Rabanus Maurus

In his own words on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:1

  The beginning of the book of the Maccabees is similar to the beginning of the book of the prophet Ezekiel, where it is written: And it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, etc. (Ezek. 1:1) Therefore, the first question arises for us as to why he who had said nothing yet began in this way, saying: And it came to pass, after Alexander, etc. For the word "and" is a conjunction, and we know that a following statement is not joined unless to a preceding statement; therefore, why does he who had said nothing say: "And it came to pass," when there is no statement to which what he begins can be joined? In this matter, it must be considered that just as we perceive corporeal things, so prophets and writers of divine books perceive spiritual things with their senses, and to them, even those things are present which seem absent to our ignorance; therefore it happens that in the minds of prophets, the internal things are so joined to the external that they see both at the same time, and simultaneously in them there is both the word they hear inwardly and the word they speak outwardly. Therefore, the reason is clear why he who had said nothing began by saying: And it happened; then he adds: After Alexander, son of Philip the Macedonian, who first reigned in Greece, went out from the land of Kittim, he struck Darius, king of the Persians and Medes. Therefore, it is shown to all that Alexander, son of Philip and Olympias, killed Darius, king of the Persians and Medes. Daniel also clearly expressed this in his vision, in which he describes the he-goat breaking the ram with its horns. But it is asked how Alexander is said to have first reigned in Greece, when many are found to have reigned there in different places before; for long before, kings presided over the Argives, Athenians, Lacedaemonians, Corinthians, and Lydians. Nor is Alexander found to be the first king in Macedonia, but the twenty-fourth: for the first king of the Macedonians was Caraunus, at the time when Azariah, who is also Uzziah, was king of the Hebrews in Judah (1 Kings 12), and Jeroboam was king of the Hebrews in Israel (2 Chron. 26). Also, Procas Sylvius of the Latins, Calcamenes of the Lacedaemonians, Alexander of the Corinthians, and Thespites of the Athenians; but Alexander is said to have first reigned in Greece because, while other kings previously reigned in individual regions, he alone was the first to reign over all of Greece. For, after overthrowing Thebes, taking up arms against the Persians, he overcame the leaders of Darius in battle at the river Ganges, and finally struck the ram itself, and broke its two horns, the Medes and Persians, and placed it under his feet, and subdued both horns under his rule. And when it is said he went out from Kittim, it signifies Greece itself. For Sethim was of the descendants of Noah, that is, the son of Javan, the son of Japheth, the son of Noah, and he possessed the island of Sitammam, which is now called Cyprus, as Josephus is witness, and from it all islands and naval places are called Cethim in Hebrew. Let us read the books of Varro on Antiquities and those of Sisinnius Capito and the Greek Phlegon and other most learned men, and we will see that almost all islands and the shores of the whole world and lands near the sea were occupied by Greek settlers, who, from the mountains of Amanus and Taurus, possessed all maritime places as far as the British Ocean.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:2-3

  Therefore, Alexander the Great, as historians relate, after the death of Darius, subdued Hyrcania and the Macedonians; after this, he engaged in battle with the Parthians, whom, resisting for a long time, he almost destroyed before he conquered them. Then he subdued the Thracians, the Evergetes, the Parymas, the Parxammenians, the Hydaspians, and other peoples who dwelled at the foot of the Caucasus, establishing there the city of Alexandria above the river Tanais. But, greedy for human blood, whether of enemies or even of allies, he always thirsted for fresh gore. Therefore, rushing into wars with persistent zeal, he received the Cherasinos and Dracas, a strong people, into surrender; Callisthenes the philosopher, his fellow student under Aristotle, along with many other leaders, he killed because, abandoning the custom of greeting, he would not worship him as a master. After this, he sought India, so that he might end his empire at the Ocean and the farthest East, approached the city of Nisa, the Daedalos mountains, and conquered the kingdoms of Queen Cleophis; who, when she had surrendered, redeemed her kingdom by royal intercourse. Having crossed and subdued India, Alexander, when he had reached a rock of remarkable ruggedness and height, to which many peoples had fled, learned that Hercules had been prevented from attacking the same rock by an earthquake. Moved by rivalry, so that he might surpass the deeds of Hercules, with the greatest labor and danger he gained possession of the rock, and received all the peoples of that place into surrender. He waged a most bloody war with Porus, the bravest king of the Indians. Afterwards, when he had conquered the eastern peoples of each province, not without bloody victories, he boarded ships and, as he crossed the shores of the Ocean, he arrived at a certain city over which King Ambiger presided. But in the assault on the city, he lost a great part of his army to the arrows of the enemy, which were smeared with poison; and afterwards, with the help of an herb which had been shown to him in a dream and given as a drink to the wounded, when relief was brought to the rest, he stormed and captured the city. After he had circled to the Ocean and entered the river Indus, he quickly returned to Babylon, where envoys from the provinces of the whole world, terrified, awaited him, namely, those of the Carthaginians and all the cities of Africa, as well as the Spaniards, Gauls, Sicily and Sardinia, and, moreover, many parts of Italy. So great was the fear of the general established in the far East that the peoples of the farthest West were seized with terror, so that you might see an embassy from distant lands in his presence, from whom you would scarcely believe even a rumor could have reached; therefore it is well written: and the earth was silent in his presence, because no one dared to rebel against him.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:4

