Rabanus Maurus

In his own words on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 1:1

  This Demetrius (under whom the Jerusalemites recall that they prayed) is the one established in Egypt, who reigned over Asia and Syria after Antiochus Eupator, and he too was surnamed Soter, that is, "savior." For this man the number of years here calculated runs, that is, one hundred and sixty-nine. For Antiochus Epiphanes, who began to reign after the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks, reigned for eleven years. Antiochus Eupator for two years, and Demetrius Soter for twelve years. These are the years from the beginning of the reign of Seleucus Nicanor, king of Syria, from whom the times of the kingdom of the Greeks are reckoned, up to the end of Demetrius in the one hundred and sixty-second year; to these are added seven years of the reign of Alexander, who is described by Pompeius Trogus as dishonorable and vicious, and unworthy of royal dignity, but since he is described as having held the kingdom for ten [seven] years, they make one hundred and sixty-nine. Let us also put it another way: the first to reign over Asia after Alexander was Antigonus, for nineteen years; after whom Demetrius, who is also called Poliorcetes, reigned for seventeen years. Therefore this Demetrius, in the seventeenth year of his reign, surrendered himself to Seleucus, and Asia was joined to the kingdom of Syria in the twenty-eighth year of Seleucus Nicanor. If, then, we begin now to calculate the sequence of years from the first year of the reign of Antigonus, who reigned in Asia for seven years before Seleucus began to reign in Syria, placing those same seven years before the reign of Seleucus, and in that way carry the reckoning of the years of the kingdom of Syria down to the last year of Demetrius Soter, the total of the former number is entirely found there. But it is remarkable how, in what follows, it is said that Judas, in the one hundred and eighty-eighth year, with the council, said greetings to Aristobulus, the tutor of King Ptolemy, and gave instructions concerning the purification of the temple, which they were to carry out on the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev, whereas in the former book above Judas is read to have died long before, while Demetrius was still alive; indeed, according to the testimony of the chronicles he is found to have been killed in the sixth year of Demetrius. But since the authors of the books themselves are uncertain, they do not seem to differ absurdly in the calculation of times, especially since in the canonical books the edition of the Seventy Translators disagrees greatly with the Hebrew truth in the reckoning of years.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 1:7

  Jason himself is the brother of Onias the high priest, whom the following parts of this book relate to have hastened to Antiochus Epiphanes, that is, "the noble," because of his ambition for the high priesthood, and to have persuaded him to introduce the pagan rite in Jerusalem.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 1:10

  Aristobulus was by birth a Jew, but is acknowledged to have been a Peripatetic philosopher, who wrote Commentaries of explanations on Moses for Ptolemy Philometor, as the chronographers report, at which time Antiochus Epiphanes was ruling Syria and Asia.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 1:11

  How Antiochus Epiphanes, who inflicted evils upon the Jews beyond all the kings who had been before him in Syria, lost his kingdom and ended his life, is recounted in the first book of this history; and Josephus, in the twelfth book of the Antiquities of the Jews, bears witness, saying: King Antiochus, while traversing the upper province, heard of a city of the Persians outstanding in riches, called Elymais, and of a most precious temple of Diana in it, filled with every kind of ornament; moreover, he had heard that Alexander, son of Philip, king of the Macedonians, had left there both weapons and breastplates. Stirred up, therefore, he set out against Elymais and laid siege to it; but those who were in the city were in no way frightened either by his assault or by the siege, and resisted stubbornly. Deceived in his hope, he withdrew. For when the inhabitants charged forth from the city, they put him to flight and pursued him as far as Babylon. When he arrived there, after losing many of his soldiers, one of the Jews reported to him both the destruction of the commanders whom he had left to fight against the Jews and the increase of the strength of the Jews. While this misfortune was growing under his former anxiety, he fell into an illness, and as it held him for a long time and his sufferings increased, he realized that he would die. Summoning his friends, he informed them that his disease was grievous. He confessed that he suffered these things because, afflicting the nation of the Jews, he had damaged the temple and had despised God; and, having said this, he immediately expired. Therefore I marvel at Polybius of Megalopolis, who, though he is a good man, says that Antiochus perished because he wished to devastate the temple of Diana in Persia. For he who in no way committed the sin, but only conceived it, was bound by no guilt. But if it seems to Polybius that Antiochus ended his life for that reason, it appears much more probable that the king perished because of the sacrilegious destruction of the temple at Jerusalem.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 1:18

  Now those things which the Jews of Jerusalem wrote to the Jews who were in Egypt, about the fire found in a well, which was changed into the likeness of thick water, we have been unable to find anywhere in the writings or sayings of Ezra or Nehemiah; just as that other matter which, in the later passages, they claim about Jeremiah hiding the ark and the tabernacle, can in no way be found written in the book of Jeremiah himself. From this it is clear that they learned this either from the tradition of their elders, or found it written in their apocryphal books. We, therefore, not curiously pursuing what is uncertain, shall turn our pen to those things which are clearly established by the evidence of the canonical books.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 3:1

  So then, because there were various high priests under different kings, we have judged it necessary, according to the account of the historians, to list the names of those who held the high priesthood in the times of the kings, and also of those who were in the nation of Judea after the captivity of Babylon, so that the truth of history may appear more clearly. The first high priest of the temple that Solomon built was Zadok; after him, however, Ahimaaz his son succeeded to the honor; after him, then, Joram, and after him Anxidranius. Then Judas, and after Judas, Sudeus. After him Hylus, and Joatham succeeded Hylus. Then again Urias, and Nerias succeeded Urias. After Nerias, however, Odeas was high priest. After him, then, Sellam, then Elchias. After him, Zara, and after him was Josedech, who was led away captive to Babylon. These men, in the high priesthood, succeeded their fathers in due order as sons. After Josedech, however, his son Joannes received the priesthood, under whom the temple was rebuilt; and after him, Joachim his son. When this one died, Joannes his son received the honor; and when Joannes ended his life, his son Jaddus succeeded to the primacy of the priests, under whom King Alexander the Macedonian came to Jerusalem. After him, his son Onias is held in high reputation. After him, his son Simon, whose surname was "the Just," because of his diligent zeal for the religion of the Lord and his ready compassion toward his fellow citizens. Then Eleazar, the brother of Simon, the high priest of the Jews, took up the ministry of the temple, Simon's son Onias having been left very young: this Eleazar, at the request of Ptolemy Philadelphus, sent the Seventy Translators to translate the divine Law. After Eleazar, however, his uncle Manasses received the priesthood. After Manasses, then, Onias, son of Simon the Just, the high priest of the Jews, is held in high reputation: he, by not paying to King Ptolemy the customary tributes, provoked him to anger. But Joseph, noble among his own people, sent by the Jews as a messenger to Ptolemy, since he had earned the king's favor by many services, was appointed leader of Judea and the neighboring regions. After Onias, however, Simon, son of Onias, the high priest of the Jews, is held in high reputation. Under him, Joannes, son of Sirach, composed the book of Wisdom, which he called Pahareton, that is, "capable of all virtues," and he made mention of Simon in it. After Simon, however, Onias, son of the same Simon, is considered outstanding: to him King Arius of the Lacedaemonians sent messengers. He held office while Antiochus the Great ruled Syria and Asia, and his son Seleucus Philopator, up to Antiochus Epiphanes; under this high priest Onias, those events which are told about Simon, overseer of the temple, took place, when Seleucus Philopator was ruling in Syria and Asia, and Antiochus Epiphanes succeeded to the kingdom. Now Simon, overseer of the temple at Jerusalem, fleeing to Apollonius, the commander of Phoenicia, and promising him many gifts, began to claim the priesthood for himself. When Seleucus heard this, he sent Heliodorus to look into the matter; when he had come into Judea, judging unjustly and conducting many prosperous undertakings, he was terrified by divine signs against him, and returned to Seleucus. But Onias the priest had seen to it that Simon became a fugitive, etc. Finally, this story, according to the rule of tropology, suggests that all who, stirred up by pride, have presumed to profane the Lord's sanctification and to handle it unworthily with defiled hands, are to be punished by heavenly judgment, because, as Truth attests, the house of prayer is for all nations (Matt. 21:13; Isa. 56:7), and no one is permitted to make it a den of robbers. Therefore the Psalmist also says: Your house is adorned with holiness, O Lord, for length of days (Ps. 93:5). Nor is it permitted that anything be done or stored there except the service of the praises and prayers of God alone. Therefore the Lord himself in the Gospel (Matt. 22:12-13) drove out of the temple those who were selling and buying in it, and poured out the money-changers' coins, and overturned the seats of those selling doves. And when he had done these things, he was daily teaching in the temple. According to the allegorical sense, however, Onias, the great priest of God and guardian of the figurative temple, signifies the Lord and Savior, who was made high priest by God the Father forever, according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4), and is the guardian and indweller of the true temple of God, which is the Church: this name Onias seems quite clearly to express this, for Onias is interpreted "the Lord's sorrow" or "Lord of sorrows"; and who can more fittingly be called a sorrowing Lord than our Redeemer, of whom it is said through Isaiah: We have seen him, and he had no comeliness, and we desired him, despised and the least of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity: truly he himself bore our sicknesses and he himself carried our sorrows. (Isa. 53:3) Heliodorus, however, attacker and looter of the treasury of the Lord, represents pagans, or Jews, or even heretics, who wished, without reverence for God, to abuse His gifts and turn them to a wicked deed. For pagans invade the treasure of the temple of God when they attempt to destroy the faith and merit of Christ. The Jews also invade it when they desire to confuse the Christian religion with the ceremonies of the old Law. Heretics likewise invade it when they strive to corrupt the truth of the Gospel and the purity of the law of God with false doctrines. But, while Onias was praying, a terrible horseman descended, having golden weapons, namely, he of whom John wrote in his Apocalypse, saying (Rev. 19:11-16): "I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat upon it was called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written which no one knows but himself. And he was clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood, and his name is called the Word of God." While the members of Christ pray, He Himself, who is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn. 14:6), comes to their aid, to defeat their enemies and terrify the belief of the wicked. His horse was incorrupt, and His garment bloodstained, because the death of His flesh was harmless; and He Himself was terrible because He is exceedingly wonderful and a most just judge. He was adorned with the finest coverings, because He shines with the most evident splendor of all virtues. To Him belonged all golden weapons, because His works are wonderful; for by His gift His Church possesses the shield of faith, the breastplate of justice, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph. 6:17) With these weapons He daily fights in His members against His enemies. This horseman, then, with a rush struck down Heliodorus with his foremost hooves, because the mystery of the Incarnation lays low all enemies, that is, Jews, pagans, and heretics, so that, confounded by the enormity of their crimes, they may at some point cease. Those two youths, therefore, who appeared with the horseman, beautiful in virtue, excellent in glory, and splendid in their clothing, who stood beside Onias on either side and unceasingly scourged Heliodorus, beating him with many blows, signify the doctors of both Testaments. Standing around the Incarnation of Christ, adorned by the power of faith and good works, most excellent in the glory of miracles, and most fair in the garment of holy knowledge and wisdom, existing in various times, they, by their preaching, strike the insensibility of the wicked and compel them to fall to the ground. Therefore it will come to pass that he who had proudly attacked the temple will, through the correction of discipline, appear weak; for "there is no wisdom, no prudence, no counsel against the Lord" (Prov. 21:30); for "whatever He willed, He has done in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the deeps; and there is none who can resist His will; the Lord of all is He Himself" (Ps. 135:6). But the fact that Onias, offering a saving victim for the man's salvation, preserved Heliodorus, surrounded by thick darkness, signifies that the mercy of our Redeemer often grants the blessing of conversion to the ungrateful and undeserving, so that, through His grace, who offered Himself as a saving victim for the sins of the world, they may be stripped of their errors and freed from the power of Satan, by whose hatred they were once held captive to his will, and may give thanks to their Redeemer and proclaim His praise over all the earth.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 4:7

