Cornelius on the death of Antiochus IV in the books of Maccabees

 

 

The Death of Antiochus IV

1 Maccabees 6

ET REX ANTIOCHUS.) Epiphanes cum quo hucusque Iudæ et Iudæis fuit contentio et bellum. Hic ergo perrexit ELMAIDEM, quæ alio nomine dicta est Persepolis, id est Persarum civitas, imo metropolis, 2. Machab. 9. ut expilaret TEMPLUM IN EA LOCUPLES, Veneri dicatum; sed a civibus fuit repulsus. Hebræi enim Persiam vocant Elam, unde Elamitas appellant Persas, et Elymaidam, quam Græci vocant Persepolim. Sic Hebr. Bethsames a Græcis vocatur Heliopolis, a Latinis civitas solis. Sic Simon Hebr. vocatur Chananæus, Græce Zelotes, Latine Æmulator. Porro templum hoc Veneri fuisse dicatum asserit Appianus, licet Ioseph. et S. Hier. in c. 8. Daniel. putent fuisse Dianæ, Iustinus vero libr. 32. Iovis Dindymæi. REVERSUS EST IN BABYLONIAM.) Ibique mærore mortuus anno regni sui duodecimo qui fuit Græcorum annus 149. fuse mors eius describitur lib. 2. cap. 9. Nota: Reversus est, id est reverti cœpit, perrexit Babylonem, sed eo non pervenit, mortuus enim est in montibus Persidis et Mediæ iuxta Ecbatanam, ut dicitur l. 2. c. 9. v. 3. et 27. τό ergo reversus significat actum inchoatum, non perfectum: unde pro ἀποστρέψας id est reversus est, Græca, Vaticana et Regia habent ἀποστρέψαι, id est reverti, sive ut reverteretur, hoc est, abscessit inde repetens Babyloniam, ut vertit Vatab. Quocirca Perer. in Daniel. cap. 11. et Salianus censent Antiochum defunctum in montibus Mediæ, licet Serarius malit eum ibi graviter ægrotare cœpisse, sed Babylone esse defunctum. ET QUIA DIRUERUNT (Iudas et Iudæi) ABOMINATIONEM, id est abominabile idolum Iovis Olympii, quod Antiochus super altare in templo collocarat: ET SANCTIFICATIONEM, id est sanctuarium, sive sanctum templum CIRCUMDEDERUNT MURIS. NUNC VERO REMINISCOR MALORUM.) Ecce conscientia scelerum arguit, ut agnoscat se ob sua scelera et sacrilegia contra Deum, templum et Iudæos commissa cruciari et ad mortem adigi. En quam verum: Conscientia mille testes! id patet in Caino vago et profugo ob cædem fratris Abelis, Genes. 4. in fratribus Iosephum vendentibus, Gen. 42. 21. in Iuda proditore, Matth. 27. 4. Urgente enim pœna, statim conscientia menti culpam quasi pœnæ causam in memoriam revocat, eamque sua increpatione castigat et pulsat. ET DEDIT EI PHILIPPO sibi intimo DIADEMA ET STOLAM SUAM ET ANNULUM.) Ut ea quasi regis insignia deferret ad filium suum Ant. Eupatorem puerum, eumque educaret et dirigeret quasi pædagogus, ac sibi in regno substitueret curando, ut ipse regnaret, ne Demetrius eius consobrinus regnum invaderet, uti re ipsa fecit. ET COGNOVIT LYSIAS, QUONIAM (quod) MORTUUS EST REX ANTIOCHUS (Epiphanes) ET CONSTITUIT REGNARE (ut regnaret, hoc est regem proclamavit) ANTIOCHUM FILIUM EIUS (novennem, ait Appianus in Syriaco) ET VOCAVIT NOMEN EIUS EUPATOR.) Id est bono et felici patre natus, magnis natalibus ortus; Epiphanis, id est illustris patris generosus et illustris filius. Sic εὐπατρια vocatur generosa filia. Et εὐπατρίδαι dicti sunt a Theseo nobiles Atheniensium, teste Plutar. in Theseo, qui et in Publicola Patricios Romanorum vocat εὐπατρίδας, idemque nomen Budæus in Epist. Doctor. Venetis attribuit. Aliter Pagnin. in nomin. Hebr. Eupator, inquit, idem est quod bonus pater, id est bonus Princeps. Hic enim subditos amat quasi filios, eisque se benignum et beneficum quasi patrem exhibet. Prius etymon videtur aptius et verius. Nam Syri, ait Appianus in Syriaco, Antiocho cognomen addiderunt Eupatori propter patris virtutem, quasi dicerent eum felicem, cui talis pater contigisset. ET HI QUI ERANT IN ARCE.) q. d. Milites Antiochi occupantes arcem Sion, scientes Iudam cum copiis abesse, excurrendo continuo vexabant præsidiarios paucos, quos Iudas in arce vicina priori obiecta ad eos compescendum collocarat; quin et CONCLUSERANT ISRAEL IN CIRCUITU SANCTORUM, (ut extra suam arcem et templum pedem efferre non auderent: atque hac ratione augebatur semper) FIRMAMENTUM GENTIUM.) Hoc est, robur et fortitudo Antiochistarum. Quare Iudas cum toto exercitu eos arcemque Sion obsedit anno 150. Græcorum, qui fuit annus secundus Eupatoris.