  Having conquered nations everywhere, Alexander took away their treasures and wealth from all sides, so that after his death, his attendants and soldiers, because of the massiveness of the riches he had accumulated and because of the power of the kingdom, disagreed among themselves, as Pompeius Trogus and his abbreviator Justin show in their books of Histories, writing that, after Alexander's death, fifty thousand talents of gold were found in his treasury, and thirty thousand in annual tribute. Finally, Alexander, preserved by God's will amid the dangers of battles, was at last, while staying in the city of Babylon, killed by the betrayal of the Medes, and especially by the faction of his commander Antipater, who, through his son Cassander, destroyed him with poison, as the aforementioned Pompeius Trogus narrates, saying that when Alexander, returning to Babylon, had given many days to leisure, he diligently resumed the banquet which had previously been interrupted, and, pouring himself entirely into joy, had joined night to day in wakefulness; as he was already leaving the banquet, the physician Thessalus, with the feast renewed, invited him and his companions, where, having taken a cup, he suddenly groaned as if pierced by a weapon in the middle of drinking, and was carried away from the banquet half-alive, so tortured that he called for iron as a remedy, and the touch of men caused pain as if it were wounds. But in truth, there was a plot: for the aforementioned Antipater, seeing his dearest friends killed by Alexander, and realizing that, despite his great achievements in Greece, he was not so much esteemed by the king as envied, and being harassed by various accusations from his mother Olympias, arranged for his son Cassander to poison the king, giving him the poison, since Cassander, along with his brothers Philip and Iollas, was accustomed to serve the king. The poison was so potent that it could not be contained in bronze, iron, or clay, and could only be carried in a horse's hoof, with the son warned not to trust anyone except Thessalus and his brothers. Therefore, a banquet was prepared and repeated at Thessalus's house; Philip and Iollas, who were accustomed to taste and mix the king's drink, had the poison in cold water, and after tasting it, they poured it into the king's drink. On the fourth day, Alexander, feeling certain death approaching, declared that he recognized the fate of his ancestral house: for most of the Aeacidae had died before their thirtieth year. Then, as the soldiers were in turmoil and suspected the king was dying from a plot, he himself calmed them, and when he was brought out to the highest place in the city, he admitted them all to his presence, and extended his right hand for them to kiss as they wept. And while all were crying, he himself was not only tearful, but showed no sign of a troubled mind, so much so that he comforted some who grieved more impatiently, giving them messages for their parents, so that just as he was unconquered against enemies, so too in death his spirit remained undefeated. When his friends saw that he was failing, they asked whom he would make heir to the empire; he replied, "The most worthy." So great was his nobility of spirit that, although he left behind his son Hercules, his brother Arrhidaeus, and his pregnant wife Roxana, he forgot family ties and named the most worthy as heir: as if it were a crime for a brave man to be succeeded by anyone other than a brave man, or for the wealth of such a great kingdom to be left to any but the worthy. With this voice, as if he had sounded the war trumpet among friends, or had sent the apple of discord, so all rose up in rivalry and sought the ambition of the common people with silent conversation and the favor of the soldiers. On the sixth day, with his voice failing, he handed over Perdiccas' ring, which he had removed from his finger, and this act calmed the growing disagreement among his friends. For although he was not named heir by voice, he seemed to have been chosen by judgment. Alexander died within a month, at the age of thirty-three. However, because mention of the kingdom of Alexander is made in the history of the Maccabees, I have inserted this from the books of the Gentiles, so that the reader may recognize that the virtue of Alexander is not recounted in vain, but that he himself is the principal by greatness of spirit and action. But as for what is said, that Alexander divided his kingdom while he was still alive among his sons, who had been raised with him in youth, it was not so much that he himself divided it, as that he left it to be divided by them. Therefore, Alexander oppressed the trembling world under himself for twelve years. His leaders, in fact, ruled for fourteen years, and like greedy cubs tore apart the rich prey struck down by the great lion; and, incited against each other by rivalry for the prey, they destroyed themselves in quarrels. Therefore, Egypt first, and part of Africa and Arabia, fell to Ptolemy by lot. The neighboring province, Syria, went to Laomedon of Mytilene, Cilicia to Philotas with his son, and Illyria to Philo. Greater Media was assigned to Acropatus, and Lesser Media to Alcetas, the brother of Perdiccas. The Susian people went to Sinos, Greater Phrygia to Antigonus, son of Philip; Lycia and Pamphylia to Nearchus, Caria to Cassander, Lydia to Menander. Leonnatus received Lesser Phrygia. Thrace and the regions of the Pontic Sea were given to Lysimachus, Cappadocia with Paphlagonia to Eumenes; the chief command of the camp fell to Seleucus, son of Antiochus; the king's bodyguards and attendants were commanded by Cassander, son of Antipater. In Bactria beyond and the regions of India, the previous governors who had begun under Alexander remained. Taxiles held the Seres, situated between the two rivers Hydaspes and Indus. Phyton, son of Agenor, was sent to the colonies founded in India. The borders of Parapamisus at Mount Caucasus were given to Apiarches. The Aracussi and Gedrosii were assigned to Fibnuti. Drancae and Rani to Statanus, Bactrians to Amyntas, Sechodae, etc. Nicanor received the Parthians, Philip the Hyrcanians, Fratafernes the Armenians, Neoptolemus the Persians, Pencestes the Babylonians, Arthous the Pelasgians, Archesilaus obtained Mesopotamia. Yet among all these kingdoms, only four were truly prominent: that of Egypt, held by Ptolemy, son of Lagus; that of the Macedonians, possessed by Philip, also called Arrhidaeus, brother of Alexander; that of Syria and Babylon, claimed by Seleucus Nicanor; and that of Asia, held by Antigonus, as was foreshown in the vision of Daniel, where, after the breaking of one great horn on the head of that notable goat, four smaller horns arose in its place.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:8-9

  Therefore, upon the death of Alexander the Great, the entire body of the kingdom of the Macedonians, which he had united not without great effort, was torn apart by his successors through tyranny and was rent by many and grievous battles, as is found written at length in the histories of the nations. But omitting many of these, the writer of the present history arrives at Antiochus Epiphanes, who committed many evils against the Jews, polluted the holy place, and profaned the law; concerning whom it follows: Therefore, the first to reign over Syria after Alexander the Great was Seleucus, surnamed Nicanor, for thirty-two years; the second was Antiochus, called Soter, for nineteen years; the third was Antiochus, called Theos, who reigned for fifteen years; the fourth was Seleucus, surnamed Gallinicus, son of Antiochus, for twenty years; the fifth, Seleucus Ceraunus, son of Seleucus Gallerius, for three years; the sixth, Antiochus the Great, whom Scripture here calls the illustrious Antiochus as the father, who was the brother of Seleucus Ceraunus and son of Seleucus Gallinicus, reigned for thirty-six years; the seventh, Seleucus, who was also surnamed Philopator, for twelve years; after whom Antiochus Epiphanes, who is also called renowned or noble, brother of Seleucus Philopator and son of Antiochus the Great, reigned for eleven years, about whom Scripture now narrates that from them arose the sinful root,

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:10

  He is rightly called the sinful root, since he was a useless stock, prone to sin and most ready for wickedness, under whom the persecution of the law of God and the wars of the Maccabees are recounted. For the entire period of the kingdom of the Greeks is gathered from the first year of Seleucus Nicanor up to the beginning of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, one hundred and thirty-seven years.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:11

  Greek and Roman history recounts that Antiochus Epiphanes plotted deceit against Ptolemy Philopator, the son of Cleopatra his sister, of whom he was the uncle, and deprived him of the kingdom of Egypt; and after the death of Cleopatra, when Alanicus the eunuch, the tutor of Philometor, and Leneus governed Egypt and sought to recover Syria, which Antiochus had seized by betrayal, a battle arose between the uncle and the boy Ptolemy. And when they engaged between Pelusium and Mount Casius, the leaders of Ptolemy were defeated; but Antiochus, sparing the boy and pretending friendship, went up to Memphis, and there, according to the custom of Egypt, received the kingdom, and claiming to provide for the boy's affairs, with a small force he subdued all Egypt, and entered the abundant and most fertile cities, and did what neither his fathers nor his forefathers had done, as it is written of him in Daniel. For no one in the kingdom of Syria had so devastated Egypt, and he scattered all their wealth, and was so cunning that he overthrew by his deceit the wise counsels of those who were the boy's leaders.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:20-23