  Of him Josephus relates as follows (Antiq. 12.6): At that same time, when Onias, the leader of the priests, had died, Antiochus bestowed the leadership of the priesthood on his brother, for the son whom Onias had left was still an infant. We shall, however, demonstrate in its proper place each point that still seemed to pertain to the boy. But Jesus (for this was the brother of Onias), the king, angered, deprived of the leadership of the priesthood, and gave it to their younger brother, named Onias; for Simon had these three sons, to whom, as we have said above, the leadership of the priesthood came, and Jesus indeed called himself Jason, while Onias was named Menelaus. Therefore the high priest Jesus first stirred up a treason against Menelaus, and when the multitude of the people was divided between them, on the side of Menelaus stood the sons of Tobias, while by word of the people the greater part supported Jason. Therefore, being hard pressed, Menelaus and the sons of Tobias departed to Antiochus, bringing to his attention that they wished to abandon the ancestral laws and to observe the way of life and customs [laws] of the Greeks. They therefore asked him to allow them to build a gymnasium in Jerusalem; and when he granted it, they concealed their circumcision so that, when naked, they would not appear different from the Greeks; and abandoning all the other things that their ancestral custom imposed on them, they followed the practices and rites of other nations. So far Josephus. But I am astonished how he can say that, after the death of Onias, Antiochus bestowed the priesthood on the brother of Jason, since this history does not agree with that account, as will be shown in what follows. In fact, when Antiochus Epiphanes, having suddenly invaded the region of the Ptolemies, had withdrawn at the command of the senate, he came into Judea; and there he handed over the pontificate to Jesus, who was also the brother of Onias. When he had finally been driven out, he gave Onias, surnamed Menelaus, to succeed him; and thustherefore when a sedition arose among the leaders because of the dignity of the priesthood, the seeds of great miseries sprang up. Therefore these deeds of the proud and transgressors of the law of God do not present to us some allegory useful for edification, but, sadly, in this time many imitators of their crime are found, those who, placed in the Church over the people of God, redeemed by the blood of His only-begotten Son, abandoning the doctrine of the Gospel and true religion, and departing from the worship of the one God who is there commended and made known, by their depraved morals run to hidden idolatry; for, through ambition for money and the riches of this present life, leading a luxurious life detestable to God, and paying heed to the favor of flatterers, they draw many with them to destruction. These, indeed, according to the Apostle, profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny Him (Titus 1:16); for they are not content with moderate food and clothing, but, wishing to become rich, fall into temptation and into the snare of the Devil, and into many desires, useless and harmful, which plunge men into destruction and punishment. For the root of all evils is greed; which, indeed, those who have desired have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Tim. 6:10).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 4:18

  In the reign of Ozias and Azaria, the leprous king, over Judaea, and of Phacee over Israel, and likewise of Aeschylus over the Athenians, and of no one over the Latins, in the second year of Aeschylus, judge of the Athenians, the first Olympiad was held, in which Choroebus of Elis emerged as victor. The Eleans hold a five-yearly contest, with four complete years in between, in which four annual magistrates are appointed; this Olympiad was first established by Iphicus, son of Praxonides or Aemon. From this time onward, Greek history regarding the chronology is believed to be reliable, for before this, as each thought best, they advanced differing opinions. For this five-yearly contest is described as having been celebrated at that time by Antiochus at Tyre, and the events that are afterward mentioned concerning Jason and Menelaus took place later.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 4:23-26

  Jason, indeed, who had imprisoned his own brother, that is, Onias the elder, son of Simon, was accused before the king by Menelaus, that is, the younger Onias, who had a double name, and, having been deceived, was driven as a fugitive into the region of the Ammonites. Menelaus indeed obtained the leadership, but did nothing about the money promised to the king for the high priesthood, for which reason he likewise was removed from the priesthood, Lysimachus succeeding him. While Lysimachus held the priesthood, Menelaus, during Antiochus's absence, thinking he had found a suitable time because of the second campaign against the people of Tarsus and Mallus, stole certain golden vessels from the temple and gave them to Andronicus, the commander whom the king had left to protect the region. Then Onias the elder, the brother whom Jason had imprisoned, angered by this, accused Menelaus of the wickedness he had committed, while keeping himself in a safe place at Antioch, near Daphne. From there Menelaus, going to Andronicus, asked him to kill Onias. When he came to Onias, and after giving him his right hand with an oath, although Onias suspected him, and persuading him to come out of the sanctuary, he immediately killed him, having no fear of justice, for a deed which not only the Jews but also other nations resented and bore with great displeasure, because of the murder of so great and righteous a man. Therefore the Jews together with the Greeks went to the king when he returned from the regions of Cilicia, and reported what had been done. At this Antiochus was moved even to the shedding of tears; recalling the temperance and modesty of the deceased, and inflamed in spirit, he ordered Andronicus to be stripped of the purple, led around the whole city, and in the same place where he had committed wickedness against Onias, the sacrilegious man was deprived of life, the Lord rendering to him a punishment worthy of him. For with many acts of sacrilege in the temple committed by Lysimachus on Menelaus's advice, and when the report spread, a crowd gathered against Lysimachus: some seized stones, others strong clubs, and some threw ashes at Lysimachus; and many were indeed wounded, some even knocked down, but all were put to flight, and they killed him, the sacrilegious man, near the treasury. Therefore, proceedings began to be conducted against Menelaus; and when the king came to Tyre, three men, sent by the elders, brought the matter before him. When Menelaus was being overcome, he promised Ptolemy large sums of money to persuade the king. So Ptolemy, when the king was in a certain walkway, as if for the sake of refreshment, approached him and turned him from his decision, and Menelaus he acquitted of all the charges brought against him. But the wretched Jews, who, although they had pleaded their cause before the governors and had been judged innocent, he condemned to death.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 5:2-4

