported by Plato in the Alcibiades, Plutarch in the Themistocles, and Athenaeus, Book I, and Strabo, Book XIV. Now Tarsus and Mallus were noble cities of Cilicia, which therefore were indignant that they had been given to a harlot, who called herself Antiochis after her lover Antiochus, and therefore they rebelled. Wherefore Antiochus immediately hurried to quell the tumult, leaving Andronicus as viceroy at Antioch, as follows.
Verse 33: Onias Rebuked Menelaus
33. ONIAS (the holy Pontiff) REBUKED HIM — Menelaus for sacrilege, because he had stolen golden vessels from the temple and given them to Andronicus the viceroy, so that Andronicus would restore the pontificate to him. For although Onias had been unjustly stripped of the pontificate and was in exile at Antioch, nevertheless because he was truly the pontiff, out of pontifical zeal he rebuked the sacrilegious man, even though he probably knew that by doing so he was bringing death upon himself; for he knew that through it he would attain the laurel of martyrdom which he desired.
KEEPING HIMSELF IN A SAFE PLACE AT ANTIOCH NEAR DAPHNE — this place was five miles distant from Antioch, whence it is called a suburb by Dio, Book 51, so named from the abundance of laurels, as if to say a laurel grove; for Daphne means laurel. Therefore there was a famous shrine of Apollo there, and consequently it was an asylum safe and inviolable for all. Here St. Babylas the martyr was buried, who imposed silence on Apollo, and therefore was exhumed by Julian the Apostate. See his acts. Near this place St. Ignatius, Bishop and Martyr of Antioch, was also buried; but he was later transferred to Rome. Here, therefore, Onias the Pontiff took refuge as if in an asylum; but he was drawn out by trickery by Andronicus and perfidiously and wickedly killed, against the pledge and oath given to him. Therefore the Jews and Gentiles, bearing with indignation the murder of the holy Pontiff, accused Andronicus before Antiochus Epiphanes, who ordered him to be stripped of his purple and led around the city, and killed in the same place where he himself had killed Onias, as follows.
Thus was killed Onias, the holy and zealous Pontiff, after he had for 36 years sustained the Synagogue and Republic of the Jews with great strength of spirit against the impious. How great a man he was is clear, both from the fact that all Jews and Gentiles mourned his death, and even the impious King Epiphanes shed tears; and from the eulogy which Scripture gives him in ch. 15, verse 12, where Judas Maccabaeus, about to fight against Epiphanes, saw Onias in a dream, who had been the high priest, a good and kind man, modest in appearance, gentle in manners, and graceful in speech, and who from childhood had been exercised in virtues, stretching out his hands and praying for all the people of the Jews. And his companion in prayer was Jeremiah, who had also been killed by his own deserters in Egypt.
Verse 40: Lysimachus Armed Three Thousand
40. WITH A CERTAIN TYRANT AS LEADER. — In Greek it reads "with a certain Auranus," that is, when the people were rioting because of the crimes and sacrileges of Lysimachus, Lysimachus opposed the people with three thousand armed men under the command of Tyrannus; but the people rushing together from all sides and raging, put them to flight with stones and clubs, and killed Lysimachus near the treasury or storehouse of the temple. This is the summary of what is narrated at length in the following verses.
Verse 43: Trial Against Menelaus
43. CONCERNING THESE THINGS, THEREFORE, A TRIAL BEGAN TO BE CONDUCTED AGAINST MENELAUS — that is, the Jews accused Menelaus before Antiochus Epiphanes as the author of all wickedness, who had counseled so many crimes and sacrileges to his brother Lysimachus the pseudo-pontiff, and Antiochus ordered the case and lawsuit to be conducted judicially against Menelaus.
Verse 45: Menelaus Promised Money to Ptolemy
45. AND WHEN HE WAS BEING DEFEATED (being convicted as guilty by the multitude of witnesses and the evidence of the gravest crimes) HE PROMISED PTOLEMY (the son of Dorymenes, as the Greek adds, who had authority and influence with Antiochus Epiphanes) TO GIVE MUCH MONEY TO PERSUADE THE KING — so that he would acquit Menelaus as innocent; and condemn the Jewish accusers to death as calumniators by the penalty of retaliation, even though they were entirely innocent. And so it happened, as follows:
Verse 50: Menelaus Remained in Power
50. BUT MENELAUS, BECAUSE OF THE GREED OF THOSE WHO WERE IN POWER (by which they allowed themselves to be corrupted by money from Menelaus) REMAINED IN POWER — pontifical power, that is, Menelaus, after his brother Lysimachus the pseudo-pontiff had been killed by the people, thrust himself back into the pontificate through courtiers corrupted with money, although he was not from the tribe of Levi but from Benjamin, as was said in verse 25. Menelaus therefore held the pontificate not legitimately but as an intruder for four years, namely from the year 140 of the Greeks, when he arranged the killing of Onias the holy Pontiff, until the year 145 of the Greeks, when Mattathias rose up against him and King Epiphanes, and was made Leader and Pontiff by the people.
For although the holy Onias had a son named Onias, to whom by right of hereditary succession that pontificate was owed from his grandfather; yet he had already fled to Egypt, and had erected another temple at Heliopolis, and had established himself as pontiff there. But Jason, the brother of Onias, was altogether unworthy of the pontificate, being a simoniac and apostate who strove to lead the Jews to paganism, as we heard at the beginning of the chapter. Therefore, with no legitimate heirs remaining, the pontificate devolved to Mattathias and his sons Judas, Jonathan, and Simon the Maccabees.