  Therefore, it is consequently narrated about the same king in the aforementioned histories that after he was driven out by the Egyptians, he came into Judea, that is, against the holy covenant, and plundered the temple and took away a great amount of gold, and after placing a military base of Macedonians in the citadel, he returned to his own land and, after two years, again gathered an army against Ptolemy to the south. And when the two brothers of Ptolemy, sons of Cleopatra, whose uncle was Antiochus, were besieged in Alexandria, Roman envoys came, one of whom was Marcus Publius Letias. When he found him standing on the shore and delivered a decree by which he was ordered by the friends of the Roman people to withdraw and be content with his own dominion, and when he had brought the answer to the council of friends, Marcus is said to have drawn a circle in the sand with the staff he held in his hand, and to have limited the king and said: The Senate and the Roman people command that you answer in this place what you intend to do. At these words, he, terrified, said: If this pleases the Senate and the Roman people, I must withdraw from here; and so he immediately moved his army. Josephus wrote things consistent with these, that the king Antiochus, having returned from Egypt because of fear of the Romans, led his army to Jerusalem; and arriving there in the one hundred and forty-third year after the reign of the first Seleucus, in the one hundred and fifty-third Olympiad, on the twenty-fourth day of the month Casleu, which the Macedonians call Apelleon, he took it without any resistance, as those who agreed with his will opened the gates for him, and entering the city of Jerusalem, he killed many who thought contrary to him, as well as those who, by opening the gate, betrayed the city of God, because of the wealth of the temple, and having taken away much money from it, he returned to Antioch. But after he plundered the temple, so that he carried away the vessels of God and the golden lamps, and the golden altar, and the table, and the sanctuary, nor did he refrain from the veils, which were of fine linen and scarlet, and draining the gold and treasures, leaving absolutely nothing, he brought the Jews to the greatest mourning because of these things. For he also forbade the daily sacrifices which they offered to God according to the law; and after destroying the whole city, he killed some, led others away captive with their sons and wives, so that the number of the multitude of captives seemed to be up to ten thousand. But mystically, this Antiochus, who entered the Holy Land with arrogance, devastated the temple, and defiled the holy place with pagan superstition, holds the type of the Antichrist, who wages a cruel war against the Church of Christ, and strives to defile the souls of believers, which are truly the temple of God, with his error. Concerning him, it is written in the prophecy of Daniel, under the figure of this Antiochus: "His heart shall be set against the holy covenant, and he shall act, and return to his own land. At the appointed time he shall return and come toward the south, and he shall be enraged against the holy covenant, and he shall act, and return, and shall devise against those who forsake the holy covenant. And arms from him shall stand, and they shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice, and they shall set up the abomination of desolation. And the wicked shall pretend deceitfully in the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and act," etc. (Dan. 11:28-32) There is no doubt that these things, which happened under Antiochus Epiphanes as a prefigurement, that is, that the most wicked king persecuted the people of God, foreshadow the cruelty of the Antichrist, who will persecute the Christian people, who will be outraged against the covenant of God, and will plot against those whom he wishes to abandon the law of God, and will defile the sanctuary of God, namely, by corrupting men, created in the image of God, with various vices. He will take away the continual sacrifice when he prohibits the offering of the sacrifice of praise to Christ, the Son of God, in the Church; he will set up the abomination of desolation in the holy place when he forces Christians to render divine worship to himself, so that, sitting in the temple of God, he shows himself as if he were God. Therefore, many of our people think, because of the magnitude of his cruelty and baseness, that Domitian or Nero will be the Antichrist; but although they were themselves Antichrists, as far as his body is concerned, and are his members, yet he himself is the head of all, who is to come at the end of the world, when, according to the word of Truth, there will be tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be (Matt. 24:22). Yet, according to John's words, there are already many Antichrists (1 Jn. 2:18), through whose members the same evil enemy already works the mystery of iniquity, namely through heretics, schismatics, and pagans, and seduces many; then also, if it were possible, he will scandalize even the elect, because Satan will be released from his prison, and will pour out all his fury, as much as is permitted, upon the followers of Christ. Therefore, Antiochus takes away the golden altar from Jerusalem when, by the persuasion of the evil one, he removes from the Church those who seemed to be more perfect and to pray to the Lord for the state of the people not without great zeal. He also takes away the lampstand of light and all its vessels when he casts down from their order, either through fear or earthly desire, those who were fulfilling the office of preaching and ought to shine among the people of God as lights through various forms of doctrine. He therefore takes away the table of the showbread and its vessels when he strives, through heretics, to confuse the Holy Scriptures with wicked interpretation, and seeks to corrupt with the cunning of his wickedness and lead into error those who seemed to remain in the meditation of the law of God, as vessels of the table of God and loaves of proposition. The same ancient enemy also takes away the veil and the crowns, and the golden ornament which was on the face of the temple, and destroys everything, when he twists the letter of God's law, in which divine wisdom and heavenly mysteries are hidden, and where the crown of perpetual reward is promised to those who labor well and keep God's commandments, to be received in the heavenly kingdom and everlasting glory, by distorting the meanings and corrupting the sense into a foreign understanding, therefore deceiving souls who obey him. For I understand the gold, silver, and hidden treasures as nothing other than the beauty of eloquence and the purity of thoughts, together with the treasure of virtues which are placed in the hidden hearts of the faithful; the Devil tries to take all these things away from the kingdom of Christ, as he attempts to drag their possessors, stripped of these goods, with him into the abyss of his own destruction. Therefore, every day, weeping and groaning arise in the Church, as the assembly of the faithful is not a little saddened by compassion for the fall of their neighbors.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:24-26

  Every rank, every age, and every sex grieves when the persecutor rages, because no person is immune from persecution, and each one groans both for the loss of calmness and for the harm to the faith of those who fall, because, as Paul says (1 Cor. 12:26): The members in the body of Christ care for one another, and if one member suffers, all the members suffer together; and so the same Apostle, writing against those who loved vain glory, after listing the hardships he himself suffered physically, added, saying (2 Cor. 11:28-30): Besides those things which are outside, my daily pressure, the care for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I do not burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. And elsewhere: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, having the same feeling toward one another; not being wise in your own sight, but consenting to the humble. (Rom. 12:15-16)