AND KING ANTIOCHUS.) Epiphanes, with whom up to this point there had been strife and war between the Jews and the Jewish people. This king therefore proceeded to ELMAIS, which by another name is called Persepolis, that is, the city of the Persians, indeed the metropolis, 2 Macc. 9, in order to plunder the TEMPLE there, which was richly endowed and dedicated to Venus; but he was repulsed by the citizens. For the Hebrews call Persia Elam, whence they name the Persians Elamites, and Elymais, which the Greeks call Persepolis. Thus the Hebrew Bethshemesh is called Heliopolis by the Greeks, and "city of the sun" by the Latins. Thus Simon in Hebrew is called the Cananaean, in Greek the Zealot, in Latin the Emulator. Furthermore, Appian asserts that this temple was dedicated to Venus, although Josephus and St. Jerome in Dan. ch. 8 think it was to Diana, while Justin in book 32 [says it was] to Jupiter of Dindymus. HE RETURNED TO BABYLONIA.) And there he died of grief in the twelfth year of his reign, which was the 149th year of the Greeks; his death is described at length in book 2, ch. 9. Note: He returned, that is, he began to return; he headed toward Babylon, but did not reach it, for he died in the mountains of Persia and Media near Ecbatana, as stated in book 2, ch. 9, vv. 3 and 27. The word "ergo reversus" therefore signifies an action begun, not completed: whence for the Greek ἀποστρέψας, that is "he turned back," the Vatican and Royal [manuscripts] have ἀποστρέψαι, that is "to turn back," or "that he might return," that is, he departed from there intending to return to Babylonia, as Vatablus translates. Therefore Pererius on Dan. ch. 11 and Salianus judge that Antiochus died in the mountains of Media, although Serarius prefers that he began to fall gravely ill there, but died in Babylon. AND BECAUSE THEY (Judas and the Jews) HAD DESTROYED THE ABOMINATION, that is, the abominable idol of Jupiter Olympius, which Antiochus had placed upon the altar in the temple: AND HAD FORTIFIED THE SANCTUARY, that is, the sanctuary or holy temple, WITH WALLS. NOW I RECALL THE EVILS.) Behold, the conscience of his crimes reproaches him, so that he acknowledges he is being tormented and driven to death because of his crimes and sacrileges committed against God, the temple, and the Jews. How true it is: Conscience is a thousand witnesses! This is evident in Cain, wandering and fugitive because of the murder of his brother Abel (Gen. 4); in the brothers who sold Joseph (Gen. 42:21); in the betrayer Judas (Matt. 27:4). For when punishment presses, conscience immediately recalls the guilt to the mind as if it were the cause of the punishment, and rebukes and strikes it with its own reproach. AND HE GAVE TO PHILIP, his close friend, THE DIADEM AND HIS ROBE AND RING.) So that he might carry these as royal insignia to his son, the boy Antiochus Eupator, and educate and guide him as a pedagogue, and manage the kingdom in his place so that he himself might reign, lest his cousin Demetrius seize the kingdom—as in fact he did. AND LYSIAS KNEW THAT KING ANTIOCHUS (Epiphanes) HAD DIED AND APPOINTED HIS SON ANTIOCHUS TO REIGN (that he might reign, that is, he proclaimed him king), who was nine years old, as Appian says in his Syriaca, AND CALLED HIS NAME EUPATOR.) That is, born of a good and fortunate father, sprung from great lineage; son of Epiphanes, that is, the noble and illustrious son of an illustrious father. Thus εὐπατρια is called a noble daughter. And εὐπατρίδαι were the nobles of the Athenians appointed by Theseus, as Plutarch testifies in his life of Theseus, who also in his life of Publicola calls the Roman patricians εὐπατρίδας, and Budaeus in his Epistles attributes the same name to the Doctors of Venice. Alternatively, according to Pagninus in Hebrew names, Eupator means "good father," that is, a good Prince. For such a one loves his subjects as if they were sons, and shows himself kind and beneficent to them as a father. The first etymology seems more fitting and true. For the Syrians, as Appian says in his Syriaca, added the surname Eupator to Antiochus because of his father's virtue, as if saying he was fortunate to have had such a father. AND THOSE WHO WERE IN THE CITADEL.) That is, the soldiers of Antiochus occupying the citadel of Zion, knowing that Judas was away with his forces, by making continual sorties harassed the few garrison troops whom Judas had placed in the nearby citadel facing the former one to restrain them; moreover, THEY HAD ENCLOSED ISRAEL ROUND ABOUT THE SANCTUARY, (so that they dared not set foot outside their own citadel and temple: and in this way there was always an increase in) THE STRENGTH OF THE GENTILES.) That is, the power and strength of the Antiochians. Therefore Judas with his entire army besieged them and the citadel of Zion in the 150th year of the Greeks, which was the second year of Eupator.

 

