1 Maccabees — Chapter 16

Et ascendit Joannes de Gazaris et nuntiavit Simoni

VERSE 1. ET ASCENDIT JOANNES DE GAZARIS ET NUNTIAVIT SIMONI PATRI SUO QUAE FECIT CENDABAEUM IN POPULO IPSORUM. — John went up from Gazara and reported to his father Simon what Cendebeus had done to the people. Lapide begins his commentary on the last chapter of 1 Maccabees. John Hyrcanus (Simon's son and successor) receives the news of Cendebeus's depredations and goes to his father to report them. Simon, now elderly, entrusts the military command to his two older sons Judas and John. Lapide praises Simon's prudent recognition that leadership must be passed on to the next generation while the elder still lives to guide it.

Et vocavit Simon duos filios seniores Judam et Joannem

VERSE 2. ET VOCAVIT SIMON DUOS FILIOS SENIORES JUDAM ET JOANNEM ET AIT ILLIS: EGO ET FRATRES MEI ET DOMUS PATRIS MEI EXPUGNAVIMUS HOSTES ISRAEL AB ADOLESCENTIA USQUE IN HUNC DIEM. — Simon summoned his two older sons Judas and John, and said to them: \"I and my brothers and the house of my father have fought the wars of Israel from our youth until this day.\" Lapide parallels this speech with similar farewell addresses in Scripture: Jacob to his sons (Genesis 49), Moses to Israel (Deuteronomy 31-33), Joshua to Israel (Joshua 24), Mattathias to his sons (1 Maccabees 2:49-68), David to Solomon (1 Chronicles 28-29). The dying patriarchal speech is a recognized literary form in both biblical and classical literature.

Nunc autem senui sed estote loco meo

VERSE 3. NUNC AUTEM SENUI; SED ESTOTE LOCO MEO, ET FRATRES MEI. — \"Now I am old, but you, by the mercy of Heaven, have come to maturity. Take my place and my brother's, and go out and fight for our nation.\" Lapide comments on the phrase \"auxiliary help from Heaven be with you\" (auxilium vero de caelo vobiscum sit) — this is the keynote of the Maccabean spirit: they do not rely on their own strength but call on divine help as their primary resource. He notes that the Greek text adds: \"You are now of the age suitable for fighting, with God's mercy as your helper.\"

Et admovit castra contra faciem eorum ipse et populus

VERSE 6. ET ADMOVIT CASTRA CONTRA FACIEM EORUM IPSE ET POPULUS EJUS ET VIDIT POPULUM TREPIDANTEM AD TRANSFRETANDUM TORRENTEM ET TRANSFRETAVIT PRIMUS. — He brought his troops up to face them and saw that the soldiers were afraid to cross the stream; so he crossed first. When his men saw this, they crossed after him. Lapide praises John Hyrcanus's personal courage in being the first to cross the flooded stream, inspiring his troops to follow. He cites Julius Frontinus's Stratagems (Book 2, Chapter 7) with many examples of commanders who similarly inspired their troops by personal example, including Scipio Africanus, Caesar at Munda, and Leonidas at Thermopylae.

Tunc vulneratus est Judas frater Joannis

VERSE 9. TUNC VULNERATUS EST JUDAS FRATER JOANNIS; JOANNES AUTEM INSECUTUS EST EOS DONEC VENIT CEDRONEM QUAM AEDIFICAVIT. — Then Judas the brother of John was wounded, but John pursued them until he reached Cedron, which Cendebeus had built. Lapide notes that Judas (son of Simon, not Judas Maccabeus) was wounded in this battle but survived. John's pursuit of the fleeing Cendebeus all the way to Cedron (Gezer/Gaza area) and the burning of the surrounding towers demonstrated the completeness of the Maccabean victory. About 2,000 of Cendebeus's soldiers fell that day (verse 10), and John returned to Judea in peace.

Et Ptolemaeus filius Abobi constitutus erat dux

VERSE 11. ET PTOLEMAEUS FILIUS ABOBI CONSTITUTUS ERAT DUX IN CAMPO JERICHO ET HABEBAT ARGENTUM ET AURUM MULTUM. — Ptolemy the son of Abubus had been appointed governor over the plain of Jericho; he had much silver and gold, for he was the son-in-law of the high priest. Lapide identifies Ptolemy as a classic historical type: the ambitious relative who murders his benefactor for power. He was Simon's own son-in-law, appointed by Simon to a position of authority, and used that position to murder Simon and two of his sons. The contrast with John Hyrcanus's loyalty is stark. Lapide asks rhetorically: \"What will not ambition and the lust for power dare?\" (\"Quid non audet ambitio et regnandi libido?\")

Et exaltatum est cor ejus et volebat obtinere regionem

VERSE 13. ET EXALTATUM EST COR EJUS ET VOLEBAT OBTINERE REGIONEM ET COGITABAT DOLUM ADVERSUS SIMONEM ET FILIOS EJUS UT TOLLERET EOS. — His heart was lifted up; he wished to take control of the country. He plotted treachery against Simon and his sons, to do away with them. Lapide analyzes the psychology of Ptolemy's ambition: the combination of wealth, power, and proximity to the high priest created the conditions for the temptation to seek supreme power. He draws on Aristotle's Politics and Augustine's City of God for the analysis of how the libido dominandi (lust for domination) destroys moral reasoning.