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:29

  We have said above that Antiochus was a type of Antichrist; likewise, in this place, the son of perdition can similarly be understood as the chief collector of tribute, whom the prince of this world and the ruler of these present darknesses, the Devil, incites to demand that in the cities of Judah, that is, in the Churches of Christ, the tribute of sins be paid to him; however, he does not always demand this everywhere by force of persecutions, but sometimes by torments, sometimes by flattery, sometimes by threats and open cruelty, sometimes by deceit and trickery.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:30-32

  But whoever believes him, prepares persecution for himself; for this same most wicked enemy, by evil persuasion, performs lying signs and wonders, so that men may believe him to be God and offer him divine worship. Therefore, those who believe him, he spiritually kills in their soul; but those who resist, he afflicts with bodily torment. Therefore it happens, which must be read with great sorrow of mind, that he might destroy a great number of the people of Israel, when he converts many from the Christian faith into apostasy: he takes the spoils of the city, when he removes the ornaments of the church; he sets it on fire, when he devastates it with persecution; he destroys its houses and walls all around, when he scatters the people of believers and kills their defenders, that is, the teachers, and leads captive the women, and the children, and the livestock, because those who are soft in spirit and are children in understanding and serve carnal desires, living after the manner of brute animals, are especially open to the captivity and snare of the ancient enemy, with the churches of Christ devastated and his ministers scattered because of persecution, the evil enemy strives to establish the art of wickedness in their place and to substitute blasphemous worshipers, so that, if possible, through wicked men, the Christian name, which alone has prevailed in the world, may be utterly destroyed, and the will of the Devil may be fulfilled in the pollution of idols and the multiplication of sins.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:37-39

  The inhabitants of Jerusalem flee when, as the persecution grows fierce, some flee physically so that they may not be scandalized; others flee in mind, and suffer great scandal in their souls; others persevere in the confession of Christ even unto death, and, free from the hands of the persecutors, escape to heaven to be rewarded; and therefore the holy land becomes the dwelling of foreigners, when, as the number of persecutors multiplies throughout the world, the members of Christ destined to be crowned through martyrdom increase: its feast days are turned into mourning, when the most celebrated rite of the Christian religion is not permitted to have the adornment of its splendor;

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:39

  and the hope which the faithful have in the future rest of souls is abolished, or is mocked by the enemy.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:40

  For the glory of the Church of the faithful is defiled by shame, when, with the enemy ruling, the glory of the heavenly ceremonies and the dignity of the divine offices suffer the greatest reproach from the blasphemies of the wicked.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:41-49

  The writings and spiritual letters of Antiochus, the philosopher, are from the pagan heretics and schismatics among the Christians, who desire to subvert the truth of Christ's law and the decrees of the Catholic faith, and who are pained by divine worship and the Christian religion. Yet the more they strive through error to unite people to themselves, the more they cause them to disagree with one another, because they themselves are not in harmony with each other, but, rebel through various sects, they differ and therefore are less able to serve and unite in unity. For among the proud, as Scripture testifies, there are always quarrels, and according to the judgment of Truth, Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and house will fall upon house. (Luke 11:18) The books and letters of Antiochus command in Jerusalem and in the cities of Judea that they follow the laws of the nations, and therefore define holocausts, and sacrifices, and offerings to be made in the temple of God. For the greatest care and zeal of heretics and pagans is that in the church of Christ they either confuse or utterly extinguish divine worship, lest the sincerity of true faith, which works through love, offer a pleasing holocaust to God on the altar of the believer's heart, nor the mystical sacrifices of the body and blood of the Lord, together with the sacred prayers of the faithful and the offering of good deeds, be worthily presented in the true temple of God to the creator of all and giver of all good things. They forbid the celebration of the Sabbath, because they deny that in the heavenly kingdom there will be the rest of holy souls. They order the building of altars, temples, and idols, because they desire to make the minds of the faithful vessels for evil spirits; to sacrifice swine's flesh and common animals, that is, to lead an unclean life and, like brute animals, to live in lust and the desires of the flesh; to leave their sons uncircumcised, that is, with no guard, no self-control, and no discernment to temper thoughts, words, and deeds, so that they forget the divine law and change God's justifications into the commission of various crimes. And all these things they compel to be done not only by persuasion of words, but also by the torment of various punishments.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:50

  Cruelty blazes when wickedness burns; savagery rages when desire boils. Throughout his entire kingdom, Antiochus decrees torments by written orders, and brings death upon the worshippers of the God of the land. In the same way, Antichrist, through his most wicked ministers, seeks out various kinds of punishments, so that he might uproot, crush, and destroy Christians from the state of the most holy religion.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:54-55

  The month of Casleu is the same among the Greeks as what is called December among the Latins. On the tenth day of this month, in the one hundred and forty-fifth year of the reign of the Greeks, which they begin to count from the first year of Seleucus, Antiochus Epiphanes placed the abominable idol of desolation in the temple of God, that is, the statue of Jupiter Olympius; moreover, in the eighth year of his rule, in which year he built a shrine of Jupiter Peregrinus or Hospitaller on the summit of Mount Garizim in Samaria, at the request of the Samaritans themselves, who asked him to do so by letter, as Josephus testifies. But we read in the Gospel according to Matthew, when the Savior was questioned by his disciples about the sign of his coming and the end of the age, that he replied among other things: Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand (Matt. 24:15). When we are called to understanding, it shows that what has been said is mystical. It is written in Daniel in this way: And in the middle of the week my sacrifice and offerings will be taken away, and in the temple there will be the abomination of desolation, and desolation will persist until the consummation of time and the end. (Dan. 9:27) The Apostle speaks of this (2 Thess. 2), that the man of lawlessness, the adversary, will be exalted against everything that is called God and is worshipped, so that he will dare to stand in the temple of God and show that he himself is the Lord. His coming, according to the working of Satan, will destroy them and bring to desolation those who have received him. This can be understood simply either about the Antichrist, or about the image of Caesar which Pilate placed in the temple, or about the equestrian statue of Hadrian, which stood in the very Holy of Holies even to the present day. Also, according to the truth of the Scriptures, an abomination is called an idol, and therefore desolation is added, because in the desolate and deserted temple an idol was set up; but when the idol of jealousy was established in the temple of God throughout all the cities, then the ministers of the most wicked king built altars all around, and before the doors of houses and in the streets they burned incense and offered sacrifices; because, with the unclean Antichrist reigning in the house, his supporters and promoters, and all the wicked, having rejected the worship of the one God and despised the house of God, which is the holy Church, with confused mind and disordered conduct, in various places, to the demons of different errors and various crimes, they bring deadly sacrifices. And it is well said that they built altars all around, because, having abandoned the simplicity of the truth, they follow the erroneous sects of wickedness. For, as the Psalmist testifies, all the wicked walk around (Ps. 11:9). And before the doors of their houses and in the streets they burn incense and offer sacrifices, who do not deserve to enter to the altar of God and there to offer the incense of pure prayer to God, but on the broad and spacious way which leads to death (Matt. 7:13), they carry their deeds and words as offerings to the evil enemy.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:56