2 Maccabees 1: Uncertain Antiochus

NAM CUM IN PERSIDE ESSET DUX IPSE ( ) q. d. Cum Ant. Sedetex, rex et dux exercitus, Persidem invaderet, et CUM IPSO IMMENSUS ( Græce: ἀμύθητος id est irrevocibilis, cui resisti vix poterat ) EXERCITUS, CECIDIT ( Græce: κατεκόπησαν id est, percussi sunt ) IN TEMPLO NANÆÆ. Dissentiunt a Scriptura et inter se historici profani (idenque non eis, sed S. Script. hic credendum est) de modo necis et mortis Ant. Sedetis. Nam Ioseph. et Iust. l. 38. asserunt eum in prælio a Parthis sive Persis occisum : Appianus in Syriacis asserit eum a Parthis victum seipsum interemisse. Ælianus l. 10. de anim. cap. 34. eum se præcipitem dedisse. Eusebius : Arsaces Parthus, inquit, Antiochum interfecit. Alii putant eum a fratre suo Demetrio ab Arsace dimisso, ac regnum suum repetente fuisse occisum. Verum hæc dissensio arguit eos nil certi hac de re habuisse, ac variis falsisque vulgi rumoribus fidem habuisse. Quare credendum est S. Script. quæ hic asserit eum in templo Nanææ, cum illud expilare vellet, a sacerdotibus lapidatum et occisum. Porro Nanæa erat dea Gentilium, quæ vel fuit Diana, ut opinatur S. Thom. Lyr. Perer. et Pagnin. in nom. Hebr. Nanæa, ait, lingua persica est Diana, vel potius Venus, uti ex Agathia, Beroso, Clemente, Athenodoro, Symmacho, Gyraldo et aliis ostendit Serarius et Salianus ; Persæ enim tum Venerem, quam Dianam colebant; sed quæ sequuntur magis congruunt Veneri ETENIM CUM EA HABITATURUS VENIT AD LOCUM ( templum Nanææ ) ANTIOCHUS, ET AMICI EIUS, ET UT ACCIPERET PECUNIAS MULTAS DOTIS NOMINE. ) Pro habitaturus Græce est συνοικῶν, id est, habitaturus cum illa quasi cum coniuge sua. Finxit ergo Antiochus se cum dea Nanæa velle coniugium inire, ut hoc honesto prætextu templum eius expilaret, quasi omnia eius donaria loco dotis accepturus foret; sed sacerdotes fraudem et spolium subodorati dotem non gesserunt, sed lapidam deferunt, id est lapidaverunt et occiderunt. Porro prisci reges nonnulli olim volebant haberi quasi dii quidam terrestres, ac proin de cum deabus coniugia se inire iactabant. Audi Senecam l. 4. suasoriarum: Desponderant Athenienses Antonio in matrimonium Minervam; Antonius ait se ducturum, sed dotis nomine imperare se illis mille talenta. Sic Antiochus Gryphus Laodice se mari- tum iactavit, Numa Egeriae, Anchises Veneris ( ex qua fingitur Aeneam genuisse ), Heliogabalus Uraniae, Peleus Thetidis, unde nonnulli putant a Peleo ritum illum manasse, quo Veneti Thetidem, id est mare quotannis in festo Ascensionis solemni ritu laeto in more stionis sponsalitia sibi despondent. Porro horum cum deabus regalium connubiorum luculenti testes sunt Iosephus, Plutare in vita Marci Crassi, Xiphilinus, Herodotus, Isocrates et Svetonius, qui in vita C. Caligulæ capite 22. scribit eum se Veneris maritum vindicasse. CUMQUE PROPOSUISSENT ( promisissent Ant. Sedeti se illi pro dote daturos ) EAS ( pecunias ) SACERDOTES NANÆÆ, ET IPSE CUM PAUCIS INGRESSUS ESSET INTRA AMBITUM FANI ( quasi sacros nuptiarum ritus celebraturi ) CLAUSERUNT TEMPLUM. ) CUM INTRASSET ANTIOCHUS, APERTOQUE OCCULTO ADITU TEMPLI ( in superiori laqueari, vel in parietibus templi inde ) MITTENTES LAPIDES ( Græce: lapidibus fulminantes ) PERCUSSERUNT DUCEM ( regem Ant. Sedetem ) ET DIVISERUNT MEMBRATIM, ET CAPITIBUS AMPUTATIS FORAS PROIECE RUNT. ) In eius milites et vulgus spargentes Sedetem cum suis ab aliquo Deo Antiochi rivali, qui deam Nanæam sibi ambiebat sponsam, cæsum et fulminatum esse, ne ipsi quasi necis auctores a militibus Sedetis cæderentur. Atque hinc tum varie in vulgus de morte Sedetis, utpote occulta, manarunt sententiæ, quas ex Iustino, Appiano et aliis recensui versu 13. Itaque Iudæi hic pro cæso Sedete tanto tyranno et hoste suo Deo gratias agunt. Quare ridicule Scaliger et nonnulli alii scribunt Antiochum in templo Nanææ non cæsum, sed fuga elapsum solum Antiochiam rediisse. FACTURI IGITUR QUINTA ET VIGESIMA DIE MENSIS CASLEU PURIFICATIONEM TEMPLI. ) Hoc est celebraturi die 25. Casleu festum Encæniorum in memoriam purificationis et novæ dedicationis templi factæ a Iuda Machabæo. I. Machab. 4. v. 52. NECESSARIUM DUXIMUS SIGNIFICARE VOBIS, UT ET VOS QUOQUE AGATIS DIEM SCENOPEGIÆ ( id est festum Encæniorum simile Scenopegiæ ut dixi versu 9. ) ET DIEM IGNIS. ) Eodem enim die 25. Casleu. cum in Encæniis iam dictis offerrent sacrificia, ignis a Deo cœlitus in illis missus fuit ad ea comburendum, ideoque institutum est festum dati ignis, quod eodem die 25. Casleu, vel certo postero die ( ut festum Ignis proprium sibi haberet diem ) celebrabatur : cuius rei historia fuse in sequentibus enarratur. NAM CUM IN PERSIDEM ( id est in Chaldæam sive in Babylonem a Nabuchodonosor ) DUCERENTUR PATRES NOSTRI. ) Chaldæa hic vocatur Persis, tum quia multi Iudæi abducti in Chaldæam sparsi fuere per Persiam, Mediam, aliasque regiones Chaldæis subditas ; tum quia tempore Nehemiæ, quo datus fuit ignis, monarchia Chaldæorum translata erat ad Persas; tum enim Artaxerxes rex Persarum dominabatur tam Chaldæis quam Persis; quare omnes regiones tunc Persis subiectæ, inter quas erat Chaldæa, vocantur Persis, uti ex S. Chrys. Lucano et aliis probat Serarius. ACCEPTUM IGNEM DE ALTARI OCCULTE ABSCONDERUNT IN VALLE, UBI ERAT PUTEUS ALTUS ET SICCUS. ) Id est ignem in puteo, qui erat in valle, absconderunt. Ignis hic, ut patet Levit. 9. 24. primitus a Deo datus fuit Aaroni, cum is primo in altari a Mose fabricato sacrificium obtulit ; hoc enim igne cælesti concrematum fuit, ut scilicet Deus illud approbaret, sibique gratum ostenderet : unde et iussit illum ignem additis lignis et fomentis deinceps semper conservari, ut non nisi illo igne divino posterorum sacrificia Deo comburerentur. Levit. 6. 12. unde cap. 10. 61. Deus occidit Nadab et Abio, eo quod igne profano thurificassent. Exciso vero a Chaldæis cum urbe altari et templo, ignem hunc ne periret sacerdotes extulerunt et absconderunt in valle et puteo iam dicto, sperantes Deum ignem hunc post suum e Babylone reditum resuscitaturum. Ita Rupert. lib. 10. de victor. verbi Dei cap. 18. Ignem, ait, morientem, qui nutriri non poterat. qui ubi nutriretur non habebat, illi remittendum commiserunt, in quo est spes resurrectionis mortuorum, nec esa fefellit spes. Quomodo ? quia hunc eorum spem Deus hic per Nehemiam explicuit. Simili modo horum sacerdotum fidem, spem et pietatem laudat S. Ambr. lib. 1. Offic. cap. 11.Non illis, inquit, studio fuit aurum defodere, argentum abscondere, quod servarent posteris suis, sed inter extrema sua honestatis curam habentes sacrum ignem servandum putarunt: ne eum vel impurum contaminaret, vel defunctorum sanguis extingueret, vel deformium ruinarum acervus obolercet. Abierunt itaque in Persidem solo religioso liberi, quoniam solo illis per captivitatem extorqueri nequivit. Post plurimum vero temporis, quando placuit Deo, dedit hanc mentem regi Persarum, ut instaurari in Iudæa templum, et legitimos reparari Hierosolymis usus iuberet. Cuius gratia numeris Nehemiam sacerdotem rex Persarum direxit. At ille secum direxit illorum sacerdotum nepotes, qui profecturi de patria solo, sacrum ne periret, ignem absconderant. UT MITTARETUR NEHEMIAS A REGE PERSIDIS. ) Nehemias ter missus fuit a rege Persidis in Iudæam, primo a Cyro anno primo monarchiæ eius : tunc enim Nehemias cum Zorobabel, Esdra et Iesu Pont. e captivitate Babylonica rediit in Ierusalem, adeoque unus fuit e redeuntium primoribus et ducibus, ut patet 1. Esdræ 2. v. 2. et Nehemiæ 7. v. 7. et 65. Secundo missus fuit ab Artaxerxe Longimano an. regni eius 20. Nehem. 2. 1. Tertio, ab eodem missus fuit an. regni sui 32. ut patet Nehem. ult. v. 6. Quæritur ergo de qua missione hic sit sermo, et consequenter quando contigerit hæc missio ignis de cælo facta Nehemiæ? Franc. Ribera lib. 5. de templo cap. 17. verisimiliter hæc de secunda missione accipit; hæc enim propria fuit missio solius Nehemiæ. Quare hæc corrigisse an. 20. Artaxerxis in festo Tabernaculorum, quod primum solemniter celebravit Nehemias post suum e Perside reditum, ut patet Nehem. 7. ideoque ille festo, cum ipse iuxta legem sacrificia statuta offerret, ignem e cælo a Deo

