1 Maccabees 3:1-24 (Presbyterian and Lutheran primary reading)

As noted yesterday, for most of this week the Presbyterian and Lutheran Old Testament readings are one day behind the Episcopal readings. For text and comments on 1 Maccabees 3:1-24, see yesterday’s comments.

1 Maccabees 3:25-41 (Episcopal reading)

25 Then Judas and his brothers began to be feared, and terror fell on the Gentiles all around them. 26 His fame reached the king, and the Gentiles talked of the battles of Judas.

The Policy of Antiochus

27 When King Antiochus heard these reports, he was greatly angered; and he sent and gathered all the forces of his kingdom, a very strong army. 28 He opened his coffers and gave a year’s pay to his forces, and ordered them to be ready for any need. 29 Then he saw that the money in the treasury was exhausted, and that the revenues from the country were small because of the dissension and disaster that he had caused in the land by abolishing the laws that had existed from the earliest days. 30 He feared that he might not have such funds as he had before for his expenses and for the gifts that he used to give more lavishly than preceding kings. 31 He was greatly perplexed in mind; then he determined to go to Persia and collect the revenues from those regions and raise a large fund.

32 He left Lysias, a distinguished man of royal lineage, in charge of the king’s affairs from the river Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. 33 Lysias was also to take care of his son Antiochus until he returned. 34 And he turned over to Lysias half of his forces and the elephants, and gave him orders about all that he wanted done. As for the residents of Judea and Jerusalem, 35 Lysias was to send a force against them to wipe out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem; he was to banish the memory of them from the place, 36 settle aliens in all their territory, and distribute their land by lot. 37 Then the king took the remaining half of his forces and left Antioch his capital in the one hundred and forty-seventh year. He crossed the Euphrates river and went through the upper provinces.

Preparations for Battle (2 Macc. 8.8—20)

38 Lysias chose Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor and Gorgias, able men among the Friends of the king, 39 and sent with them forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry to go into the land of Judah and destroy it, as the king had commanded. 40 So they set out with their entire force, and when they arrived they encamped near Emmaus in the plain. 41 When the traders of the region heard what was said to them, they took silver and gold in immense amounts, and fetters, and went to the camp to get the Israelites for slaves. And forces from Syria and the land of the Philistines joined with them. (1 Maccabees 3:25-41, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with extensive editing and supplement from November 15, 2005 (Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 16, Year One):

Yesterday’s reading ended with the briefest report of the victory over Seron and his army (1 Macc. 3:23-23). Today’s reading continues the same paragraph, describing the fear and terror of “the Gentiles all around them” (v. 25), fame which in fact “reached the king, and the Gentiles talked of the battles of Judas” (v. 26). The response of King Antiochus was great anger, “and he sent and gathered all the forces of his kingdom, a very strong army” (v. 27). The king “opened his coffers and gave a year’s pay to his forces, and ordered them to be ready for any need” (v. 28). But that generosity–probably self-serving generosity because he wanted them to serve him well–created a problem, for “Then he saw that the money in the treasury was exhausted, and that the revenues from the country were small because of the dissension and disaster that he had caused in the land by abolishing the laws that had existed from the earliest days” (v. 29). His remaining funds would not support his current lifestyle. “ He feared that he might not have such funds as he had before for his expenses and for the gifts that he used to give more lavishly than preceding kings” (v. 30). According to Daniel J. Harrington, “The historian Polybius and other ancient sources confirm that Antiochus IV was lavish in giving gifts” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on 1 Mac. 3:30).

So with this justification–or pretext–Antiochus decides to go to Persia to “collect the revenues from those regions and raise a large fund” (v. 31). Harrington suggests that “The importance of the Jewish rebellion is deliberately exaggerated to give the impression that it was determining all of Antiochus IV’s policies. In fact, he had to deal with serious rebellions and incursions in the eastern part of his empire as well” (on vv. 27-37). Antiochus leaves Lysias, “a distinguished man of royal lineage, in charge of the king’s affairs from the river Euphrates to the borders of Egypt” (v. 32). Harrington says that Lysias was “prominent in the later battles at Beth-zur and Beth-zechariah (4:26-35; 6:28-63), that he “held the highest title of Seleucid nobility (‘King’s Kinsman’), and that he “became overseer in the western part of Antiochus IV’s empire and [as we are told in v. 33] guardian of Antiochus V (then a young boy” (on v. 32). Lysias “was also to take care of his son Antiochus until he returned” (v. 33). At the time, says Mary Chilton Callaway, “Antiochus V Eupator, his son, was only nine years old. He reigned 164-162 BCE” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on 1 Macc. 3:33). The king “turned over to Lysias half of his forces and the elephants, and gave him orders about all that he wanted done” (v. 34a). As for Judas and his Jewish following, “the residents of Judea and Jerusalem” we are told, “Lysias was to send a force against them to wipe out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem; he was to banish the memory of them from the place, 36 settle aliens in all their territory, and distribute their land by lot” (vv. 34b-36).