  They tear apart and burn the books of God with fire, who, through the fire of desire, wish to tear apart the purity of the law of God from its state of righteousness by heretical depravity, and eagerly seek to slaughter the holy preachers, to whom the treasure of the testaments of God has been entrusted, with the sword of their wickedness.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:59

  What is signified by the number twenty and five, except those who, entangled by the five senses of the body in carnal desires, act and think contrary to the law of God, which consists in the two Testaments and in the two commandments, namely, the love of God and of neighbor. Therefore, twenty-five is produced by multiplying five by itself, and rightly this number is compared to the deserters of the law, who, through each sense of the body, that is, through sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, oppose the divine precepts written in the Pentateuch. And therefore it is said that they sacrificed on the altar which was against the altar, because on the altar of wickedness, which pride had erected against the altar of the Catholic faith, all the wicked offer to the Devil the ill-fated sacrifices of their actions and words.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:60

  The meaning of the story is clear, which explains the torments that wicked persecutors inflicted upon worshippers, both then in the Old Testament and now similarly in the New. Nor is it easy for anyone to name all the kinds of punishments which the most evil torturers inflicted upon the martyrs of Christ. But according to the allegorical sense, what is shown by the women who were circumcising their sons, if not the honorable persons of the faithful, who, examining their actions, words, and thoughts with the utmost discernment, hurry to cut off with the sword of the spirit whatever they find unnecessary in them? This spiritual Antiochus desires to slaughter them, because he strives either to strike them physically through torture or to kill them spiritually in the soul through denial. Antiochus is interpreted as 'the silence of poverty', and he is rightly called by this name, who, lacking spiritual knowledge and deprived of sacred virtues, persecutes in others through envy that which he himself does not at all possess.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:61

  Because those who are children not by understanding but by evil and humble in spirit, they do not delay to kill on account of the confession of faith. Similarly, those who had circumcised them were slaughtered, because they especially harass the holy preachers, who, by the knife of holiness and the word of evangelical doctrine, restrain and discipline their subjects, with the troubles of persecutions.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 1:62-63

  No persecution nor any tribulation could ever tear the saints of God, who are predestined and called according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, from the faith of Christ: but persevering in truth, they neither ate food sacrificed to idols, nor consented to be defiled by the uncleanness of sins, nor did they allow the holy law of God to be broken and corrupted by heretical corruption, but rather chose to die for the name of Christ than to consent to wickedness. Therefore one of them, relying on this confidence, writing to the disciples, therefore testified, saying: For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angel, nor principality, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38-39).

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 2:1-5

  In the book of Daniel, where mention of this place is made under a riddle, it is found written therefore: And the wicked shall deceitfully mimic the covenant; but the people who know their God shall prevail and act. And the learned among the people shall teach many, and they shall fall by sword, and by flame, and by captivity, and by plunder of days. And when they fall, they shall be helped with a little help, and many shall join them deceitfully. And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be refined, and chosen, and made white, until the appointed time, for there is yet another time. (Dan. 11:32-35) How much the Jews suffered from Antiochus is related by the present history of the Maccabees, and their triumph is testified by those who, for the preservation of the law of God, endured flames and swords, slavery and plundering, and the utmost punishments. No one doubts that similar things will happen under the Antichrist, with many resisting his power and fleeing in different directions. The Hebrews interpret these events, in the final destruction of the temple which happened under Vespasian and Titus, as meaning that there were many among the people who knew their Lord and were killed for preserving the law. And when they have fallen, he says (Dan. 11:35), they will be helped, and many will join them deceitfully. And some of the learned will fall, so that they may be refined, chosen, and purified until the appointed time, because there will still be another time. The little help historically refers to Mattathias from the village of Modin, who rebelled against the leaders of Antiochus and tried to preserve the worship of the true God. He calls it little help because, after beginning the defense, he lived only a short time, dying after one year, and afterwards his son Judas, called Maccabeus, fell fighting, and the rest of his brothers were deceived by the fraud of their enemies. But mystically, Mathathias signifies the Lord the Savior, who is the leader of the people of God and the defender of His elect; whose sons fight for the house of Israel, defend the sanctuary of God and the divine law. Moreover, Mathathias is interpreted as the gift of God, the mystery of whose name has revealed to us the ritual of His incarnation. Therefore, He Himself also says in the Gospel: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16). For he who is given by God is the perfect gift of God. But these things have been said only about his incarnation. However, concerning his divinity, by which he is equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit, it must be believed that he, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, accomplishes the same special consideration. Just as the Holy Spirit is read as the gift of God, yet nevertheless, together with the Father and the Son, is believed and worshipped as one God: therefore in the Gospel he is both read as sent and as coming of his own accord, as in the Lord's saying: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete (Jn. 14:16); and again: But when the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth (Jn. 15:26). To Nicodemus he says: The Spirit breathes where he wills, and you hear his voice, but you do not know where he comes or where he goes (Jn. 3:8). Here therefore Mathathias is described as the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest from the sons of Joarib. John is interpreted as "by the grace of God," Simeon as "hearing," Joarib as "the Lord exalting." These interpretations rightly fit this mystery, because the mediator between God and men can be called the grace of God, as the Apostle says: The grace of God tasted death for men (Heb. 2:9); and "hearing," because he himself says in the Gospel: What I have heard from the Father, these I speak in the world (Jn. 8:26); and "the Lord exalting," of whom the Prophet says: Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength (Ps. 21:13). He himself is rightly called priest, of whom it is written: The Lord has sworn and will not repent: you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4). All the sons of this Mathathias are holy, who are called the members of his body; but how they can be designated by the number five is not wrongly questioned. For so many sons of Mathathias are historically read to have existed, that is, John who was surnamed Gaddis; and Simeon, who was surnamed Tharsi; and Judas, who was surnamed Maccabeus; and Eleazar, who was surnamed Abaron; and Jonathan, who was surnamed Alphus. Let us see, therefore, if this number is found anywhere in the New Testament to express the same thing. We also read the Apostle Paul saying this about Christ to the Ephesians: He who descended is also he who ascended above all the heavens, that he might fill all things; and he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, for the completion of the saints in the work of ministry, for the edification of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:10-12). Behold, here five types are indicated in those persons whom the divine calling has ordained to the teaching office of the Church. But let us consider how the sons of Mattathias themselves, with the interpretations of their names, can be fitted to these types. Therefore, the first of his sons is called John, who was surnamed Gaddis. John is also interpreted as "his grace," but Gaddis means "kid" or "my temptation." These names, therefore, fit the order of the apostles very well, unless I am mistaken, who were chosen by the grace of the Lord for the height of this honor, but nevertheless endured many temptations and injuries from sinners and persecutors; which the Savior himself seems to foretell when he says in the Gospel: "I have chosen you out of the world, that you should go and bring forth much fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (Jn. 15:16); and again: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be therefore wise as serpents, and simple as doves," etc. (Matt. 10:16) Behold, those who are filled with the grace of the Lord are shown to be afflicted not insignificantly by the insults of all evildoers. The second son of Mattathias was Simeon, who was surnamed Tharsi, and who in most later places is called Simon. Therefore, Simon, or Simeon, means "hearing," or "he has heard sorrow;" Tharsi means "exploration of joy." Nor is it inappropriate that these names suit the order of the prophets, who, illuminated by the grace of the Holy Spirit, both foresee the future punishments of the wicked and, by tasting the comfort of the coming rewards of the saints inwardly, anticipate them; and persuade others to guard against future evils and to desire future goods. Judas Maccabeus was the third son in order. For Judas is interpreted as confessor or glorifier, and Maccabeus as warrior. This name fits quite well for the evangelists, who preach the Gospel of peace and the glory of Christ throughout the whole world, and drive out the wicked errors of pagans and heretics. The fourth son, this is Eleazar who was surnamed Abaron, and in the former name signifies "help of God," while in the latter it means "exalted generation"; not without reason is he compared by way of figure to those shepherds who, being sufficiently strengthened by the help of God and exalted in faith and virtues, are appointed as leaders in the Church, so that by feeding the sheep of God with sound faith and good examples, they may rightly lead them to the fertility of the heavenly homeland. The youngest of these sons was called Jonathan, surnamed Alphus, most fittingly corresponding to the holy teachers according to the interpretation of their names. For Jonathan is interpreted as "gift of the dove," or "the Lord's willing one." Alphus, however, means "fugitive" or "one of a thousand." And these names rightly express the teachers of Christ, who, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, submit themselves willingly to the Lord even unto death: and, having fulfilled the mission of His life, proclaim the law of God in the world, and teach men to flee earthly desires and seek eternal joys, so that there, according to the significance of the number one thousand, with God rewarding them, they may receive the fullness of their reward, and possess true blessedness with Christ and His angels without end.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:6