  At the same time, Antiochus prepared a second expedition into Egypt, etc. Portents therefore sometimes foreshadow prosperous events, and at other times they prefigure adverse ones; but always in accordance with what the supreme Judge determines to be fitting for each matter and each time. Nor is it surprising that in the times of the Maccabees horsemen, wearing gilded robes, and armed troops were seen rushing through the air, and that the shining splendor of golden weapons foretold coming adversity and the disaster that was to fall upon the Jews, since before the destruction of Jerusalem, as we learn from Josephus (Book VII of the Jewish War, chapter 12), a star shining like a sword was seen threatening the forsaken city on every side, and moreover a comet appeared to burn with deadly flames for an entire year. But before the time of the downfall and the war, when the people had gathered for the feast of Unleavened Bread, on the eighth day of the month of Xanthicus, which is April, during the night, at the ninth hour, so great a brightness of light surrounded the altar and the temple that all thought it had become broad daylight; and it lasted for the space of half an hour. This seemed to the unskilled and ignorant to be a good omen; but the experts in the Law and all worthy teachers were not unaware that it was a deadly portent. On the same feast as well, a heifer that had been brought up for sacrifice and was standing by, gave birth to a calf in the very hands of the attendants; and the gate of the inner sanctuary, which faced east, though covered with solid bronze of immense weight, and which could scarcely be shut by twenty men straining with all their might, and was secured besides with iron bars and bolts, and held fast by the dropping of bars into place high above, suddenly, at the sixth hour of the night, was seen to have opened of its own accord. And after the feast day had passed, after a few days, on the twenty-first day of the month of Artemisius, which we call May, a prodigious vision appeared, almost beyond belief, which would truly have been thought false, had not the destruction that followed these evils confirmed the testimony of the witnesses. For near sunset chariots and four-horsed cars were seen being driven through the air in every direction, and companies of armed men were seen moving through the clouds and surrounding the cities. On another feast day, which is called Pentecost, when the priests entered the temple at night to carry out the customary ministries, they first sensed certain movements and noises. Then they hear subdued voices saying: “Let us depart from here.” Something even more terrifying is added: for a certain Jesus, the son of Ananias, a man of the common people and a rustic, four years before the war, while the city was still enjoying peace and abundance, on the feast day of Tabernacles suddenly began to cry out: “A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice over Jerusalem, and a voice over the temple, over bridegrooms and over brides, a voice over all this people.” And this, without ceasing day and night, going around all the streets, he shouted, until some leading men of the people, disturbed with anger as though by an ill-omened prophecy, seized the man and subjected him to many beatings; but he, speaking nothing on his own behalf, nor even begging mercy from those standing around, repeated those same cries again with equal stubbornness and shouting. Then the leaders, realizing, as was indeed the case, that the impulse moving the man was more divine, brought him to the Roman judge; and there, torn with scourges down to his very bones, he shed neither prayers nor tears, but uttering the same cry in a pitiful manner and with a kind of howling, he pronounced it almost word by word, adding also this: “Woe, woe to Jerusalem.” Therefore the wretched city suffered all these phenomena deservedly, because always, according to the testimony of the giver of the Law, it rebelled against the Lord, and, ungrateful for His favors, treated with mockery and killed the servants of the supreme householder who were sent to it by Him. And at last, by killing the very heir, they cast him outside the camp. Therefore the Lord Himself in the Gospel, rebuking the unbelieving city, says: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I wished to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house will be left to you deserted” (Matt. 23:37). For this had long been foretold: in later times those most savage murderers received the fitting reward of their guilt, so that some were killed by famine, some perished by plague, and some, slain or taken captive, were led away by their enemies into the regions of the whole world; and therefore was fulfilled that saying of Jeremiah which he prophesied concerning that same people and city, saying: “Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and the greatness of servitude; she dwells among the nations and finds no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the narrow places. The roads of Zion mourn, because there are none who come to the solemn feast. All her gates are destroyed, her priests groan, her virgins are afflicted with filth, and she herself is oppressed with bitterness” (Lam. 1:3-4).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 5:5-9

  Menelaus, however, when under Antiochus Eupator he was planning deceit in the same way as before, the King of kings stirred up the spirit of Antiochus against this sinner, and at the suggestion of Lysias, who said that he was the cause of all the evils, he ordered that, according to their custom, he be seized and put to death in the very place. Now in that place there was a tower of fifty cubits, having a heap of ashes piled up around it on all sides; it had a total drop over the edge. From there he ordered that the sacrilegious man be thrown into the ashes, while all pushed him on to his destruction; and by such a law it happened that this transgressor of the law died, and Menelaus was not allowed to be buried in the earth, because he had committed many crimes against the altar of God, whose fire and ashes were holy; he himself was condemned to a death in ashes. Josephus reports, as we have shown in the previous book, that the son of the chief priest Onias, being still a little boy when his father died and left him, seeing that the king had killed his uncle Menelaus and had given the high priesthood to Alcimus, who did not belong to the priestly lineage, but had been persuaded by Lysias to transfer the honor from that family to another house, fled to Ptolemy, king of Egypt, and received honor from him and from his wife Cleopatra, and asked for a place in the region of Cleopatra, where he founded a city bearing his own name and built a temple in imitation of his father’s temple. Alcimus, however, bearing enmity against Judas Maccabeus, after no great length of time was struck down by the wrath of God and perished; and therefore, with the favor of all the Jews, the priesthood was granted to Judas Maccabeus. All these things seem rather to build up a moral than an allegorical understanding of the mind; they clearly show that the most just Judge and the most impartial Rewarder will restore to each one the fitting recompense, according as their wages shall have required: that is, to the virtuous and those who fear God, eternal rewards; but to the wicked, and sinners, and blasphemers, the punishment of everlasting fire. And no one ought to flatter himself because of earthly happiness and the prosperity of this present life, if he chooses to live more impurely in sins; nor should one who acts well, when pressed in this present life by severe torments or various tribulations, despair of future salvation, if he shall have persevered in the path of righteousness; because it is written: Many are the tribulations of the just, and out of all these the Lord has delivered them (Ps. 34:19); and: Many are the scourges of sinners; but mercy shall surround those who hope in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you just, and glory, all you who are upright of heart (Ps. 32:11).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 5:11

  After the writer of the history had told of the destruction of the wicked and sacrilegious men Lysimachus and Jason, and had additionally recounted the vision of signs and omens in the sky, he returned to the sequence of the narrative, that is, to the departure of Antiochus Epiphanes from Egypt. Angered because, by order of the senate, he had been commanded to withdraw from the territory of the Ptolemies, which he had invaded, he came with savage mind into Judea, as has been shown above, and he took Jerusalem by force of arms, punished the people, plundered the temple, and committed many wicked deeds in it. That Antiochus bears the figure of Antichrist himself is, above all, made most evident by the tradition of the saints: for just as the Savior foreshadowed Solomon and the other saints as types of his coming, so Antichrist is rightly believed to have had as his type the most wicked king Antiochus, who persecuted the saints and violated the temple.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 5:24

  This passage and the preceding book make mention of him, where the slaughter of the Jews in the rest of the sabbath and Apollonius’ wickedness together with his destruction throughout Judea are recounted. Now that Antiochus commanded Apollonius to kill all of full age and to sell the women and the young people signifies that Antiochus, their enemy, chiefly plots the death of those whom he has observed to be perfect in the Christian religion; but those who are soft and unstable, of whom it is written: “The fool changes like the moon” (Sirach 27:12), he, entangling them in various errors and tossing them about through different vices, separates them from the land of the Church and casts them far away into the depth of crimes.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 5:27

  However, how he calls Judas Maccabeus the tenth I do not find, unless perhaps by the record of the high priests who were among the people of Judea in the times of the kingdom of the Greeks this history counts the years, of whom the first high priest was Onias, son of Jaddua; the second, Simon, son of Onias; the third, Eleazar, brother of Simon; the fourth, Manasseh, uncle of Eleazar; the fifth, Onias, son of Simon the Just; the sixth, Simon, son of Onias; the seventh, Onias, son of Simon; the eighth, another Onias, who is called Jason, brother of the former Onias; the ninth, Menelaus, brother of Jason; the tenth, Judas, who, when Alcimus was attempting to seize the high priesthood of the Jews and was destroyed by divine judgment, received the dignity of the first priesthood by the wondrous consent of all. But spiritually Judas is rightly said to be the tenth, because he is found to have kept the precepts of the Decalogue in perfect faith and devotion, and, by his zeal for the Law, was the first after his father to defend it with arms from the hands of the enemies. He is truly written to have led a life with his followers among the mountains, and to have eaten grass for food: because, following the examples of the saints (for they are the mountains of God), by despising the cruel habits of the persecutors, he chose a life pleasing to God, and considered it best always to feed himself on the ever-green nourishment of virtues, so that, nourished with the unfailing nourishment of the soul, he might not feel eternal hunger. However, the reading of the Acts of Judas is useful to us in this way only, if we are willing to imitate his virtues of faithfulness and soberness; and if we do not prefer the pleasures of the world and the pomp of this age to the righteousness and truth of God, always mindful of that saying of the Lord which says: “For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul?” (Matt. 8:36). And again: “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world keeps it for eternal life” (Jn. 12:25).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 6:2