Simon autem perambulans civitates quae erant in regione

VERSE 14. SIMON AUTEM PERAMBULANS CIVITATES QUAE ERANT IN REGIONE JUDAE ET SOLLICITUDINEM GERENS EARUM DESCENDIT IN JERICHO. — Simon was visiting the cities of the country and attending to their needs. He went down to Jericho with his sons Mattathias and Judas, in the year 177 (Seleucid era = 134 BC), in the eleventh month (which is the month of Sebat). Lapide notes that this detail — Simon was fulfilling his pastoral duty as leader, \"visiting the cities and attending to their needs\" — makes his murder all the more poignant. He was killed in the very act of serving his people. Lapide calculates that Simon led Israel for seven full years (170-177 Seleucid era), dying about 134 years before Christ.

Et suscepit eos filius Abobi in munitiunculam

VERSE 15. ET SUSCEPIT EOS FILIUS ABOBI IN MUNITIUNCULAM QUAE VOCATUR DOCH CUM DOLO QUAM AEDIFICAVIT ET FECIT EIS CONVIVIUM MAGNUM ET ABSCONDIT ILLIC VIROS. — The son of Abubus received them treacherously in the little stronghold called Dok, which he had built; he gave them a great banquet and hid men there. Lapide sees the perfidy of this action as surpassing almost any other betrayal in Scripture: Ptolemy used the sacredness of hospitality — the banquet, the shared table — as the instrument of murder. This violation of the laws of hospitality was regarded in antiquity as one of the most heinous crimes possible.

Et cum inebriatus esset Simon et filii ejus

VERSE 16. ET CUM INEBRIATUS ESSET SIMON ET FILII EJUS SURREXIT PTOLEMAEUS CUM SUIS ET SUMPSERUNT ARMA SUA ET INTRAVERUNT IN CONVIVIUM ET OCCIDERUNT EUM ET DUOS FILIOS EJUS ET QUOSDAM PUEROS EJUS. — When Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy and his men rose up, took their weapons, rushed in against Simon at the banquet, and killed him and his two sons and some of his servants. Lapide notes that \"inebriatus\" need not mean that Simon was drunkenly intoxicated — Vatablus translates it \"when he was satisfied with drink,\" and Nonius Marcellus explains that \"ebrius\" is used of anyone satisfied or filled with anything. Simon was not necessarily drunk in the sinful sense but merely relaxed and off guard at the banquet.

Et praecurrens quidem nuntiavit Joanni in Gazara

VERSE 21. ET PRAECURRENS QUIDEM NUNTIAVIT JOANNI IN GAZARA QUIA PERIIT PATER EJUS ET FRATRES EJUS ET QUIA MISIT TE QUOQUE INTERFICI. — A runner came ahead and reported to John at Gazara that his father and brothers had perished, and that he had sent men to kill John also. Lapide reflects on divine providence: God preserved John Hyrcanus from Ptolemy's assassination attempt by sending a messenger ahead, so that when Ptolemy's men arrived, John was ready. He killed them before they could kill him. This divinely preserved young man was to rule Israel for thirty-one years as John Hyrcanus I, and his descendants would provide the bridge between the Maccabees and the coming of Christ.

Et cetera sermonum Joannis et bellorum ejus

VERSE 23. ET CETERA SERMONUM JOANNIS ET BELLORUM EJUS ET BONARUM VIRTUTUM QUIBUS FORTITER GESSIT ET AEDIFICII MURORUM QUOS EXSTRUXIT ET RERUM GESTARUM EJUS. — The rest of the acts of John and his wars and the brave deeds that he did, and the building of the walls that he built, and his achievements — they are written in the annals of his high priesthood, from the time that he became high priest after his father. Lapide uses this closing verse to summarize the entire significance of 1 Maccabees. He notes that John Hyrcanus ruled for thirty-one years, conquered the Idumeans and forced them to accept circumcision (from whom Herod the Great descended), destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim, sent legates to Rome to renew the alliance, and first added the title \"King\" (alongside High Priest) to the Hasmonean office, though Lapide notes that the first actually to use the royal title with a crown was his son Aristobulus. Finally, Lapide draws the grand arc of the story: the Hasmonean dynasty lasted 130 years, until under Aristobulus II Roman power (under Pompey) captured Jerusalem, and God \"removed the scepter from Judah\" (Genesis 49:10) — the sign that the Messiah, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, had come.