  For these, indeed, recognize with sorrow the various scandals that are continually inflicted by the wicked in the Church of God; they long to avenge them with a spiritual sword, do not fear to offer themselves as a sacrifice and to deliver themselves to death for the salvation of their own.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:14

  What then is the tearing of garments, if not to surrender their bodies to suffering? And what is to be covered with sackcloth, if not to punish the righteous as if they were sinners, or to torment them? Sackcloth is also made from goats, a rough and coarse torment. For goats are rightly associated with offenses, since in the judgment of the Lord they are placed among the sinners (Ps. 34). Therefore, because the Lord assumed the flesh of sin, he recalls that he clothed himself in sackcloth: for if we take it historically, we never read that he actually used sackcloth. Therefore, while the Jews were troublesome through insults and plots, he concealed his divinity from their darkened minds with the veil of flesh; because they did not deserve to recognize whom they were treating with such wickedness and seeking to kill. For on account of the sins of the people, the Redeemer of the human race surrendered his flesh to death, and sympathized with our weakness: concerning whom the Lord himself says through Isaiah: For the transgressions of my people I struck him (Isa. 53:8), and: He himself will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him among many, and he shall share the spoils with the strong, because he surrendered his soul to death, and was counted among the wicked, and he himself bore the sins of many, and prayed for the transgressors (Isa. 53:12). Likewise, his sons, that is, the apostles and martyrs, taught by his example, did not hesitate to die temporarily for the law of God and the salvation of their brothers, so that through this they might merit the joys of the heavenly kingdom with the holy angels. Therefore John the apostle says: In this we know love, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (I Jn. 3:16).

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:15

  For Antiochus the spiritual one sends into the city of Modin, which is interpreted as judgment: namely, into the holy Church, where the judgments of God are most diligently kept; so that those who had fled there seeking the remedy for their souls may be forced to depart from the law, to offer the sacrifice of sins and the worship of wickedness to the Devil.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:16

  But what follows we cannot read without lament, when we see some, compelled by torments, apostatize from the religion of devotion; others, enticed by the desire of this world, fall back; others, deceived by the cunning of heretics, are led astray; and others, by their own lust and passion, return to the former filth of vices.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:16

  Yet that which follows brings great joy, because Mattathias and his sons stood firm; since, without doubt, those persist in truth and righteousness who have deserved to be sons of the true Mattathias, that is, of Jesus Christ, and by keeping his faith and commandments, strive with unwavering spirit, through his grace, to obtain the rewards of eternal life.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:17-18

  Whether by deceit or by force, the ancient enemy always plots how he might overthrow the worship of devotion in the Church of Christ. For he himself, who approached our Redeemer in the desert to tempt Him, saying: If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread (Matt. 4:3); and after he had set Him on the pinnacle of the temple in the holy city, he said: If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down (Matt. 4:6). For it is written: For He has given His angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone (Ps. 91:12). And then, transferring Him to a high mountain, he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to Him: All these things will I give you, if, falling down, you will adore me (Matt. 4:9). The same things he deceitfully suggests daily in His members through his ministers, so that for worldly ambition they might abandon the way of justice, and do the command of the most wicked king who reigns over all the children of pride (Job 41:34), etc.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:19

  The determination of Mattathias strengthened the spirits of his sons; so also the patience and long-suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthens the faith of all believers. Therefore he said to his disciples: Do not be surprised if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you (Jn. 15:18); nor fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt. 10:28). In your patience you will possess your souls, and your reward will be great in heaven (Luke 21:19). But he who perseveres to the end, he will be saved (Matt. 24:13).