  But not long after, the king sent a certain old man from Antioch, who was to compel the Jews to depart from their ancestral ways and the laws of God, etc. These same events are reported in the preceding book, namely that Antiochus, through his messengers, defiled the temple by setting up in it the idol of desolation upon the altar of God; and we have given the allegorical interpretation of that passage there.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 6:6-7

  Nor did anyone simply confess that he was a Jew. They were, however, led under bitter coercion on the king's birthday to the sacrifices, etc. They said that the Gentiles acknowledged Liber Pater as the lord of wine, whose rites Antiochus ordered to be especially celebrated on his own birthday, because he believed that this god favored his birthday. For they wish Liber to be named from libera mens ("free mind"), because, as it were, males in intercourse are freed by his benevolence when their seeds are discharged; on account of this the same Liber is depicted with a womanly and delicate body. For they say that women are assigned to him, and wine, for the arousing of lust. Therefore also his brow is encircled with a vine-leaf, but with his head having been formed, he has a vine crown and a horn, because when wine is drunk in Greek fashion [sparingly] and in moderation, it brings joy, but when beyond measure, it stirs up quarrels and, as it were, gives horns. He is also called Lyaeus from the drink called lyaeum, because with much wine the limbs are loosened. This same god is in Greek called Dionysus from Mount Nysa, where he is said to have been raised. Moreover, there is also a city Nysa in which the same Liber is worshipped, where he is called Nisaean. The rites of Liber Pater were first introduced among the Greeks by Orpheus, and he was the first to celebrate them on a mountain of Boeotia and at Thebes, where Liber was born, close by. Because he frequently resounded with the song of the cithara, he was called Cithaeron; and the rites are now called Orphic, in which he himself was torn to pieces, and afterwards also captured, almost at the same time as Faunus. But which of them came first in age can be doubted, since in those same years Latinus and Priam reigned. Likewise their fathers were Picus and Laomedon, during whose reign Orpheus, with the Argonauts, reached the shore of the Athenians.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 6:18

  Therefore Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes, a man advanced in age, etc. This Eleazar, whom the wickedness of Antiochus, a most cruel king, forced in his old age to eat pork, represents the Christian people, whom the savagery of Antichrist will attempt, before the end of the world, to turn to idolatry and to the filthiness of life. Moreover, Eleazar is interpreted as "My God is my helper," a name that most fittingly applies to the people of the faithful, who, together with the Psalmist, know how to say to the Lord: "You are my helper; do not forsake me" (Ps. 27:9); and again, "My deliverer, my God, I will hope in him" (Ps. 18:2). But just as the brutality of the wicked king was unable to compel Eleazar to eat pork, so neither will the cruelty of Antichrist be able in any way to defile the company of the elect with any uncleanness.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:1

  However, how the most blessed martyr and most gentle doctor Cyprian (On the Exhortation to Martyrdom 11), writing about these same seven brothers to Fortunatus, would discourse upon them in eloquent speech after the manner of speakers, we have judged should be inserted in this place; and among other things he says therefore: "But what, in the Maccabees, do the seven brothers, alike in the lot both of birth and of virtues, signify, except the number seven fulfilled in the sacrament of perfect completion? For therefore the seven brothers, united in martyrdom, are as at the beginning there were, in the divine ordering, seven days containing seven thousand years; as the seven spirits and the seven angels who stand and minister before the face of the Lord; and the seven-branched lampstand in the tabernacle of witness; and in the Apocalypse the seven golden lampstands (Rev. 1:20); and in Solomon the seven pillars on which Wisdom built her house (Prov. 9:1). So also here the number of the seven brothers, by its quantity embracing the number of the seven Churches, is in accord with what we read in the first book of Kings (1 Sam. 2:5), that the barren woman bore seven. And in Isaiah seven women seize upon one man, whose name they beg to be called upon them (Isa. 4:1). And the apostle Paul, who remembers this legitimate and fixed number, writes to seven Churches. And in the Apocalypse (Rev. 1) the Lord directs His divine commands and heavenly precepts to seven Churches and to their angels; and this number is now found here in the brothers, so that the legitimate completion may be fulfilled. With the seven children the mother also is clearly joined, as their source and root; she who afterwards bore the seven Churches, she herself first and single, founded upon the rock by the word of the Lord. Nor is it without meaning that in the sufferings the mother alone is with her children; for the martyrs, who in their passion bear witness that they are sons of God, are now reckoned as having no Father but God alone, just as in the Gospel the Lord teaches, saying: 'Call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father, who is in heaven' (Matt. 23:9)."

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:1

  What is indicated by this mother of seven sons, if not the fruitfulness of Mother Church, who through the grace of the sevenfold Spirit brings forth for God the Father adopted sons? The cruelty of typical Antiochus, that is, of Antichrist, although it tears apart through its ministers the offspring of the fathers, and through himself both them and their mother with various torments, nevertheless is in no way able to draw them into blasphemy. But what reward awaits this woman and her sons in the future for the suffering they have endured in the present, Isaiah shows, saying: Rejoice, barren woman who does not give birth; sing praise and hymn, you who were not bearing: because the deserted woman has many sons, more than she who has a husband, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent, and stretch out the skins of your tabernacles, do not spare: make your cords long, and strengthen your pegs. To the right and to the left you will break forth, and your seed will inherit nations. Do not fear, for you shall not be confused nor put to shame. For you shall not be ashamed, because you will forget the confusion of your youth, and you will no longer remember the criticism of your widowhood. For he who made you will rule over you, the Lord of hosts is his name, and your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel: he shall be called the God of all the earth, because the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and like a wife rejected from youth, says your God. For a brief moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. In a moment of indignation I hid my face from you for a little while, but with everlasting mercy I have had pity on you, says the Lord your redeemer. Poor little one, storm-tossed, without any comfort. Behold, I will lay your stones in order, and I will found you upon sapphires. And I will set jasper as your battlements, and your gates in carved stones, and all your borders in desirable stones: all your children taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. And you shall be founded in righteousness. Stay far from oppression (Isa. 54:1-7). But the fact that after the sons the mother too was put to death shows that, after the triumphs of each of the sons of the Church, by which they overcame their enemies, they will enter with free souls into eternal rest. Finally, Mother Church herself, the mother of all the faithful, will be brought to completion at the end of the world, and, taking the trophy of glory over all her enemies, will possess the everlasting kingdom.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:2-5

  How illustrious, moreover, how great were the proclamations of confession which they uttered, what great evidences of faith they provided! King Antiochus, hostile, indeed, in Antiochus the Antichrist was foreshadowed, sought to stain the glorious mouths of the martyrs, joined and invincible in the spirit of confession, with the defilement of swine's flesh; and when he had severely beaten them with scourges and had been able to achieve nothing, he ordered pans to be heated. When these were red-hot and blazing, he commanded that the one who had spoken first, and who by the loyalty of his courage and faith had the more provoked the king's wrath, be brought to them and fried, after first stretching out and cutting off the tongue which had confessed God. This happened to the martyr in a more glorious way; for the tongue that had confessed the name of God ought itself to go first to God.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:7-9

  Next, against the second he created more cruel punishments; and before he tortured the other members, he flayed off the skin of his head with the hair, in deliberate hatred. For since the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God, he who was crushing the head in the martyr was persecuting God and Christ in the head. But he, trusting in his martyrdom and promising himself the reward of the resurrection from the recompense of God, cried out and said: "You indeed, powerless one, destroy us from this present life; but the King of the world will raise us who die for His laws to the eternal resurrection of life."

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:10-11

  The third, when his tongue was demanded, promptly put it out; for from his brother he had already learned to despise the punishment of cutting out the tongue. He also steadfastly stretched forth his hands to be cut off, greatly blessed in this kind of punishment, to whom it befell, with hands extended for suffering, to imitate the likeness of the Lord's passion.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:13-14

  Likewise the fourth, despising the tortures with equal courage and answering the king with a heavenly voice to confound him, cried out and said: "It is better, being given over to death by men, to look for the hope from God, to be raised again by Him to eternal life; for you shall have no resurrection to life."

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:15-17

  The fifth, besides the fact that by the strength of his faith he trampled underfoot the king's butchery and cruel and manifold torments, was also, inspired by the spirit of divinity to foreknowledge and understanding of things to come, a prophet to the king of the indignation of God and of the vengeance that would swiftly follow: "Having power among men," he says, "though you are mortal, you do what you will. But do not suppose that our race has been forsaken by God. Only wait, and you will see His great power, how He will torture you and your seed." What a relief that was to the martyr, how great, how immense a consolation in his torments, not to think of his own sufferings, but to proclaim the punishments of his torturer!

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:18-19

  In the sixth, moreover, not only his courage, but also his humility must be proclaimed; that the martyr claimed nothing for himself, nor puffed up the honor of his confession with proud words, but attributed to his own sins the fact that he suffered persecution from the king, while he ascribed it to God that he would afterwards be avenged. He taught that martyrs are modest, that they trust in vengeance being taken, and that they boast of nothing in their passion. "Do not," he says, "deceive yourself in vain; for we suffer these things for our own sakes, in that we have sinned against our God. But do not think that you will remain unpunished, who have set yourself to fight against God."

