1 Maccabees 2

[Daniel 11:34-35] "And when they shall have fallen, they shall be relieved with a small help; and many shall be joined to them deceitfully. And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be refined as by fire and that they may be chosen and made white even to the time before appointed, because there shall yet be another time." Porphyry thinks that the "little help" was Mattathias of the village of (variant: mountain of) Modin, for he rebelled against the generals of Antiochus and attempted to preserve the worship of the true God (1 Maccabees 2:1-41). He says he is called a little help because Mattathias was slain in battle; and later on his son Judas, who was called Maccabaeus, also fell in the struggle; and the rest of his brothers were likewise taken in by the deceit of their adversaries. Consult the books of Maccabees for the details. And all these events took place, he asserts, for the purpose of testing and choosing out the saints, that they might be made white until the time before appointed, inasmuch as victory was deferred until another time. Our writers, however, would have it understood that the small help shall arise under the reign of the Antichrist, for the saints shall gather together to resist him, and afterwards a great number of the learned shall fall. And this shall take place in order that they may be refined as by fire in the furnace, and that they may be made white and may be chosen out, until the time before determined arrives - for the true victory shall be won at the coming of Christ. Some of the Jews understand these things as applying to the princes Severus and Antoninus, who esteemed the Jews very highly. But others understand the Emperor Julian as the one referred to; for after they had been oppressed by Gaius Caesar and had steadfastly endured such suffering in the afflictions of their captivity, Julian rose up as one who pretended love for the Jews, promising that he would even offer sacrifice in their temple. They were to enjoy a little help from him, and a great number of the Gentiles were to join themselves to their party, although falsely and insincerely. For it would only be for the sake of their own idolatrous religion that they would pretend friendship to the Jews. And they would do this in order that those who were approved might be made manifest. For the time of their true salvation and help will be the coming of the Christ; for the Jews mistakenly imagine that he (i.e., their Messiah) is yet to come, for they are going to receive the Antichrist (when he comes) (1 Corinthians 11).

In the book of Daniel, where mention of this place is made under a riddle, it is found written therefore: And the wicked shall deceitfully mimic the covenant; but the people who know their God shall prevail and act. And the learned among the people shall teach many, and they shall fall by sword, and by flame, and by captivity, and by plunder of days. And when they fall, they shall be helped with a little help, and many shall join them deceitfully. And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be refined, and chosen, and made white, until the appointed time, for there is yet another time. (Dan. 11:32-35)

How much the Jews suffered from Antiochus is related by the present history of the Maccabees, and their triumph is testified by those who, for the preservation of the law of God, endured flames and swords, slavery and plundering, and the utmost punishments. No one doubts that similar things will happen under the Antichrist, with many resisting his power and fleeing in different directions. The Hebrews interpret these events, in the final destruction of the temple which happened under Vespasian and Titus, as meaning that there were many among the people who knew their Lord and were killed for preserving the law. And when they have fallen, he says (Dan. 11:35), they will be helped, and many will join them deceitfully. And some of the learned will fall, so that they may be refined, chosen, and purified until the appointed time, because there will still be another time. The little help historically refers to Mattathias from the village of Modin, who rebelled against the leaders of Antiochus and tried to preserve the worship of the true God. He calls it little help because, after beginning the defense, he lived only a short time, dying after one year, and afterwards his son Judas, called Maccabeus, fell fighting, and the rest of his brothers were deceived by the fraud of their enemies.

But mystically, Mathathias signifies the Lord the Savior, who is the leader of the people of God and the defender of His elect; whose sons fight for the house of Israel, defend the sanctuary of God and the divine law. Moreover, Mathathias is interpreted as the gift of God, the mystery of whose name has revealed to us the ritual of His incarnation. Therefore, He Himself also says in the Gospel: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).

For he who is given by God is the perfect gift of God. But these things have been said only about his incarnation. However, concerning his divinity, by which he is equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit, it must be believed that he, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, accomplishes the same special consideration. Just as the Holy Spirit is read as the gift of God, yet nevertheless, together with the Father and the Son, is believed and worshipped as one God: therefore in the Gospel he is both read as sent and as coming of his own accord, as in the Lord's saying: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete (Jn. 14:16); and again: But when the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth (Jn. 15:26). To Nicodemus he says: The Spirit breathes where he wills, and you hear his voice, but you do not know where he comes or where he goes (Jn. 3:8).

Here therefore Mathathias is described as the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest from the sons of Joarib. John is interpreted as "by the grace of God," Simeon as "hearing," Joarib as "the Lord exalting." These interpretations rightly fit this mystery, because the mediator between God and men can be called the grace of God, as the Apostle says: The grace of God tasted death for men (Heb. 2:9); and "hearing," because he himself says in the Gospel: What I have heard from the Father, these I speak in the world (Jn. 8:26); and "the Lord exalting," of whom the Prophet says: Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength (Ps. 21:13). He himself is rightly called priest, of whom it is written: The Lord has sworn and will not repent: you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4). All the sons of this Mathathias are holy, who are called the members of his body; but how they can be designated by the number five is not wrongly questioned. For so many sons of Mathathias are historically read to have existed, that is, John who was surnamed Gaddis; and Simeon, who was surnamed Tharsi; and Judas, who was surnamed Maccabeus; and Eleazar, who was surnamed Abaron; and Jonathan, who was surnamed Alphus. Let us see, therefore, if this number is found anywhere in the New Testament to express the same thing. We also read the Apostle Paul saying this about Christ to the Ephesians: He who descended is also he who ascended above all the heavens, that he might fill all things; and he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, for the completion of the saints in the work of ministry, for the edification of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:10-12).