So Antiochus takes “the remaining half of his forces and [leaves] Antioch his capital in the one hundred and forty-seventh year” (v. 37a), that is, 165 B.C. (NRSV, note a). “Antioch,” says Callaway, “modern ‘Antakya, near the mouth of the Orontes River in Syria, was built by Seleucus I in 300 BCE and expanded by Antiochus IV” (on v. 37). But the story of Syria’s dealings with Judea continues. Lysias chooses “Ptolemy, son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor and Gorgias, able men among the Friends of the king” (v. 38), to lead his forces against Judas and the “rebels.” According to Callaway, these were “Ptolemy, known as Macron (2 Macc. 10:12), Nicanor, 2 Macc. 8:9, Gorgias, 2 Macc. 10:14” (on v. 38). Harrington says, “According to 2 Macc. 8:8-9 Gorgias was a deputy to Nicanor, and Ptolemy was superior to Nicanor and ordered him and Gorgias into battle” (on v. 38). According to our narrator, Lysias sent these, and “sent with them forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry to go into the land of Judah and destroy it, as the king had commanded” (v. 39).

These officers “set out with their entire force, and when they arrived they encamped near Emmaus in the plain” (v. 40). This “Emmaus (not the Emmaus of Lk. 24:13) was about 24 km (15 mi) west-northwest of Jerusalem” (Callaway, on v. 40). Remarkably–included, perhaps, as an index of the odds Judas’s forces were facing–we are told that “when the traders of the region heard what was said to them, they took silver and gold in immense amounts, and fetters, and went to the camp to get the Israelites for slaves” (v. 41a). And these intentions for “war-profiteering spread to the Syrian army. “ And forces from Syria and the land of the Philistines joined with them [i.e., the slave-traders]” (v. 41b). When Judas and his brothers learn of this major military threat, they do not make quick work of defeating the enemy (as in 3:23-24), but make extensive preparations for what will become major, even decisive, military action. But that part of the story continues in tomorrow’s reading.

Antiochus hears of Israel's early victories under Judas Maccabeus, and in anger "he sent and gathered all the forces of his kingdom, a very strong army" (1 Macc. 3:27), but their pay drains his treasury. So he goes to Persia in search of funding leaving Lysias in charge. Preparations continue for what prove to be decisive battle, the Battle at Emmaus, where Judas and his army defeat a Seleucid army under Gorgias, and meet and defeat the army of Lysias in Idumea.

Ezra 9:1-15 (alternative reading, Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions)

For the text and comments of this reading see the text and comments of Saturday, November 10, 2007, ten days ago.

Revelation 21:1-8

21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

                        “See, the home of God is among mortals.

                        He will dwell with them as their God;

                        they will be his peoples,

                        and God himself will be with them;

                        4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

                        Death will be no more;

                        mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

                        for the first things have passed away.”

5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:1-8, NRSV)

On December 20, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year One), comments on Revelation 20:11-21:8 (the Presbyterian reading for that day) were combined with revision and supplement from December 21, 2004 (Tuesday of the week of the Third Sunday of Advent, Year One), and from November 15, 2005:(Tuesday in the week of the Sunday closest to November 16, Year One). The relevant portion (on Rev. 21:1-8) is repeated here:

John tells us what he saw: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (Rev. 21:1). “All creation will be renewed,” says Bruce M. Metzger, “freed from imperfections, and transformed by the glory of God (Rom. 8:19-21)” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Rev. 21:1). “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev. 21:2). John tells us what he heard: "See, the home of God is among mortals. / He will dwell with them as their God; / they will be his peoples, / and God himself will be with them; / he will wipe every tear from their eyes. / Death will be no more, / mourning and crying and pain will be no more, / for the first things have passed away" (vv. 3-4).