**FOR WHEN THE LEADER HIMSELF WAS IN PERSIA ()** **that is,** When Ant. Sedetex [Antiochus VII Sidetes], king and leader of the army, invaded Persia, **AND WITH HIM AN IMMENSE** (in Greek: ἀμύθητος, that is, irresistible, against which resistance was scarcely possible) **ARMY, HE FELL** (in Greek: κατεκόπησαν, that is, they were struck down) **IN THE TEMPLE OF NANÆA.** Profane historians disagree with Scripture and among themselves (and in this matter credence must be given not to them, but to Holy Scripture) concerning the manner of the death and killing of Ant. Sidetes. For Josephus and Justin in book 38 assert that he was slain in battle by the Parthians or Persians; Appian in his Syriaca asserts that, defeated by the Parthians, he killed himself. Ælian in book 10 de animalibus ch. 34 [says] that he threw himself headlong. Eusebius: Arsaces the Parthian, he says, killed Antiochus. Others think he was slain by his brother Demetrius, sent by Arsaces and reclaiming his kingdom. But this disagreement argues that they had no certain knowledge in this matter, and gave credence to various and false popular rumors. Wherefore credence must be given to Holy Scripture, which here asserts that he was stoned and killed in the temple of Nanæa by the priests when he wished to plunder it. Furthermore, Nanæa was a goddess of the Gentiles, who was either Diana, as St. Thomas, Lyranus, Pererius, and Pagninus think (Nanæa, says [Pagninus], in the Persian language is Diana), or rather Venus, as Serarius and Salianus show from Agathias, Berosus, Clement, Athenodorus, Symmachus, Giraldus, and others; for the Persians then worshiped both Venus and Diana; but what follows agrees more with Venus. **FOR WHEN ANTIOCHUS CAME TO THE PLACE (the temple of Nanæa) INTENDING TO MARRY HER, BOTH HE AND HIS FRIENDS, AND THAT HE MIGHT RECEIVE MUCH MONEY IN THE NAME OF DOWRY.)** For "habitaturus" in Greek is συνοικῶν, that is, intending to dwell with her as with his wife. Therefore Antiochus pretended that he wished to enter into marriage with the goddess Nanæa, so that under this honorable pretext he might plunder her temple, as if he were to receive all her gifts in place of a dowry; but the priests, suspecting the fraud and plunder, did not bring the dowry, but brought stones—that is, they stoned and killed him. Furthermore, certain ancient kings formerly wished to be regarded as certain terrestrial gods, and therefore boasted that they were entering into marriages with goddesses. Hear Seneca in book 4 of the Suasoriae: The Athenians had betrothed Minerva to Antony in marriage; Antony said he would marry her, but demanded that they pay him a thousand talents in the name of dowry. Thus Antiochus Grypus [boasted of marrying] Laodice, Numa [married] Egeria, Anchises Venus (from whom he is feigned to have begotten Aeneas), Heliogabalus Urania, Peleus Thetis—whence some think that from Peleus originated that rite by which the Venetians annually on the feast of the Ascension solemnly and joyfully betroth Thetis, that is, the sea, to themselves in the manner of spousal. Furthermore, splendid witnesses of these royal marriages with goddesses are Josephus, Plutarch in the life of Marcus Crassus, Xiphilinus, Herodotus, Isocrates, and Suetonius, who in the life of C. Caligula ch. 22 writes that he claimed himself as the husband of Venus. **AND WHEN THE PRIESTS OF NANÆA HAD SET FORTH (promised to Ant. Sidetes that they would give him as dowry) THOSE (moneys), AND HE HIMSELF WITH A FEW HAD ENTERED WITHIN THE ENCLOSURE OF THE TEMPLE** (as if to celebrate the sacred marriage rites) **THEY CLOSED THE TEMPLE.)** **WHEN ANTIOCHUS HAD ENTERED, AND A HIDDEN ENTRANCE TO THE TEMPLE HAD BEEN OPENED** (in the upper ceiling, or in the walls of the temple thence) **CASTING STONES** (in Greek: striking with stones like lightning) **THEY STRUCK THE LEADER** (king Ant. Sidetes) **AND CUT HIM LIMB FROM LIMB, AND HAVING CUT OFF THE HEADS THEY THREW THEM OUT.)** Scattering [them] to his soldiers and the crowd, [claiming] that Sidetes with his men had been slain and struck by lightning by some god rival of Antiochus who sought the goddess Nanæa as his bride, lest they themselves, as authors of the killing, be slain by Sidetes' soldiers. And thence various opinions about the death of Sidetes, as it was hidden, spread among the people, which I recounted from Justin, Appian, and others in verse 13. And thus the Jews here give thanks to God for the slaying of Sidetes, so great a tyrant and their enemy. Wherefore Scaliger and certain others ridiculously write that Antiochus was not slain in the temple of Nanæa, but escaped by flight and returned only to Antioch. **THEREFORE THEY INTENDED ON THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY OF THE MONTH OF CASLEU TO PERFORM THE PURIFICATION OF THE TEMPLE.)** That is, to celebrate on the 25th of Casleu the feast of the Encænia in memory of the purification and new dedication of the temple performed by Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc. 4:52). **WE THOUGHT IT NECESSARY TO NOTIFY YOU, THAT YOU ALSO MIGHT KEEP THE DAY OF SCENOPEGIA** (that is, the feast of the Encænia similar to Scenopegia, as I said in verse 9) **AND THE DAY OF THE FIRE.)** For on the same day, the 25th of Casleu, when they were offering sacrifices in the aforesaid Encænia, fire was sent from heaven by God upon them to consume them, and therefore the feast of the given fire was instituted, which was celebrated on the same 25th of Casleu, or certainly on the following day (so that the feast of the Fire might have its own proper day): the history of which matter is fully narrated in what follows. **FOR WHEN OUR FATHERS WERE BEING LED INTO PERSIA** (that is, into Chaldea or into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar). **Chaldea here is called Persia,** both because many Jews led away into Chaldea were scattered through Persia, Media, and other regions subject to the Chaldeans; and because in the time of Nehemiah, when the fire was given, the monarchy of the Chaldeans had been transferred to the Persians; for then Artaxerxes king of the Persians ruled both Chaldeans and Persians; wherefore all regions then subject to the Persians, among which was Chaldea, are called Persia, as Serarius proves from St. Chrysostom, Lucanus, and others. **HAVING TAKEN FIRE FROM THE ALTAR THEY SECRETLY HID IT IN A VALLEY, WHERE THERE WAS A DEEP AND DRY WELL.)** That is, they hid the fire in a well that was in a valley. This fire, as is clear from Lev. 9:24, was first given by God to Aaron when he first offered sacrifice on the altar built by Moses; for it was consumed by this heavenly fire, so that God might approve it and show it pleasing to Himself: whence He also commanded that this fire be henceforth always preserved by adding wood and fuel, so that the sacrifices of posterity might be burned to God only with that divine fire (Lev. 6:12); whence in ch. 10:1 God killed Nadab and Abihu because they had offered incense with profane fire. But when the altar and temple were destroyed by the Chaldeans, the priests carried out this fire lest it perish and hid it in the valley and well already mentioned, hoping that God would revive this fire after their return from Babylon. Thus Rupert in book 10 de victoria verbi Dei ch. 18: The dying fire, he says, which could not be nourished, which had no place to be nourished, they committed to the well, in which is the hope of the resurrection of the dead, nor did the hope deceive. How? Because God here fulfilled their hope through Nehemiah. In a similar way St. Ambrose praises the faith, hope, and piety of these priests in book 1 Officiorum ch. 11: It was not their zeal, he says, to bury gold, to hide silver, which they might preserve for their posterity, but amid their extremities having care for honesty, they thought the sacred fire must be preserved: lest either the impure contaminate it, or the blood of the slain extinguish it, or the heap of deformed ruins cover it. They departed therefore into Persia free only in religious soil, since only the soil could not be extorted from them through captivity. But after much time, when it pleased God, He gave this mind to the king of the Persians, that he order the temple to be restored in Judea, and the legitimate rites to be repaired in Jerusalem. By whose grace the king of the Persians sent the priest Nehemiah. But he sent with him the descendants of those priests who, departing from their native soil, had hidden the sacred fire lest it perish. **THAT NEHEMIAH MIGHT BE SENT BY THE KING OF PERSIA.)** Nehemiah was sent three times by the king of Persia to Judea: first by Cyrus in the first year of his monarchy; for then Nehemiah returned from the Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Jesus the High Priest, and thus was one of the leaders and chiefs of those returning, as is clear from 1 Esdras 2:2 and Nehemiah 7:7 and 65. Secondly he was sent by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the 20th year of his reign (Neh. 2:1). Thirdly, he was sent by the same in the 32nd year of his reign, as is clear from Neh. last v. 6. Therefore it is asked concerning which sending speech is here, and consequently when this sending of fire from heaven happened to Nehemiah? Francisco Ribera in book 5 de templo ch. 17 plausibly takes this of the second sending; for this was the proper sending of Nehemiah alone. Wherefore this happened in the 20th year of Artaxerxes in the feast of Tabernacles, which Nehemiah first solemnly celebrated after his return from Persia, as is clear from Neh. 7; and therefore in that feast, when he himself was offering the sacrifices prescribed by the law, the fire from heaven by God...