Behold, here five types are indicated in those persons whom the divine calling has ordained to the teaching office of the Church. But let us consider how the sons of Mattathias themselves, with the interpretations of their names, can be fitted to these types.

Therefore, the first of his sons is called John, who was surnamed Gaddis. John is also interpreted as "his grace," but Gaddis means "kid" or "my temptation." These names, therefore, fit the order of the apostles very well, unless I am mistaken, who were chosen by the grace of the Lord for the height of this honor, but nevertheless endured many temptations and injuries from sinners and persecutors; which the Savior himself seems to foretell when he says in the Gospel: "I have chosen you out of the world, that you should go and bring forth much fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (Jn. 15:16); and again: "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be therefore wise as serpents, and simple as doves," etc. (Matt. 10:16) Behold, those who are filled with the grace of the Lord are shown to be afflicted not insignificantly by the insults of all evildoers.

The second son of Mattathias was Simeon, who was surnamed Tharsi, and who in most later places is called Simon. Therefore, Simon, or Simeon, means "hearing," or "he has heard sorrow;" Tharsi means "exploration of joy." Nor is it inappropriate that these names suit the order of the prophets, who, illuminated by the grace of the Holy Spirit, both foresee the future punishments of the wicked and, by tasting the comfort of the coming rewards of the saints inwardly, anticipate them; and persuade others to guard against future evils and to desire future goods.

Judas Maccabeus was the third son in order. For Judas is interpreted as confessor or glorifier, and Maccabeus as warrior. This name fits quite well for the evangelists, who preach the Gospel of peace and the glory of Christ throughout the whole world, and drive out the wicked errors of pagans and heretics.

The fourth son, this is Eleazar who was surnamed Abaron, and in the former name signifies "help of God," while in the latter it means "exalted generation"; not without reason is he compared by way of figure to those shepherds who, being sufficiently strengthened by the help of God and exalted in faith and virtues, are appointed as leaders in the Church, so that by feeding the sheep of God with sound faith and good examples, they may rightly lead them to the fertility of the heavenly homeland.

The youngest of these sons was called Jonathan, surnamed Alphus, most fittingly corresponding to the holy teachers according to the interpretation of their names. For Jonathan is interpreted as "gift of the dove," or "the Lord's willing one." Alphus, however, means "fugitive" or "one of a thousand." And these names rightly express the teachers of Christ, who, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, submit themselves willingly to the Lord even unto death: and, having fulfilled the mission of His life, proclaim the law of God in the world, and teach men to flee earthly desires and seek eternal joys, so that there, according to the significance of the number one thousand, with God rewarding them, they may receive the fullness of their reward, and possess true blessedness with Christ and His angels without end.

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

This virtue gives nobility to the soul. But because at times a man may be indignant at another, there is need for gentleness, which is the remedy against irascibility and anger—not that man should never be angry at all, but that he should be so only in the right circumstances of place and time. Hence, he must have both the face of a man and the face of a lion. At times, however, you believe a man to be kind when he remains silent while knowing of another's sin. Such is not kindness. Listen, therefore: it is said of Jesus that He was troubled, and that He made a kind of whip. Hence, in the First Book of the Machabees, it is written: Woe is me! Wherefore was I born to see the ruin of my people and the ruin of the holy city? Jesus is the Lamb and the Lion.

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Jew who sacrificed to idols before the eyes of all signifies bad Catholics, who by their wicked deeds and the mark of sins scandalize their neighbors. For in this they are proved to sacrifice to idols, in that they are shown to be captivated by the principal vices.

Where Paul the Apostle calls greed the service of idols (Gal. 5:20). But the sword of Mattathias slays these over the altar, because the vengeance of the most just judge exercises rightful punishment upon such people. And also he killed the man whom Antiochus had sent, who was convincing them to sacrifice, at that very moment: because on the last day of judgment, not only sinful men, but also the instigators of sinners, namely evil spirits, will receive the deserved punishment of eternal damnation; and at the same time the altar of wickedness will be destroyed, because after the judgment has been completed, no further opportunity to sin will be granted to the wicked.

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

These words of Mattathias prefigured the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, who encourages us daily to leave behind the vanity of this world and to seek the heavenly joys of the kingdom. For he himself says in the Gospel: Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple. Whoever loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not carry his cross daily and follow me is not worthy of me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it (Luke 14:26-33); but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matthew 16:25). For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but suffers the loss of his own soul, or what exchange will a man give for his soul (Luke 9:25)? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works (Matt. 16:27).

For our Redeemer and his innocent sons flee, and they leave behind whatever they have in the city, because through the guidance of Truth himself we desire to ascend to the heights of virtue, and, despising as extra those things which pertain to the luxury of the world, we cast them away. Therefore it is that we read in the Gospel (Matt. 5) that the same Lord led his disciples up the mountain, and there he sat, and there he taught them; there he prayed and there he fed the crowds, so that by his example he might always urge us to go further, to higher and more perfect things, etc.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This fortitude ought to be in every Christian and especially in the leader of the army of the Christian people. It is written in the book of Maccabees that "Judas, strong in might from his youth, let him be your prince of the army, and he shall wage the war of the people." Everyone who receives the care of souls becomes a prince of the army; and when the prince is not good, then the army is in great danger.

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

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

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