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:20-23

  Admirable also was the mother, who, neither broken by the weakness of her sex nor shaken by manifold bereavement, looked with willing eyes upon her dying children, and reckoned those sufferings of her offspring not as pains but as glories, offering to God as great a martyrdom by the courage of her eyes as her sons offered by the torments and suffering of their limbs.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:24-26

  When six had been killed and punished and one of the brothers still remained, the king promised him riches, power, and many things, so that his cruelty and savagery might be soothed by the consolation of having at least one subdued, and he asked that the mother should plead with him to yield about the son. She did indeed plead with her son, but as was fitting for the mother of martyrs, as was fitting for one mindful of the Law and of God, as was fitting for a woman who loved her sons not delicately but courageously. For she pleaded, but that he might confess the Lord; she pleaded that her son might not be separated from his brothers in the fellowship of praise and glory; counting herself then the mother of seven sons, if it should fall to her lot to have borne seven sons to God, not to the world.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 7:27-29

  Arming him therefore and strengthening him, and in that moment bringing forth her son by a happier birth, she said: "My son, have pity on me, who carried you in my womb for nine months, and gave you milk for three years, and nourished you, and brought you to this age. I beg you, my son, look upon heaven and earth; and seeing all that is in them, understand that God made them out of nothing, as well as the race of men. Therefore, my son, do not fear this executioner, but, proving yourself worthy of your brothers, accept death, so that in that mercy I may receive you together with your brothers." Great is the praise of the mother in her call to courage, but greater still in the fear of God and in the truth of faith, in that she promised nothing for herself or for her son from the honor of the six martyrs, nor did she believe that the plea of the brothers would be of any avail for the salvation of one who denied; instead she persuaded him rather to become a sharer in their passion, so that on the day of judgment he might be found together with his brothers. After these things the mother also dies with her children; for nothing else was now fitting, since she who had borne and made martyrs should be joined with them in the fellowship of glory, and that she herself should follow those whom she had sent on before to God.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 8:1

  And the things which the history of the former book relates about Mattathias, the father of Maccabeus, and his brothers, the writer of this present book, striving also for brevity, has omitted, and turned himself to recounting the deeds of Judas and his battles, narrating some of them but, according to his manner, omitting very many. But because we have already, for the most part, set out the allegory of this above, we do not think it necessary to repeat what has been said once. If anyone should ask what the six thousand men, who were joined to Judas at the beginning, signify, let him recognize that, through the perfection of the numbers six and one thousand, the perfect sincerity of the soldiers of Christ in faith is indicated, their devotion being complete. Therefore, in the Acts of the Apostles, it is written to the Jews about the primitive Church: "Now the multitude of believers were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, and great grace was upon them all" (Acts 4:32-33).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 8:8

  In the previous book it is written that Antiochus, when about to set out for Persia, left within the kingdom Lysias, a noble man of royal lineage, in charge of the royal affairs and to bring up Antiochus his son; and that this same Lysias chose Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, powerful men from among the king's friends, and sent them with forty thousand men to destroy the Jews according to the king's command. Now, however, it is reported that Philip wrote to Ptolemy the general that he should bring assistance to the king's affairs, and that he sent Nicanor for this purpose, giving him twenty thousand armed men, and appointing Gorgias, a military man, to join him. For this Philip, on his return from Persia to Babylon, the aforesaid King Antiochus set over his whole kingdom and gave him the crown, and the robe, and the ring, so that he should bring up Antiochus his son, and nurture him, and reign; but this same Philip, when the aforementioned Lysias together with the younger Antiochus was returning to Antioch, they found ruling over the city and attacked him. Therefore the question arises, how Philip can be said to arrange through Ptolemy the march of Nicanor and Gorgias to Judea, whereas the earlier narrative relates that, while the elder Antiochus was staying in Persia, that same Nicanor together with Gorgias as general, and Lysias as organizer, were overcome and put to flight by the Jews, and that this became known to Antiochus on his return, and that on account of this he fell into sickness out of grief, because it had not been done to the Jews as he had intended. This, unless I am mistaken, is resolved in no other way than that Philip, when the empire had been entrusted to him, wrote the same decree to the generals of Syria to be carried out, which Lysias had already previously undertaken to attempt to carry out, but had not completed, nor was he able to achieve it among the Jews in the way he had planned by his own expedition, as the following history shows.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 8:10

  This was briefly mentioned in the previous book: namely, that merchants gathered with gold and silver to buy the sons of Israel as slaves for themselves. But here it is recounted more clearly that, by Nicanor, who promised the king to make up the tribute owed to the Romans from Jewish slaves, the merchants themselves were invited to purchase Jewish slaves.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 8:12

  Concerning this coming of Nicanor into Judea, which took place under Antiochus, the former book clearly does not speak; yet, while relating that he was chosen by Lysias together with Ptolemy and Gorgias, powerful men, with an accompanying mass of followers, to invade and lay waste Judea, it asserts that under Demetrius he was sent there and wished by deceit to seize and invade Judea; but he was not able to prevail. Now it has already been said above that Nicanor himself bears the figure of hypocrites, who do everything in a pretended manner. But Judas engages in battle against Nicanor and his allies with seven thousand men and defeats them, because through the sevenfold grace of the Spirit, the people of the Church together with their leaders conquer all their enemies; nor does any Jew, or pagan, or heretic, or schismatic, or any hypocrite or wicked man ever win victory over it. Rather, he himself, together with his victorious King, will possess the trophy of glory forever.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 8:33

  In place of "victory songs" I have read in another edition "days of victory." Therefore, with the enemies overcome, Judas celebrates the feast, because together with the saints each person, through the grace of Christ, triumphs over the ancient enemy, and, filled with spiritual joy, ought to compose fitting praises and render many thanks to his maker; nor is it proper for someone to become ungrateful who remembers that he has been helped by divine work.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 9:1

  The things that were briefly noted in the previous book about the end of Antiochus are explained more fully in this one. Mystically, however, it shows that the persecutors of Christians, for the evil deeds they have committed and the works of injustice they have performed, will in the future receive from the Lord the just recompense of punishments; and that the one who here did not fear to disturb the hearts of the faithful will, in the final vengeance, be tormented by inward pains with late repentance. Concerning this it is written in the Book of Wisdom: Then the righteous will stand with great steadfastness against those who have oppressed them and who have taken away their labors. Seeing this, they will be troubled with terrible fear, and will marvel at the suddenness of unexpected salvation. Groaning with anguish of spirit, they will say within themselves, as they do penance: These are the ones whom we once held in contempt and made a catch phrase of reproach. We fools considered their life madness, and their end without honor. Behold how they are counted among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints. Therefore we have strayed from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness has not shone for us, and the sun of understanding has not risen upon us. We have grown weary in the way of iniquity and destruction, and we have walked difficult paths, but the way of the Lord we have not known. What has our pride profited us, or what has the boasting of riches brought us? All those things have passed away like a shadow, etc. (Wisdom 5).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 10:5-7

  On the day when the temple had been polluted by foreigners, etc. This feast, which is read as being celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of the month Casleu, which among the Latins is called December, is likewise mentioned in a similar way in the previous book; moreover, when it relates that they had previously kept the Feast of Tabernacles in the mountains and in caves, and for that reason carried before him who granted that his place be cleansed the thyrsi, and green branches, and palms, it shows that in the present life, where there is a place of tribulation and sorrow, we ought to recognize ourselves as pilgrims; and that there we should strive to offer to God the flowers of virtues and the ever-green branches of good works for the attainment of eternal life and as the reward of payment to the heavenly King. For the thyrsus in general is the middle stalk of all herbs or vegetables, so called because it rises up from the earth; so also from our earthly matter a useful shoot ought to ascend, so that to the cultivator of our heart, who through the gift of His Spirit cultivates us, we may always render acceptable fruit.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 10:9

  And the death of Antiochus, who was called the Noble, took place as follows, etc. The history of the previous book relates that Antiochus the Noble, when he was about to set out for Persia, appointed Lysias over the royal affairs from the river Euphrates to the river of Egypt, and to act as guardian for Antiochus his son until he should return. Now, however, it is related that this same Antiochus, the son of Antiochus the Noble, that is, Eupator, appoints Lysias over the same royal affairs. But because he says that he has shortened in his narration many things that were done in the wars, he shows that he has passed over in the order of the history those wars which the younger Antiochus waged by himself against the Jews, when he came there with elephants and a great multitude, both of his own people and of other nations, and when Eleazar the son of Saura killed the largest of the elephants, thinking that the king was on it.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 10:14