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:23-25

  This Jew who sacrificed to idols before the eyes of all signifies bad Catholics, who by their wicked deeds and the mark of sins scandalize their neighbors. For in this they are proved to sacrifice to idols, in that they are shown to be captivated by the principal vices. Where Paul the Apostle calls greed the service of idols (Gal. 5:20). But the sword of Mattathias slays these over the altar, because the vengeance of the most just judge exercises rightful punishment upon such people. And also he killed the man whom Antiochus had sent, who was convincing them to sacrifice, at that very moment: because on the last day of judgment, not only sinful men, but also the instigators of sinners, namely evil spirits, will receive the deserved punishment of eternal damnation; and at the same time the altar of wickedness will be destroyed, because after the judgment has been completed, no further opportunity to sin will be granted to the wicked.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:26

  That he was zealous for the law, as Phinehas did to Zimri the son of Salu, shows that the mighty deeds of the holy fathers prefigured the most noble act of our Redeemer in the last times.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:27-28

  These words of Mattathias prefigured the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, who encourages us daily to leave behind the vanity of this world and to seek the heavenly joys of the kingdom. For he himself says in the Gospel: Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple. Whoever loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not carry his cross daily and follow me is not worthy of me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it (Luke 14:26-33); but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matthew 16:25). For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but suffers the loss of his own soul, or what exchange will a man give for his soul (Luke 9:25)? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works (Matt. 16:27). For our Redeemer and his innocent sons flee, and they leave behind whatever they have in the city, because through the guidance of Truth himself we desire to ascend to the heights of virtue, and, despising as extra those things which pertain to the luxury of the world, we cast them away. Therefore it is that we read in the Gospel (Matt. 5) that the same Lord led his disciples up the mountain, and there he sat, and there he taught them; there he prayed and there he fed the crowds, so that by his example he might always urge us to go further, to higher and more perfect things, etc.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:29

  These, who with Mattathias and his sons did not ascend into the mountains, but descended into the desert to sit there and seek judgment and justice, we can better understand allegorically than as Jews who, after receiving the grace of Christ's baptism, thought circumcision and the old law should still be observed. And it is fitting that these are remembered as having gone into the desert, who, with the dawning of the truth of the Gospel, considered the shadow of the law, now deserted, as still necessary for themselves, and proclaimed that the legal Sabbath should be observed, when all these things in the times of the law preceded as signs, and should be observed spiritually in the New Testament. Against whom the Apostle argues very extensively in his Epistles, asserting that the end of the law is Christ for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom. 10:4). Therefore, these are rightly struck by the sword of spiritual enemies, who do not consider the grace of Christ sufficient for their salvation. Also, according to spiritual sense, among these seekers of the desert, lazy ones can be understood, who, having received the grace of the Christian religion, think it sufficient for themselves that they have received divine gifts and the cleansing of baptism, nor do they wish, after the removal of stains, to exercise works of virtue, nor do they remember that evangelical parable in which the Savior, narrating about the unclean spirit in the Gospel, said that the unclean spirit went out from a man and walked through waterless places, seeking rest and not finding it. Again, with seven spirits more wicked, he found his former house empty, swept, and adorned: such people are easily overwhelmed by spiritual enemies, because they did not care to be armed with the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, and the sword of the spirit (Eph. 6:14), with which they should have resisted their enemies. Therefore it is added that Mattathias and his friends mourned over their destruction, because the Church is afflicted with great sorrow when it recognizes that some from its own number have fallen into the pit of sins through the snares and persecution of evil enemies.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:40

  Therefore, good men greatly detest idleness, which is the enemy of the soul, and indeed they would rather choose to fight daily with spiritual enemies with courage, than to weaken in the sloth of evil idleness, especially since they presume to have the hope of victory not from themselves, but to have divine help, nor do they promise themselves security in the present, but in the future, when all adversities have been destroyed, death itself, the last enemy, will be destroyed (1 Cor. 15:26), and there will be no more mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:4), when the saints will rejoice in the joy of the face of God, and will enjoy the most wholesome delight at His right hand forever (Ps. 16:11).

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:42

  As Scripture relates, it is clear that while the Savior and his apostles were preaching the Gospel, many from the Jewish people came to faith, believing the law and the prophets who bore witness to the coming of Christ, and likewise many from among the proselytes and foreigners, leaving behind their idols and the superstition of paganism, flocked from everywhere to hear the word of God, and were added to the number of believers.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:44

  Stirred up by the zeal of faith, they cast out evil spirits and expelled them from men possessed through error, and they exposed the poisons of their deceit to them. The Jews also, being compelled, fled to the nations, according to that passage of the Gospel where, when men were healed, demons were permitted by the Savior to enter into the swine (Mark 8:28-34), so that the unclean possessors might possess vessels of uncleanness.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:48

  The soldiers of Christ obtained the law from the hands of kings when, persevering in the truth of the Gospel, they yielded to no error, but rather, through prayer and their preaching, subjected others to the truth. Therefore it happened that many of those who, puffed up by the pride of the world, had previously been persecutors of the Christian religion, later, having been converted, became the strongest defenders of the truth, and did not give the horn to the sinner, because they did not consent to iniquity; according to that passage from Esther, who said in her prayer: Do not give, Lord, your scepter to those who are not (Esther 14:11).

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:49

  This call of Mattathias, who encouraged his sons to be imitators of the law of God and to give their lives for the covenant of the fathers, fits well with the evangelical doctrine, because Truth itself instructed its disciples with words and examples on how to resist all errors of the Jews, pagans, and heretics, and to convert the world to faith through their preaching; and it affirmed its own doctrine by the testimony of the law and the prophets, showing that the author of the New Testament is the same as that of the Old Testament.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:64

  We read in the Gospel of John that the Savior, hurrying to His passion on the very night on which He was betrayed, after the mystical supper and the washing of the feet which, tightened with a towel, He performed for His disciples, offered many teachings of encouragement, among which He both foretold the passion that was to come upon them in the world and promised the glory of the future kingdom and the joy of the heavenly homeland (Jn. 13). But since the death of Mattathias prefigures the passion of the Redeemer, let us hear how the teaching office of the Church has been ordained throughout the whole time of this present life.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:65

  We said above that Simeon is interpreted as "he who hears," and it is correctly said that Simeon is a man of counsel, because those who, taught by the grace of the Holy Spirit, are instructed by inner hearing, are useful and suitable for counsel in all things. Therefore the Psalmist says: I will hear what the Lord God will speak within me, for he will speak peace to his people, etc. (Ps. 85:8). And in the Apocalypse: He who hears, let him say, Come (Rev. 22:17). The heavenly teacher urges us to listen to those whom he, teaching inwardly, has made to be beneficial teachers for us.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:66

  What is signified by Judas Maccabeus, if not the first preachers of the Gospel, who, having been taught by the Savior himself, were made fit to wage the war of the Christian people? But because Judas is interpreted as confession, and in many places holds the type of the Savior himself, let us know that our war is then conducted in proper order, when he agrees to direct both our counsel and our action. Therefore, Truth itself says to the disciples: Remain in me and I in you; as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me, for without me you can do nothing (Jn. 15:4-5). And, Behold, I am with you all days, even to the end of the world (Matt. 28:20).