The next paragraph (vv. 5-8) is spoken by "the one who was seated on the throne," that is, "the Lord God (1:8)" (Metzger, on v. 5), who is "the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end" of all things (Rev. 21:6; cf. 1:8; Isa. 44:6). The statement of God, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (v. 6) echoes 1:8 and so encloses the book in brackets—God is in control, and though the battles with the powers of darkness rage throughout the book, the outcome is sure. There are, of course, “the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars,” who miss out on the victory but find their place “in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (v. 8), but we strive and expect to be among “the thirsty,” to whom “I [God] will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life” (v. 6), and among “Those who conquer” who “will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children” (v. 7).

Matthew 17:14-21

14 When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” [21 But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting.] (Matthew 17:14-21, NRSV)

On June 19, 2006 (Monday in the week of the Sunday closest to June 13, Year Two), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from November 15, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One). The revised comments are repeated here. For recent comments on the parallel passage in Mark, see the Archive for August 10, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Sunday closest to August 3, Year One). For recent comments on the parallel passage in Luke, see the Archive for October 21, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to October 12, Year Two).

Note that verse 21 is relegated to a footnote by the NRSV. “Other ancient authorities add verse 21, But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting” (NRSV text note d). The verse is lacking in several of the older and better manuscripts of Matthew, but is present in many other manuscripts, probably under the influence of Mark 9:29, where the wording of manuscripts varies between “prayer” and “prayer and fasting,” but the statement itself is well attested.

Although the boy is called “an epileptic” in Matthew’s account of this healing story, note that it is the father who calls him that, not Jesus (Mt. 17:15). The term used is not a technical medical term. Literally, it means something like “moonstruck,” selêniazomai, a verb form related to selênê “moon,” and in that sense appears only twice in the New Testament (cf. Mt. 4:24). In Mark’s parallel account, the father says, “Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid” (Mk. 9:17-18; cf. Lk. 9:39). That sounds like epileptic symptoms, but Vincent Taylor, who uses the term “epileptic” in his subtitle for the section, says, “”The case is one of hysteria or epilepsy, afflictions which are difficult to distinguish” (Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark, 1952, p. 397 on Mk. 9:16-18). Either way, the relation to modern “epilepsy” is problematic, and it is out of the question to fault persons so afflicted with lack of faith or accusations of demon possession. The point of the story is not a diagnosis of the boy’s condition, but the power of Jesus to deliver him from that condition, and the role of faith in that healing. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Mt. 17:20).

Some comments from ancient writers on the parallel passage in Mark are of interest. The following comments on Mark 9:14-29 are repeated here from February 5, 2005 (Saturday of the week of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year One). In the Mark volume of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (InterVarsity Press, 2000), Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall pass on a variety of insights from this passage.

Though it was the boy who fell on the ground, it was the devil in him who was in anguish. The possessed boy was merely convulsed, while the usurping spirit was being convicted by the awesome judge. The captive was detained, but the captor was punished. Through the wrenching of the human body, the punishment of the devil was made manifest. (Peter Chrysologus. on Mk. 9:20, c. 405-450)

The Scripture indicates that this man was extremely weak in faith, as is evident at four points from Christ’s saying that “All things are possible to him that believes; from the saying of the man himself as he approached, “Help me in my unbelief”; from Christ’s commanding the devil to “enter no more into him”; and from the man’s saying again to Christ, “If you can.” (Chrysostom, 344/354-407, The Gospel of St. Matthew, Homily 57.3)

Seeing that his faith was being driven by the waves of unbelief on the rocks which would cause a fearful shipwreck, he asks of the Lord an aid to his faith, saying “Lord, help me in my unbelief.” So thoroughly did the apostles and those who live in the gospel realize that everything which is good is brought to completion by the aid of the Lord, and not imagine that they could preserve their faith unharmed by their own strength or free will, that they prayed that it might be helped and granted to them by the Lord. (John Cassian, c. 360-432, Conference of Abbot Paphnutius, 16)

The editors provide an overview and summary of comments on this passage.

We pray that we may believe and believe that we might pray (Augustine). No measure of faith is preserved without prayer (Jerome, John Cassian). The demonic compulsions are bound up when they come into the presence of the incarnate Lord (Tertullian, Peter Chrysologus). We see this in Jesus’ simple gesture of taking the child by the hand and lifting him up (Bede). Those who lack the maintaining power of the Holy Spirit remain vulnerable to demonic systems and powers (Tertullian, Minucius Felix). Aspects of faith are recognizable as praiseworthy even by those without faith (Caesarius of Arles).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net