  Gorgias, however, since he was commander of the region, having gathered foreign troops, frequently waged war against the Jews, etc. This Gorgias, as we have already shown above, the earlier book relates to have acted together with Lysias, as well as with Ptolemy and Nicanor, in attacking Judea. What that attack was like is reported in the earlier and in the present book, but it is stated that the victory remained with the Jews. Now, as for Gorgias himself, since he was summoning various nations to make war against the Jews, it has already been said above that he represents the type of the Devil, who stirs up unbelievers against the Church of Christ and raises war against His faithful ones. But because it is written there that Gorgias chose seven thousand men for battle, and here, according to the multiplication of the number five in itself, twenty-seven thousand are reported to have been slaughtered, this signifies that all who, through the seven senses of the body, fight for the Devil by carnal desires are punished with a death they deserve.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 10:18

  Moreover, when certain men had taken refuge in two very strongly fortified towers, etc. As the spiritual Maccabee fights, the enemies are driven to take refuge in two towers, since those who strove to overthrow Christ's army, although in no way able to resist the truth of the Gospel, yet, not believing unto salvation, and not fearing the future judgment of the Lord, choose rather to flee into the towers of pride and idolatry than, pierced by the pains of repentance, to abandon their errors. Against them Judas sends soldiers with Simon and Joseph; but some of them, deceived by the love of money, neglected to carry out the battle that had been entrusted to them, because it often happens that those to whom the dignity of the priesthood and the warfare of spiritual combat have been committed, deceived by earthly desire, prefer to satisfy their own greed rather than, despising earthly advantages, to exalt Christ's will by fighting lawfully. But such men will not escape the punishments they deserve; rather, when the true teachers, strengthened by the Spirit of God, have extinguished the enemies by fighting and overcoming them, they themselves will be justly punished by these teachers through the retribution of anathema.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 10:24

  And Timotheus, who had previously been defeated by the Jews, having assembled an army of foreign troops, etc. This Timotheus represents the type of the heretics, as we have shown in the preceding book, who always strive to destroy the faith of Christ and the truth of the Gospel, both by themselves and by the help and support of others. But against the wickedness of these men, the holy teachers ask help from the Lord, and, trusting with firm hope in heavenly assistance, they fight bravely against their enemies. Now the five horsemen who appeared on horses adorned with golden bridles and gave guidance to the Jews represent the five books of the Law; when these are brought into spiritual understanding and, with the typological veil of the letter removed, are reviewed by spiritual knowledge according to the sense of the Gospel, they offer timely comfort to those who carry them out, and, protecting the true confessors of Christ on the right and on the left through the two commandments of love, they hurl fiery darts of judgments against their adversaries, by which, confused in the blindness of their mind and filled with disturbance of understanding, they fall. From these, moreover, twenty thousand and five hundred are struck down, since all who hold opinions contrary to Catholic doctrine, which is contained in the two Testaments, and to the grace of the Holy Spirit, are overcome and cast down when the truth prevails; similarly, the six hundred horsemen are crushed when the pride of their mind, by which they often hoped to prevail over Catholics, is utterly destroyed by the will of the Most High.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 10:32-33

  But Timotheus fled to Gazara, a fortified stronghold, over which Chaereas was set. But Maccabeus and those who were with him, rejoicing, besieged the stronghold for four days, etc. What does it mean that Timotheus, defeated by Judas, fled with his men into the fortified stronghold of Gazara, and from there, trusting in the strength of the place, hurled curses against the people? Except that heretics, separated from the unity of the true faith and overcome, withdraw into the hiding places of their errors and, trusting in the protection of their own cunning, hurl words of curse against Catholics. For Timotheus is interpreted as "beneficent" or rather "sorcerer," and Gazara as "division" or "battle." But Judas, besieging the stronghold with his companions for four days, at last broke into the fortification by means of twenty young men whose spirits were inflamed because of the blasphemy; he set fire to the towers and the gates, and burned the blasphemers themselves alive. So too the holy teachers, by enclosing the enemies on every side with the four books of the Gospel, through those who keep the commandments of the Law in the two precepts of love, destroy their engines, and burn them alive with the fire of sorrow and repentance. And therefore, in two days, by the help of the two Testaments, laying waste the stronghold of all errors, they kill the true Timotheus, that is, the Devil, the head of all error and the author of all evil, who wishes to hide in his own wickedness, with the sword of God's word.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 10:38

  When these things had been done, in hymns and confessions they blessed the Lord, who had done great things in Israel and had given them victory, etc. In the first book of this history it is written that Lysias, having had the affairs of the kingdom entrusted to him by Antiochus, who was surnamed Epiphanes or the Noble, fought against the Jews, where, when the battle was joined, five thousand men were killed in the army of Lysias. And seeing the flight of his own men and the boldness of the Jews, he went off to Antioch in order to gather the forces of the army again, intending to set out once more into Judea. But now, since it is reported that again, under Antiochus Eupator, he came into Judea, and there, having waged war unsuccessfully, escaped in disgrace by flight, it appears that this same Lysias fought against the Jews under both kings named Antiochus, that is, father and son, and in each battle was defeated by the Jews; but at last, compelled by his own humiliation and terrified by Philip's incursion into the kingdom, as has been shown elsewhere, he persuaded the king to make peace with the Hebrews, which, however, he did not keep.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 11:5

  Bethsura was a city in the tribe of Judah or Benjamin, and even to this day Bethsura is seen as we go from Aelia to Hebron at the twentieth milestone; near it there is a spring bubbling up at the foot of the mountain, which is absorbed by the same soil in which it is produced; and the Acts of the Apostles recount that the eunuch of Candace the queen was baptized here by Philip. (Acts 8:26-40).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 11:6

  What Lysias, the most savage enemy of the Jews, who holds the leadership of the pagans, signifies [namely] those who grievously harass the Church of God with most severe persecutions, has already been said. When he persecutes the teachers and confessors of Christ with the gravest scandals, and, relying on the arrogance of his pride, is exalted by the empty favor of those who follow him, he plans in his heart to profane the sanctuary and trample upon the law of God. Yet he does not prosper in his deeds according to his plotted deceit; rather, he is routed and cast down by the soldiers of Christ, who, with the humblest prayers, seek help from on high. To them a leader on horseback is sent for aid, in white raiment and golden armor, because to them the most pure incarnation of God and man is granted to crush the stubbornness of all enemies; whose golden arms, that is, his words and examples, are most bright and beautiful, and there is no power in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, that can resist him. But just as in the prophetic vision of Daniel it was foreshown (Dan. 2), a precious stone cut from the mountain, either by hands or without hands, crushed the gold, silver, bronze, iron, and it became a great mountain that filled the whole earth, whose kingdom shall not be destroyed forever, and its kingdom shall not be given to another people, Christ will crush and consume all kingdoms, and will stand forever. But the saints of the most high God will receive the kingdom, and they will possess it unto the age, indeed unto the ages of ages.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 11:21-22

  That month, which among the Greeks is called Dioscorus, is the same as that which among the Latins is called June. To this month, therefore, the signs of Gemini are assigned. For Gemini, that is Castor and Pollux, are in Greek called Dioscori. Witness to this fact is the city of Collorum (so written), which, having been laid low by Amphius and Circius, the charioteers of the Twins, was renamed by their title Dioscori. For many interpret Dioscori as "charioteers"; they are, however, the Twins, as we have said, Castor and Pollux. But the fact that Lysias, constrained by fear of the Jews, persuaded Antiochus to enter into an agreement with the Jews, shows that the enemies of the Church are often overcome by divine power, and, although not by their own will, yet by necessity yield to it, when they cannot bring to completion what they desire.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 11:33-34

  The month Pandicus among the Athenians is the same as that which among us is called April and among the Hebrews Nisan, among whom, according to the precept of the law, this month is the first of the months of the year, in which they also celebrate Passover.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:3-4

  Now these Joppites, of whom Scripture speaks, were inhabitants of a town in Palestine called Joppa, a coastal place located in the tribe of Dan; and, to touch briefly on the tales of the pagans, even to this day they show there very high rocks, situated on the sea shore, on which Andromeda, it is said, was once bound and freed by Perseus. But according to the mystical sense, these same Joppites who, dwelling by the sea, caused scandal to the Jews, signify heretics living near the waves of the turbulent world, who always lie in wait for the Jews, that is, the true confessors of Christ, and strive to drag into the pit of their error as many as they can from among their number. Therefore the Joppites, as it were, set up boats in which they drown the Jews, taken away from the shore into the deep, when heretics, devising wicked doctrines, adorn them with fine-sounding speech. This can well be signified by the name "Joppites," for it is interpreted "beauty," inasmuch as they may more easily deceive simple souls by the fluency of their language; and once they have drawn them away from the stability of the true faith and gathered them to themselves, they hurl these unsuspecting people headlong into the abyss of punishment. But Judas in type does not allow this to prevail greatly; rather, finding these murderers lurking in the darkness of their error, he torments them with the vengeance of just retribution, and, revealing the deceits that are owed to perpetual fire, rightly strikes down with the sword of anathema both these men and the authors of their transgression, nor does he allow the poison of their hatred to remain hidden any longer.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:8-9

  By Jamnia, which is interpreted "sea," may be understood the gathering place of schismatics, who are always in a storm. Schism, therefore, as some would have it, is called a cutting off of morals: for it believes with the same worship and the same rite, and in all other respects, it delights only in the disagreement of the congregation. Schism arises when they say, "We alone sanctify the unclean," and such things as these. But Judas learns that the Jamnites are acting in the same way as the Joppites, contriving plots against the Jews living with them; so when the holy teachers discover that the deceit of schismatics is similar to the fraud of heretics, they fear the deception of the faithful by them. Against such people they wage war, and finding them in the darkness of superstition, they burn them together with their devices by the fire of excommunication; so that their fire appears in Jerusalem, that is, so that the condemnation of their error may be revealed to all worshipers of the true religion. Therefore Paul also, writing to Timothy and making known the errors of the foolish, says (2 Tim. 3:1-4): "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, covetous, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, fierce, without kindness, and traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasures rather than of God, having indeed a form of godliness, but denying its power. And from these turn away. For of these are those who creep into houses and lead captive little women laden with sins, led by various desires, always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth, men corrupted, reprobate in mind concerning the faith. But they shall progress no further, for their foolishness shall be seen to all, as also was that of the former." Likewise the prince of the apostles, warning that the deceit of wicked men must be guarded against, says to the faithful (2 Peter 3:17-18): "You therefore, brethren, knowing this beforehand, guard yourselves, lest being led astray by the error of the foolish you fall from your own commitment. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. To him be glory both now and in the day of eternity. Amen."