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:69

  It is found written in the Gospel how the Savior, after he finished the supper which he had with his disciples before his passion, gave his final teaching by instructing his disciples that night, and at the end, having finished his prayer directed to the Father, praised his disciples to be kept by him, saying: Holy Father, keep them in your name whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are (Jn. 17:11). And a little later: Sanctify them, he says, in the truth. Your word is truth; as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world, and for their sake I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth, etc. (Jn. 17:17). For with such words our Mathathias instructed and blessed his pupils. And so he was added to his fathers, because in all things, as it was written about him, he confirmed the sayings of the holy fathers by fulfilling them with his passion, resurrection, and ascension.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 2:70

  It has been previously stated that Mattathias, in the one hundred and forty-sixth year, when the nations were desecrating the temple of God, rose up, and his sons were zealous for the law of God and avenged the holy things. Now, too, Scripture reports that the same Mattathias died in the one hundred and forty-sixth year. From this it appears that he lived no more than one year together with his sons after the beginning of their vengeance, and therefore he died. This number of years fits well with the mystery of the Lord's Passion, because after the fullness of time in which God decreed to send His Son, according to the testimony of the Law and the Gospel, in the sixth age of the world, the Savior, who was created on the sixth day, suffered on the sixth day, and perfectly redeemed and restored mankind by the price of His blood. Moreover, the fact that he is said to have been buried by his sons in the tomb of his fathers in Modin signifies that the memory of his passion is fittingly venerated daily by the faithful in the holy Church, where the place of judgment and fairness is, and that a beneficial mourning is celebrated there, because the holy men, inflamed by the desire for eternal life, strive in the chambers of their hearts to be moved by saving tears.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees 2

• 1 Maccabees 3:1

  Upon the death of Mattathias, Judas Maccabeus, his son, succeeded him, whom all his brothers and all who had joined his father assisted. What, then, does this event suggest to us, except that our Redeemer, after completing his passion and resurrection, ascended into heaven, and, having sent the Holy Spirit from heaven, first appointed successors to himself in the preaching of the Gospel, namely the apostles, who are rightly considered by the name of Judas, that is, confessors, because of whom Luke says in the Gospel: They were always in the temple, praising and blessing the Lord (Luke 24:53). Therefore, all his brothers and all who had joined his father assisted him: because men of lower rank, and all believers who came to faith through the doctrine of Christ, work together with the apostolic choir in the testimony of the Gospel according to their ability.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:2-3

  For that apostolic assembly, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, everywhere sincerely preached the word of God, rejoicing in tribulations and in hardships and in necessities, increasing and multiplying everywhere the number of believers in the Lord.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:3-5

  In accordance with that saying of the Apostle Paul, who taught, saying: Therefore stand, having bound your thighs with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shoed your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; in all things taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:14-17). And therefore, he fought against the enemies and protected the camps of the Church. And he became like a lion in his deeds, and like a lion's cub roaring in the hunt. Indeed, he was very similar to that lion of whom it is written: The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered (Rev. 5:5); and of whom the patriarch Jacob, by way of figure, in the mystical blessing of his sons, among other things, says: Judah is a lion's cub; you have gone up, my son, to the prey: resting you have lain down as a lion, and as a lioness: who shall rouse him? (Gen. 49:9) That hunt, moreover, was spiritual, when spiritual hunters, with the nets of the Gospel, seized men for the faith. Therefore, then, Judas mystically pursued the wicked and those who disturbed his people, setting them aflame, because whether persecuting wicked men or evil spirits with such zeal and such action, they brought about even the slightest disturbance, kindling the flames of envy.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:3-5

  For with the strength of faith he protected himself on all sides.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:6-7

  Namely, those who tried to resist the Gospel of Christ.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:6-7

  When he strengthened the people of believers with word and examples.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:6-7

  According to the words of the wise: The wisdom of the saints will be recounted by all peoples, and their praise will be proclaimed by the whole Church of the saints (Sirach 44, 39).

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:8

  For by examining the faith of the Churches, he struck with anathema the heretics who held views contrary to the true faith.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:9

  For their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. (Ps. 18:5)

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:10

  What is expressed by Apollonius except the cruelty of the Jews, who had gathered great strength from Samaria against Israel, because through the observance of the letter of the law they strove to fight against the faith of Christ, as if it were contrary to the commandments of God.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:11

  Because, through envy, many of the Jews were struck down. The rest, however, fled. That is, they sought salvation for themselves from ecclesiastical doctrine. Judas received their spoils, as all the ceremonies of the law, which they had carnally observed, the disciples of Christ converted to spiritual use.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:11

  Because Christ, in his apostles, overcoming the error of the Jews by the testimony of the law itself and the prophets, destroyed it, showing that the shadows of the law and the prophets prefigured the truth of the Gospel.

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• 1 Maccabees 3:12

  We understand the sword of Apollonius to be nothing other than the word of the law and the prophets, which the holy preachers, taking up, fight with all their days, when, taking away from the carnal people the history of the divine law, interpreted with spiritual meaning by apostolic tradition, they overcome the errors of all nations, and throughout all the days of this age the virtue of joy of the holy Church brings forth a most glorious victory.

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees

• 1 Maccabees 3:13-14

  By Seron, the leader of the army of Syria, is signified the rulers of this world, who are rightly designated by the name Syria: for Syria is interpreted as exalted or moistening, because this world is cultivated by pride and boasts in luxury. Therefore, Seron plans to defeat Judas and those who are with him, as worldly arrogance plots against holy teachers and the faithful people, and gathers the camps of the wicked for this purpose, so that by the comfort of many who do harm he may oppress the innocent, trusting more in the power of the kingdom than in the virtue of God. But contrary to his expectation, it happens to him that the stone cut out of the mountain without hands (Dan. 2:45) will crush the statue of pride, will break gold and silver, bronze and iron, and the kingdom will be given to the people of the saints. The lion from the tribe of Judah has conquered, the root of David (Rev. 5:5), to whom all power in heaven and on earth has been given (Matt. 28:18).

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• 1 Maccabees 3:16

  It is rightly said that the army of Syria was approaching, because it carries out all its actions with uproar. But Bethoron is interpreted as the house of wrath. Judas, however, met them with a few, because the company of the saints responds to their enemies not with wrath, but with patience and humility, as they are commanded by the Lord saying: Be reconciled quickly with your adversary while you are on the way with him; but I say to you, do not resist evil; but if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the other also; and to him who wishes to resist with you in court and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well (Matt. 5:39).

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• 1 Maccabees 3:17

  The words of those who are afraid express the weakness of certain subordinates, who, considering their own frailty more, fear disaster rather than have confidence in the Lord through the strength of faith; but the wisdom of the teachers, restraining that fear with sincere encouragements, gives them sure hope of the future help of God, who is the protector of all who faithfully trust in Him.

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• 1 Maccabees 3:23

  Because often the humility of the holy fathers lessens the fury of those who persecute, and the meekness of the humble overthrows the boldness of the proud. Therefore it is that Paul teaches, saying: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire upon his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:20-21).

  Commentary on 1 Maccabees