 

 

 

2 Maccabees 9

 

Mors hæc Antiochi breviter narrata fuit lib. 1. c. 6. sed hic fusius recensetur ad Judæorum ab eo afflictorum consolationem, et ad perpetuum vindictæ divinæ in impios et sacrilegos exemplum. INTRAVERAT ENIM IN EAM (provinciam sive regionem et ditionem Persidis) QUÆ (e primaria ejus urbe sive metropoli) DICITUR PERSEPOLIS (Græce; nam Heb. dicitur Elam sive Elymais, ut patet cap. 6. 1. & c. 4. quum Prior. 1. 8. in Daniel. addita. Et sicco meus contrador, arbitratur fuisse Susan.) q. d. Antiochus ingressus est ditionem Persepolis cum exercitu ipsamque primariam ejus urbem, quæ pariter Persepolis sive Elymais dicebatur, expugnare aggressus est; sed a civibus ad munia concurrentibus repulsus fuit, imo magna suorum clade affectus: Circa enim residentiam pervenit vasti, ita ut plurimis desideratis fugientis retro Babylonem se reciperet, ait Josephus lib. 12. cap. 13. ET TENTAVIT EXPOLIARE TEMPLUM.] Illinc, quod est in regionibus angustiarum, ait Plinius l. 6. c. 26. 27. Ita Josephus, Polybius, et S. Hieronymus in cap. 11. Daniel. v. 36. ex Diodoro: fieri Appianus in Syriacis dicit fuisse templum Veneris. ET CUM VENISSET CIRCA ECBATANAM (mediterraneam Persidis civitatem) RECOGNOVIT (ex nuntiis et litteris ad se missis) QUÆ ERGA NICANOREM ET TIMOTHEUM (duces suos) GESTA SUNT.] A Juda Machabæo, quod scilicet ipse eos prostravit, ceciderit et fugarit. SE VENTURUM JEROSOLYMAM ET CONGERIEM SEPULCRI JUDÆORUM EAM FACTURUM.] Græce quod cum fieret; ποιουμένοις, id est cœmeterium in quod multorum virorum cadavera congeri solent. q. d. Antiochus jactavit se eorum cladem a Judæis acceptam ulturum, ac Jerusalem funditus eversurum, ut tota urbs futura sit fœtorum et cadaverum Judæorum sepulcrum. DEUS ISRAEL PERCUSSIT EUM INSANABILI ET INVISIBILI PLAGA, scilicet morbo nimis viscerum doloribus, et quod MULTI CRUCIATIBUS ALVUM (Machabæorum) TORQUEAT VISCERA ;] ut sequitur, ac gravissimo melancholia et cholera. Addit S. Hieron. loco citato ex Diodoro, cum quibusdam phantasia et terroribus vexare ac conturbare. Extat in sacris parricidi non modo pediculari, profunda carnem, fluere intolerabili, ut dicitur vers. 9. PRÆCIPITAVIT ACCELERANS NEGOTIUM] in agendo curru ut cito perveniret Jerosolymam; CONTIGIT ILLUM IMPETU EUNTEM DE CURRU CADERE ET GRAVI CORPORIS COLLISIONE MEMBRA VEXARI.] Nam fuisse probabiliter narrat Gorionides, l. 3. c. 22. Contigit autem, inquit, cum jam veheretur, et concitaretur exercitum suum, ut currus ejus transiret contra elephantem quendam, et elephas vociferari inciperet, atque turbo vita ejus acri terrore perculteretur, calcitrarunt et subverterunt currum, caderetque Antiochus de curru, et confringerentur omnia ossa ejus siquidem erat homo gravis et crassus. ITA UT DE CORPORE IPSO VERMES [pediculi] SCATURIRENT.] Hic morbus a medicis vocatur phthiriasis, id est morbus pedicularis, quo vermes hic corpore ebulliunt, illudque fœde horrore et intoleranda prurigine orodunt et consumunt. Oritur subinde naturaliter ex delicata dulcisque corporis complexione, vel fervidiore, aut ex sordibus et putredine, ut fit in pauperibus; sed sæpe supernaturaliter Deus cum infligit superbis, blasphemis, sacrilegis, ac persecutoribus et tortoribus fidelium et sanctorum, uti olim inflixit Herodi Ascalonitæ, qui fuit Christi persecutor et infanticida, teste Josepho lib. 17. c. 8. ac ejus nepoti Herodi Agrippæ, ne quod populo sibi acclamatú vox Dei et non hominis, oppromberet, ac Sanctum Apostolum occidisset, ac iterum et Petrum et Angelus cum liberasset, Actorum 12. 23. et Maximiano Imperatori acri Christianorum tortori, teste Eusebio, l. 8. 16. et Juliano apostatæ, teste Sozomeno, l. 5. c. 2. et Hunerico Wandalerum regi Ariano, truci truculentem in Orthodoxos sævientem, iisdemque Dei vindictam et phthiriasin fœde enarrat Victor Uticensis, libris tribus, quas de Wandalica persecutione conscripsit: item Joanni Calcæo, utpote inventori in Deum, Christum, et Sanctos blasphemo, uti scribit Belacous, non differunt Boss in ejus Vita, qui et plura mala æque addit: Tum variis, inquit, eum et malis doloribus morbis, cruciatum fuisse, ut plane sit incredibile; hæmorroides scilicet, hæmorroidibus ulcerosis, sanguinis excrementis, quartana, podagra, calculo et colica. Ita Sequitur superbia ultor a tergo Deus, ut canit tragœdus, et sæpe cecinit S. Scriptura. ET CUM NEC IPSE JAM FŒTOREM SUUM FERRE POSSET, ITA AIT : JUSTUM EST SUBDITUM ESSE DEO, ET MORTALEM NON PARIA DEO SENTIRE.] Morbis hisce cruciatus superbus Antiochus in se rediit, et ad quam agnovit, quod scilicet stulte se Deum æstimasset, ac Deo vero æquare voluisset, utpote homo Deo, mortalis immortali, infirmus omnipotenti, temporarius æterno, ideoque Deus percussit eum plagis, ut disceret, diceretque cum Iob, c. 47. Patrui mei Deus: Nunc oculus meus videt te; idcirco me ipse reprehendo, et ago pœnitentiam in favilla et cinere. Et cum Davide: Ego autem sum vermis, et non homo, opprobrium hominum et abjectio plebis, Ps. 21. E. illud alterius sancti: Vermis vermem generat. Sic ostendit Deus se castulias orationes seposui Machabæi martyris, cujus hæc ante triennium in crutiatibus ultima fuit vox, c. 7. v. 37. Invocans Deum maturius genti nostræ propitium fieri, teque cum tormentis et verberibus confiteri, quod ipse est Deus solus. Martyrium enim Machabæorum contigit anno Græcorum 145. Antiochi sexto; mors vero ejusdem contigit anno Græcorum 148. ut dictum est l. 1. c. 6. 