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:10

  The Arabs, who are interpreted as "humble" or "western," can signify those who love worldly and secular wisdom; which is rightly called humble and western, because it does not know how to imitate true wisdom, which comes from heavenly things. Therefore, intent on opposing Judas and his companions, they engage in battle with five thousand foot soldiers and five hundred horsemen: because, entangled in the senses and pursuits of the flesh, everything of spiritual meaning that is conveyed to them through holy teachers seems to be contrary and blasphemous. Therefore they strive to rebel against them; but, with the truth growing stronger, they are defeated, and overcome by the steadfastness of the holy preachers, they ask that right hands be given to them; so that, abandoning their errors, they may desire the power of the Catholic faith and wish to associate themselves with the confessors of Christ. The spiritual Judas, having judged that they could become useful to the Jews in many ways, promises them peace, gives them right hands, and allows them to depart unharmed: because often such men, who had been steeped in the philosophy of the world, when they are converted to the faith of Christ, become more suitable and better equipped to destroy the foolishness and error of the pagans; and when the word of faith has been fully preached to them, being equipped with both kinds of armor, they fight more bravely against unbelief. Therefore Solomon, for the building of the temple, asks Hiram, king of Tyre, for help in cutting timber from Lebanon, because in this craft the servants of Hiram were more skilled than his own servants; yet they did not devote themselves to this work by themselves alone, since, when they were associated with Solomon's servants, they brought it to completion in a sincere and orderly manner. The reason for this is evident, namely that the apostles knew more surely the word of the Gospel of God, which they had learned to hear from the Lord; but the pagans, converted from error and transformed to the truth of the Gospel through those same apostles, knew better the very errors of the nations: and the more surely they knew them, the more skillfully they learned to attack and to abolish them.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:13-14

  This city, under whose fortification many multitudes of different nations gathered and dwelt, I judge signifies nothing better than the powers of this world; under whose dominion diverse peoples have come, so that under its protection they might be physically guarded and enjoy the gratification of their flesh. Therefore, such an assembly, trusting in the stability of its walls, provokes Judas with curses, and in blasphemy spoke things that ought not to be spoken: when diverse kinds of people, favoring the flattery of rulers and rejoicing in their benefits, did things contrary to the holy preachers, and worshiping idols, hurled words of blasphemy against the Divinity itself. Judas, then, having invoked the prince of this world, by his help took the city: because the holy teachers partly by prayers, and partly also by doctrines, struggled against their adversaries, until by the word of God, according to the Lord's will, they captured the rulers themselves. And therefore they were accomplishing indescribable massacres of men, not so that by eternal destruction they might utterly perish, but so that by dying to the world they might live more happily to Christ. Such a slaughter, moreover, Peter was ordered to accomplish in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 10:13), when in ecstasy he saw that mystical vessel with four corners being let down from heaven to earth, in which were all the four-footed animals and creeping things of the earth, and birds of the sky, and it was said to him: "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." (Acts 10:13) The animals therefore signified all nations, unclean through errors, but to be cleansed by sacred baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, who, abandoning the image of man, through imitation of beasts and serpents had taken on their forms; which that heavenly voice commands Peter to kill and eat, because it bade him to kill in the Gentiles what they had been, and to make them what he himself was. For whoever eats food placed outside transfers it into his own body; therefore he was commanded that the nations, placed outside the doors through unbelief, with their former life put to death, be grafted into the fellowship of the Church, which Peter signifies. In accordance with this the apostle Paul says of himself: "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live to God in Christ" (Gal. 2:19); and again: "And I now live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). Nor is that other point without mystery, namely that the adjoining pool appeared to be filled with the blood of slain men: for the shedding of blood signifies the loss of a life drenched in blood, as if the blood, turned into water, were seen to flow, since in the sacrament of baptism, where the faithful die to sin, bloody deeds and the filth of carnal life are understood to be washed away, when the old man is put off with his deeds, and the new man is put on, who according to the Lord is created in righteousness and holiness of truth (Eph. 4:24).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:17

  I once heard a Hebrew explaining that those Jews are called Tubianaeans who, after foreigners had been summoned, came to the aid of Judea, and that they were called Tubianaeans as if they had been brought in by foreign trumpets.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:19

  These two commanders, that is, Dositheus and Sosipater, represent the holy preachers who, by the arrangement of the man Maccabeus, that is, the most heroic warriors, of whom it is written in the psalm: "The Lord strong and mighty in battle" (Ps. 24:8), are appointed to wage war against all the errors of the faithless. They are fittingly marked by the number two, because, well instructed in the spiritual knowledge of the two Testaments, they are known to carry out the Lord's battle properly. Therefore they kill the ten thousand men left in the military base by Timotheus, since they justly put to death with the spiritual sword, by the authority and severity of the same Law, the associates of the heresiarchs, appointed by them to defend their own wickedness, who hold opinions contrary to the Law of God.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:23

  The question arises how it is that Timotheus is here said to have been released alive by the Jewish leaders out of regard for the humility of his prayers, because he had parents and brothers among many of the Jews, who would happen to be deceived by his death if he were killed; and yet a little earlier it is related that he had been in the military base of Gazara, where he was killed by the soldiers. For if he had then been killed there, in no way could he now here be released alive. This, unless I am mistaken, can be resolved in no other way than that either he is said to have been killed there by prolepsis, or that one Timotheus is to be understood as the one who was killed in the military base of Gazara, and another as this one who is read to have been released by Dositheus and Sosipater. The fact, moreover, that the leaders of Judas, considering the good of their brethren and the redemption of their own people, spared Timotheus, shows that sometimes it is necessary to deal more gently with those who err, not, I say, so that one consents to their iniquity, but that with fatherly devotion one may provide for their weakness, and especially in those places where some fruit from the conversion of those who err is hoped for, so that by ecclesiastical gentleness they may be prompted to flee from the snares of the Devil and to come to catholic freedom. Therefore in the African council it was decreed concerning the Donatist heretics that a milder course be taken with them, where it is written as follows: "After all things had been examined and considered which seemed to be suited to the welfare of the Church, with the assent and admonition of the Spirit of God, we decree to deal gently and peacefully with the aforementioned men, although they hold opinions with restless dissension about the unity of the Lord's body, so that, as far as is in us, it may become thoroughly known to all who in their communion and fellowship are heretics throughout all the African provinces, in what a miserable error they have been overcome; lest at some time, as the Apostle says, while we in gentleness are correcting those who think differently, God should give them repentance for the acknowledging of the truth, and they may come to their senses out of the snares of the Devil, by whom they are held captive at his will (2 Tim. 2:26)."

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:25-27

  We said in the exposition of the previous book, where Timotheus is discussed, that his army signified the crowd of heretics; likewise about the inhabitants of the city of Ephron, that they figuratively represent those who, in the times of grace, diminished the rite of Judaism, namely the Jews themselves and the heretics who wished, along with the Gospel, to keep the ceremonies of the Law. For these, thinking in a carnal way, wished to learn spiritual knowledge and were not able to understand that "Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Rom. 10:4), to the Jew, that is, and to the Gentile. Five thousand are reported as struck down in the Ephronite war, just as in that war which was fought at Carnion, because "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and the prudence of the flesh is death" (1 Cor. 3); "for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (1 Cor. 3:19). Therefore it is likewise said by Paul: "God has made foolish the wisdom of this world" (1 Cor. 1:29). And again: "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14). From this the Apostle James, writing to those who are scattered abroad, says (James 3:14): "If you have bitter zeal and strife in your hearts, do not boast and be false against the truth; for this wisdom does not descend from above, from the highest Father, but is earthly, animal, and devilish." Its followers the prince of battles [the apostles] calls springs or water and clouds driven about by whirlwinds, for whom the gloom of darkness is reserved: they are vain talkers, enticing in the desires of the flesh, of lust, those who barely escape, who live in error; promising them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of corruption (2 Peter 2:17-19). For Judas with his men utterly laid low the hosts of the enemy and won the victory, because the holy teachers, defenders of the truth and attackers of all error, aided by divine help, everywhere take from their enemies the trophy of victory. Therefore they can say with Paul: "But thanks be to God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus and reveals through us the fragrance of his knowledge in every place" (2 Cor. 2:14).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:29

  The Scythopolitans, who treated the Jews kindly and, because of their supports, obtained favor and praise from Judah, signify those who receive holy teachers and confessors of the true faith, and who assist them with bodily comforts as far as they are able: whose reward will not perish in vain; especially since the Lord in the Gospel says to the apostles concerning such people: He who receives you receives me; he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward; and whoever gives a drink to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he will not lose his reward (Matt. 10:41-42.). Therefore John, writing to Gaius in his epistle, says: Beloved, you act faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers, and this for strangers, who have accepted witness to your love before the Church: whom you will do well to send on their way worthily of God, for they went out for the sake of his name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to receive such people, that we may be fellow workers for the truth (3 Jn. 5-8). So also Paul praised this, writing to the Corinthians: I ask you, brothers, you know the household of Stephanas, and of Fortunatus, and of Achaicus, that they are the first fruits of Achaia, and have devoted themselves to the service of the saints: that you also be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. And I rejoice at the presence of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have supplied what was lacking to you: for they have refreshed both my spirit and yours. Acknowledge therefore such men (1 Cor. 16:15-18).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:32-33

  Gorgias, the commander of Idumaea, can well bear the figure of the Devil, who, always delighting in bloody and blood-stained activity, nevertheless sometimes imitates the appearance of virtues, though he himself through vices diligently fights against virtues. Therefore, deceiving by cunning any of the simple ones from the number of the faithful, he kills them; yet he does not obtain daily victory, because rather, under the leadership of Judas, his soldiers call upon the Lord as their helper, and by persevering in prayers and hymns the opposing side, confused by fear, is turned to flight, and the honor of triumph is granted to the true worshipers of God. Therefore Peter, writing to believers in his Epistle, says: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation; casting all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you. Be sober and watchful, for your adversary the Devil, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour; resist him, firm in the faith." (1 Peter 5:6-8) Therefore also it is said through James: "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). But the fact that Dositheus wanted to take Gorgias alive, yet could not, because, his shoulder having been cut off, his enemy escaped, this shows figuratively that the ancient foe is conquered not by human strength but by divine help. For whoever, trusting in his own strength together with the Pelagians, hopes that he can obtain victory over the Devil, indeed does not conquer the enemy, nor does he even keep the condition of his own will unharmed.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:39-40

  These are the men who were struck down by the enemy because of hidden idolatry, and they more fittingly represent those who, in the secret of the heart, pollute themselves through greed and covetousness. They carry ritual offerings of idols beneath their tunic, who outwardly perform works of virtue for the sake of earthly greed or the ambition of human praise, but under the veil of devotion conceal the deceit of wickedness within; such men are deservedly struck down by enemies, because the poison of deceit, which escaped the sight of men, did not deceive the gaze of the inner Judge. That greed and avarice are idolatry is shown by Paul, who says (1 Tim. 6:10): The root of all evils is greed; which some, desiring, have strayed from the faith and have plunged themselves into many sorrows. And again (Eph. 5:5): "This, moreover," he says, "know and understand, that every fornicator, or unclean person, or greedy man, which is idolatrous service, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God; for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience [Vulg. unbelief]." Against this vice, wishing to heal human minds, the Savior teaches in the Gospel, saying: "Take care not to practice your righteousness before men in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 6:1). And again, "See," he says, "and beware of all greed, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15). The mystical Judas, considering that a calamity had come upon his soldiers because of their artificial conduct, does not abandon them, but with fatherly devotion cares for them, both by interceding with prayers for their sins and by correcting their error through the word of preaching and exhortation, so that, once restored again to the practice of virtue, they may from this time watch over themselves more carefully, lest by a similar downfall they fall again into a worse state, according to that passage of the Gospel: "Behold, you have been made whole; do not sin any more, lest something worse happen to you" (Jn. 5:14).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 12:42-43

  That there must indeed be intercession made after the end of this present life for the sins of the faithful, and that works of almsgiving must be performed in order that those for whose remedy the matter is undertaken may be released from sins, is shown both by this passage and by the Lord in the Gospel, where, when speaking of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, he points out that this is an unforgivable sin, saying: "Whoever speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the age to come" (Matt. 12:32). For when he named that one unforgivable sin, he showed that other sins can be forgiven both in the present life and in the life to come. But how one ought to act for the salvation of the departed is shown by the holy Fathers in their writings. Therefore it has seemed good to insert one of the minor works of Saint Augustine into this volume, instructing the reader to seek similar teachings in the writings of the other Fathers; for that revered Father reports in the work which he wrote to Laurentius on Faith, Hope, and Love (1.29.109), speaking therefore: "The time which is interposed between a man's death and the final resurrection keeps souls in hidden receptacles, as each is worthy either of rest or of trial, according to what it obtained in the flesh while it lived. Nor must it be denied that the souls of the departed are relieved by the devotion of their loved ones, when the sacrifice of the Mediator is offered for them or alms are given in the Church; but these things benefit those who, while they were living, so lived that they merited that these things could afterwards profit them: for there is a certain manner of life that is not so good as not to require these helps after death, nor so evil that these helps after death do not benefit it. There is indeed a condition in the good such that it does not require these things, and there is again a condition in the wicked such that, when life has passed, it cannot be helped by them. Therefore, all merit is acquired here by which someone may be either relieved or burdened after this life. Let no one think that, once he has departed, he will obtain from the Lord what he has neglected here. Therefore these practices which the Church frequently performs for the acclaiming of the departed are not contrary to that apostolic sentence in which it is said: 'For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive according to what he has done through the body, whether good or evil' (2 Cor. 5:10), because each person also acquired this merit when he was living in the body, so that these things might be able to profit him. For they do not profit all; and why do they not profit all, except because of the merits of the life which each person lived in the body? When therefore sacrifices, whether of the altar or of whatever alms, are offered for the baptized deceased, for those who were very good they are thanksgivings; for those who were not very evil they are appeasements; for those who were very evil, even if they bring no help to the dead, they are, in whatever way, supports to the living. For those to whom they do profit, they either profit so that full remission may be granted, or so that the condemnation may become more tolerable."

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 13:9-11

  The history that recounts the war of Antiochus Eupator and his steward Lysias against the Jews has already been mentioned in the previous book and there explained also according to allegory. But it is now related in sequence that four thousand men in the king's camp were killed by the Jews during the night, and the greatest of the elephants, together with those stationed on it, was destroyed. This is expressed more clearly in the earlier narration, where it is reported that Eleazar, son of Saura, a Jew, seeing one of the beasts armored in the king's mail and towering above the other beasts, and thinking that the king was in it, broke into the legion, ran under the feet of the elephant, and killed it; but as it fell, the weight of the beast crushed him, and he died. The spiritual meaning of this is explained there, where the arrogance of the proud is shown to be broken by their own effort, as Scripture says: "Everyone who is arrogant is an abomination to God" (Prov. 16:5); and again: "Before destruction the heart is exalted, and before glory it is humbled" (Prov. 16:18); and elsewhere: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6); and in the Gospel the Lord said: "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matt. 23:12).

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 14:3

  What is said, that he sent to the king ankle bones together with a golden crown, and that Alcimus offered the palm, shows that he promised to him royal dignity and victory over enemies, together with the worship of the temple, by bearing these as a sign of his gifts. For such objects are said to be offertory vessels, made in the manner of towers, with which they used to make offerings on the principal feast days; a likeness of which is still found in certain places. The Assideans, moreover, are said to be those Jews who were always devoted to divine worship, called Assideans from their application, as if "the tireless ones"; such were Judas and his helpers in the worship of God and the observance of his law. Others, however, claim that the Assideans are so named from purity, as if "pure Jews," because they kept themselves from idolatry and from the rites of the Gentiles. Demetrius, having heard the report of Alcimus and the others who were enemies of the Jews and supported the accusation, immediately sent Nicanor, the chief officer and commander of the elephants, into Judea,

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees

• 2 Maccabees 14:13

  When Nicanor came into Judea, he first pretended that he wished to have a covenant of peace with the Jews; afterwards, once his hostility was revealed, he showed himself to be a most wicked man rather than a faithful friend. But, overthrown by divine power, he paid the penalty for the blasphemies uttered against God and for his stubbornness; all of which are contained in the narrative of the former book, although certain things that were there omitted because of the haste of the narrator are found inserted in this account. As for the allegorical meaning, it has been explained there on this same matter according to the measure of my small talent, and it does not seem worth the effort to repeat it.

  Commentary on 2 Maccabees