20. quæ fuit Antiochi decima tertia et ultima. ORABAT AUTEM HIC SCELESTUS DOMINUM A QUO NON ESSET MISERICORDIAM CONSECUTURUS.] Quia hæc ejus confessio, pœnitentia et oratio fuit temporalis coacta et extorta nec ex amore, sed ex servili timore procedebat. Tentant enim orabat Deum ad hoc, ut cruciatibus ab eo immissis liberaretur, non autem ex fide ut vitam reternam, Deoque vere et sincere serviret. Similis fuit pœnitentia Pharaonis sententia plagos a Mose inflictas, Exodi 10. 16. et Saulis, 1. Reg. 15. 24. et 30. et Achab Regis Israel, 3. Reg. 21. 29. et Nabuchodonosor, Daniel. 4. 31. licet de ultimo hoc dubitare liceat. Rursum tunc Antiochus sincere pœnitausset, si animi veræ contritionis ex amore Dei elicuisset, itaque animum suum salvasset; tamen misericordiam quam petebat, puta liberationem a cruciatibus, non fuisset consecutus. Jam enim fixum decretumque erat Deo ipsum ob obnoxia scelera hisce cruciatibus usque ad mortem punire. Sicut enim Esau licet pœnitens, patris benedictionem et jus primogenituræ disperditum recuperare non potuit; nam ut dicitur Hebr. 12. 17. Postea cupiens hereditare benedictionem, reprobatus est: non enim invenit pœnitentiæ locum, quanquam cum lacrymis inquisisset eam. ECCE ETIAM NUNC ATHENIENSIBUS FACTURUM DONARIA-TUM.] Nostræ Athenæ, ait Josephus, id est suis legibus propriisque institutis libere utentes, ut faciebant Athenienses, licet jam Antiocho et Antiochia subjecti. Hoc enim summo optare Judæos sciebat Antiochus. ECCE ETIAM ET DICTUM DE FUTURIS, ET OMNEM LOCUM UBI SE AMBULATURUM, SE PASSURUMQUE DIVI POTESTATEM.] Dicit hæc Antiochus ficte et simulate, quia coactus Dei flagellis: quare, si ex subditisset Deus, ipse ad ingenium redisset juxta illud vulgi: Dæmon languebat, monachus tunc esse volebat, Ast ubi convaluit, mansit ut ante fuit. Illudere ergo voluit impius Deo, sed ab eo illusus fuit. Non enim intendebat illa præstare quæ hic dicit et promittit. SED NON CESSANTIBUS DOLORIBUS (SUPERVENIERAT ENIM IN EUM JUSTUM DEI JUDICIUM ) q. d. Deus juste suo indicio plane decreverat eum ab sacrilegio cruciare usque ad mortem, DESPERANS (de dolorum levamine, et sanitate recuperanda æque ac Dei gratia et salute æterna ) SCRIPSIT AD JUDÆOS.] Ut iis viventibus filium suum unicum Antiochum Eupatorem sibi successorem relinqueret, eique regnum assecuraret. Sciebat enim se illud eripuisse Demetrio Seleuci senioris fratri sui filio, ac proinde Demetrium, qui loco sui obses Romæ detinebatur, audita sua morte illico in Asiam advolaturum, ut regnum jure sibi debitum occuparet, ac Eupatorem puerum, ad quem non pertinebat, ab eo excluderet, uti et factum est; nam Demetrius Eupatorem cum Lysia occidit, et regnum sibi vindicavit. Quocirca Antiochus hisce litteris id impedire voluit, nihil effecit, sed tam ipse quam filius justo Dei judicio regnum cum vita perdiderunt. Vide hic magnificam istam regis deumque potentiam Dei notari, quo innuitur et indicantibus Antiochum, qui videbatur sibi terra, mari et cælo imperare, uno viscerum dolore ita sternit, uti non tantum sibi, sed et Judæis, quos plane despexerat, supplex fiat. Sic Pharaonem supplicem fecit Mosi, Saulem Samueli, Nabuchodonosorem Danieli. MAXIMAS AGENS GRATIAS.] Græce habent: Deo ego maximas et quàm in cœlo agam habeo, et ego languide incedo vestri humeris leniendo consulatui meo. RESPICIENS AUTEM QUOD ET PATER MEUS.] etc. q. d. Sicut pater meus Antiochus Magnus rex prudentissimus, et in vos summe benevolus, teste Josepho, l. 12. c. 8. peregre proficiscens, declaravit hæredem suum, ut si quid humanitus ei contigisset, illa ipsi succederet, sic ego patris exemplum secutus vobis declare hæredem regni mei meum filium Antiochum Eupatorem, petoque ut in eo fovendo tuendoque vestram studium conferatis. CONSIGNANS NOTANTES QUOQUE, ET UNIVERSA TEMPORIBUS INDICANTES.] Ut si videret regem mortuum potenti tempore esse opportunum ad regnum occupandum. NOTAT ENIM ET FRATRE Seleuco nepotem Demetrium, cui jure regnum debebatur, ut dixi v. 18. MEMORES BENEFICIORUM.] Hîc patet fatio et adulatio Antiochi. Splendide enim mentitur locutus se in Judæos beneficia, cum in eos omnia maleficii genus exercuerit. SEQUENTEM PROPOSITUM MEUM.] Ut in vos sit benevolus, sicut ego deinceps esse propono. Fingit et simulat benevoluntiam, cum fuerit malevolus in Judæos et bono patrocinio velentiem in Judæos secutus fuit filius Eupator. ET COMMUNEM (id est comem, familiarem, affabilem, benignum, benevolum) VOBIS FORE. FINEM IN MONTIBUS.] Circa Ecbatanam, ut dictum est v. 9. in oppido Tabes, ait S. Hieronymus in c. 11. Danielis. Ibi ergo in montibus Persidis et Mediæ mortuus est Antiochus. Licet enim ipse proposuit Babylonem, ut dictum est l. 1. c. 6. vers. 4. tamen cruciatu crescente, eo pervenire non potuit, sed in montibus obiit. Hic fuit funestissimus exitus Antiochi Epiphanis impii, blasphemi, sacrilegi, athei, et duorum omnium contemptoris, qui proinde expressus fuit Antichristi typus et prodromus. Porro notandus est hic error Josephi. Ipse enim l. 12. c. 13. etiam Polybius dicentem Antiochum ob hoc perîsse, quod conatus sit Dianæ templum expilare, cum redarguit: Falsitas enim tantum, inquit, ac non etiam perpetuuo sacrilegium, non videtur res digna supplicio. Error, o Josephe; nam omnis virtus æque ac vitium, indeque meritum et demeritum in voluntate consistit: actus enim externus in se non est liber, ideoque omnes suum libertatem, ac bonitatem, vel malitiam trahit, et auget ab interno voluntatis actu bona vel mala. Bonum autem actus quidem externus v. g. orare et ieiunare, malus vero vituperio et supplicio. Verum, si Antiochus potuit quod voluit, rit expilare templum Dianæ, multo magis perîit eo quod reipsa expoliavit templum Dei veri Jerosolymis, ibique tot et tantas strages ediderit, quot et quantas hic et c. 1. & lib. 1. enarrantur.

This death of Antiochus was briefly narrated in book 1, ch. 6, but here it is recounted more fully for the consolation of the Jews afflicted by him, and as a perpetual example of divine vengeance against the impious and sacrilegious. FOR HE HAD ENTERED INTO THAT (province or region and territory of Persia) WHICH (from its primary city or metropolis) IS CALLED PERSEPOLIS (in Greek; for in Hebrew it is called Elam or Elymais, as is clear from ch. 6:1 and ch. 4, when Prior. 1:8 is added in Daniel. And my colleague contradicts, thinking it was Susa.) That is, Antiochus entered the territory of Persepolis with his army and attempted to storm its primary city, which was likewise called Persepolis or Elymais; but he was repulsed by the citizens rushing to the defenses, indeed suffering great loss among his own men: For he came near the residence of vast devastation, so that with many missing he recovered himself by fleeing back to Babylon, says Josephus in book 12, ch. 13. AND HE ATTEMPTED TO PLUNDER THE TEMPLE.] Thence, which is in the regions of straits, says Pliny book 6, ch. 26, 27. Thus Josephus, Polybius, and St. Jerome on Dan. ch. 11, v. 36, from Diodorus: Appian in his Syriaca says it was a temple of Venus. AND WHEN HE HAD COME NEAR ECBATANA (an inland city of Persia) HE LEARNED (from messengers and letters sent to him) WHAT HAD BEEN DONE CONCERNING NICANOR AND TIMOTHEUS (his generals).] By Judas Maccabeus, namely that he had overthrown, slain, and routed them. THAT HE WOULD COME TO JERUSALEM AND MAKE IT A HEAP OF THE SEPULCHER OF THE JEWS.] In Greek, "that when it was done"; ποιουμένοις, that is, a cemetery into which the corpses of many men are customarily heaped. That is, Antiochus boasted that he would avenge the defeat suffered from the Jews, and utterly overthrow Jerusalem, so that the whole city would become a foul sepulcher of Jewish corpses. THE GOD OF ISRAEL STRUCK HIM WITH AN INCURABLE AND INVISIBLE PLAGUE, namely a disease with excessive pains in the bowels, and what TORMENTS THE VISCERA WITH MANY TORMENTS (of the Maccabees); as follows, and with the gravest melancholy and cholera. St. Jerome adds in the cited place from Diodorus that he was vexed and disturbed with certain phantoms and terrors. There is in the sacred texts of parricides not only the louse-like, deeply eating into the flesh, flowing intolerably, as is said in v. 9. HE FELL HEADLONG HASTENING THE BUSINESS] in driving the chariot so that he might quickly reach Jerusalem; IT HAPPENED THAT AS HE WENT WITH IMPETUS HE FELL FROM THE CHARIOT AND HIS MEMBERS WERE TORMENTED BY A GRAVE COLLISION OF THE BODY.] For Gorionides relates it plausibly in book 3, ch. 22. It happened, he says, that as he was already being carried and urging on his army, his chariot passed against a certain elephant, and the elephant began to bellow, and a whirlwind struck his life with sharp terror; the horses kicked and overturned the chariot, and Antiochus fell from the chariot, and all his bones were broken, inasmuch as he was a heavy and corpulent man. SO THAT FROM HIS VERY BODY WORMS [lice] WOULD BURST FORTH.] This disease is called by physicians phthiriasis, that is, the louse disease, in which worms boil out from the body, and foully gnaw and consume it with horror and intolerable itching. It arises sometimes naturally from a delicate and sweet bodily complexion, or a hotter one, or from filth and putrefaction, as happens among the poor; but often supernaturally God inflicts it upon the proud, blasphemers, sacrilegious, and persecutors and torturers of the faithful and saints, as formerly He inflicted it upon Herod of Ascalon, who was the persecutor of Christ and child-murderer, according to Josephus book 17, ch. 8; and upon his grandson Herod Agrippa, because he did not reprove the people acclaiming him as the voice of God and not of man, and had killed the holy Apostle James, and again Peter, whom the Angel had freed (Acts 12:23); and upon Emperor Maximian, a fierce torturer of Christians, according to Eusebius book 8, ch. 16; and upon Julian the Apostate, according to Sozomen book 5, ch. 2; and upon Huneric, the Arian king of the Vandals, cruelly raging against the Orthodox, whose divine vengeance and foul phthiriasis Victor of Utica describes in the three books he wrote on the Vandal persecution; likewise upon John Calcas, as the inventor of blasphemy against God, Christ, and the Saints, as Belacous writes, nor does Bossuet differ in his Life, who adds yet more evils: For he was tormented, he says, with various evil pains and diseases, so that it is plainly incredible; namely hemorrhoids, ulcerous hemorrhoids, bloody excretions, quartan fever, gout, stone, and colic. Thus The avenger God follows pride from behind, as the tragedian sings, and Holy Scripture has often sung. AND WHEN HE HIMSELF COULD NO LONGER BEAR HIS OWN STENCH, THUS HE SAID: IT IS JUST TO BE SUBJECT TO GOD, AND A MORTAL NOT TO THINK THINGS EQUAL TO GOD.] Tormented by these diseases, the proud Antiochus came to himself, and acknowledged what he had foolishly esteemed himself a god, and wished to equal the true God, inasmuch as a man to God, mortal to immortal, weak to omnipotent, temporal to eternal; and therefore God struck him with plagues, that he might learn and say with Job ch. 42 (actually 42:5-6): My God of my fathers: Now my eye sees you; therefore I reprove myself, and do penance in dust and ashes. And with David: But I am a worm, and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people (Ps. 21/22:7). And that of another saint: The worm generates a worm. Thus God showed that He had set aside the prayers of the martyr Maccabee, whose last words in torments three years earlier were these, ch. 7, v. 37: Calling upon God to be propitious to our nation sooner, and you with torments and scourges to confess that He alone is God. For the martyrdom of the Maccabees occurred in the Greek year 145, the sixth of Antiochus; but his death occurred in the Greek year 148, as said in book 1, ch. 6, v. 20, which was the thirteenth and last of Antiochus. MOREOVER THIS WICKED MAN PRAYED TO THE LORD, FROM WHOM HE WAS NOT TO OBTAIN MERCY.] Because this confession, penance, and prayer of his was temporal, forced and extorted, proceeding not from love but from servile fear. For he prayed to God only that he might be freed from the torments sent by Him, but not from faith that he might serve God truly and sincerely for eternal life. Similar was the penance of Pharaoh feeling the plagues inflicted by Moses (Exod. 10:16), and of Saul (1 Sam. 15:24, 30), and of Ahab king of Israel (1 Kings/3 Kings 21:29), and of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:31), though about the last one doubt is permitted. Again, if Antiochus had sincerely repented, if he had elicited true contrition of soul from love of God, he would have saved his soul; yet the mercy he sought—namely release from torments—he would not have obtained. For it was already fixed and decreed by God to punish him with these torments unto death because of his heinous crimes. Just as Esau, though repenting, could not recover the lost blessing of his father and the right of primogeniture; for as it is said in Heb. 12:17: Afterward desiring to inherit the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it with tears. BEHOLD, EVEN NOW I WILL MAKE GIFTS TO THE ATHENIANS.] Our Athens, says Josephus, that is, freely using their own laws and institutions, as the Athenians did, though now subject to Antiochus and Antioch. For Antiochus knew that the Jews desired this above all. BEHOLD ALSO WHAT IS SAID CONCERNING FUTURE THINGS, AND THAT IN EVERY PLACE WHERE HE WALKED, HE SUFFERED THE DIVINE POWER.] Antiochus says these things fictitiously and simulatedly, because compelled by God's scourges: wherefore, if God had yielded to him, he would have returned to his nature, according to that popular saying: The demon was sick, then he wished to be a monk, But when he recovered, he remained as he was before. Thus the impious man wished to mock God, but was mocked by Him. For he did not intend to perform what he here says and promises. BUT THE PAINS NOT CEASING (FOR THE JUST JUDGMENT OF GOD HAD COME UPON HIM) that is, God in His just judgment had plainly decreed to torment him for sacrilege unto death, DESPAIRING (of relief from pains, and equally of recovering health, and of God's grace and eternal salvation) HE WROTE TO THE JEWS.] That leaving to them while living his only son Antiochus Eupator as his successor, he might secure the kingdom for him. For he knew that he had seized it from Demetrius son of his brother Seleucus the elder, and therefore Demetrius, who was held in his place as hostage in Rome, upon hearing of his death would immediately fly to Asia to occupy the kingdom justly due to him, and exclude the boy Eupator, to whom it did not belong—as indeed happened; for Demetrius killed Eupator along with Lysias, and claimed the kingdom for himself. Therefore Antiochus wished by these letters to prevent that, but effected nothing; both he and his son lost kingdom and life by the just judgment of God. See here noted the magnificent power of this king and god against the power of God, whereby it is hinted and indicated concerning Antiochus, who seemed to himself to command earth, sea, and heaven, how with one pain in the bowels He so prostrated him that he became suppliant not only to himself but to the Jews whom he had utterly despised. Thus He made Pharaoh suppliant to Moses, Saul to Samuel, Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel. GIVING THE GREATEST THANKS.] The Greek has: To God I have the greatest thanks and as in heaven I will give, and I walk feebly on your shoulders easing my counsel. MOREOVER CONSIDERING THAT ALSO MY FATHER.] etc. That is, Just as my father Antiochus the Great, most prudent king, and supremely benevolent toward you, according to Josephus book 12, ch. 8, when setting out abroad, declared his heir, so that if anything human befell him, he would succeed him, thus I following my father's example declare to you the heir of my kingdom my son Antiochus Eupator, and ask that you confer your zeal in cherishing and protecting him. SEALING NOTING ALSO, AND INDICATING ALL THINGS IN TIMES.] So that if he saw the king dead at a powerful time it would be opportune to occupy the kingdom. FOR HE NOTES ALSO HIS BROTHER Seleucus's grandson Demetrius, to whom the kingdom was justly due, as I said v. 18. MINDFUL OF BENEFITS.] Here appears the flattery and adulation of Antiochus. For he splendidly lies, speaking of benefits toward the Jews, when he had exercised every kind of evil against them. FOLLOWING MY PURPOSE.] That he be benevolent toward you, as I henceforth propose to be. He feigns and simulates benevolence, when he was malevolent toward the Jews, and his son Eupator followed the evil patronage toward the Jews. AND A COMMON (that is, courteous, familiar, affable, benign, benevolent) TO YOU HE WILL BE. THE END IN THE MOUNTAINS.] Near Ecbatana, as said v. 9, in the town of Tabes, says St. Jerome on Dan. ch. 11. There therefore in the mountains of Persia and Media Antiochus died. For though he himself proposed Babylon, as said in book 1, ch. 6, v. 4, yet with increasing torment he could not reach it, but died in the mountains. This was the most disastrous end of Antiochus Epiphanes, impious, blasphemous, sacrilegious, atheistic, and despiser of both gods, who therefore was an express type and forerunner of Antichrist. Furthermore, note here the error of Josephus. For he in book 12, ch. 13, citing even Polybius, says that Antiochus perished because he attempted to plunder the temple of Diana, whom he refutes: For falsehood alone, he says, and not also perpetual sacrilege, does not seem a thing worthy of punishment. Error, O Josephus; for all virtue as well as vice, and thence merit and demerit, consists in the will: for the external act in itself is not free, and therefore all its freedom, goodness, or malice is drawn and augmented from the internal act of the will good or evil. A good external act, e.g., to pray and fast, is good; a bad one, blameworthy and punishable. Truly, if Antiochus had been able to do what he wished, namely to plunder the temple of Diana, much more did he perish because he in fact plundered the temple of the true God in Jerusalem, and there perpetrated so many and such great massacres, as many and as great as are narrated here and in ch. 1 and book 1.