Commentaria in II Machabaeorum
8. And then the Lord will shew these things, and the majesty of the Lord shall appear, and there shall be a cloud as it was also shewed to Moses, and as when Solomon prayed that the place might be sanctified to the great God, it was shewed. 9. For he treated wisdom in a magnificent manner: and as he had wisdom, he offered the sacrifice of the dedication, and of the finishing of the temple. 10. As Moses prayed to the Lord, and fire came down from heaven, and consumed the holocaust: so Solomon also prayed, and fire came down from heaven, and consumed the holocaust. 11. And Moses said: Because the sin offering was not eaten, it was consumed. 12. So Solomon also celebrated the dedication eight days. 13. The same things were also set down in the memoirs and commentaries of Nehemias: and how he made a library, and gathered together out of the countries the books both of the prophets, and of David, and the epistles of the kings, and concerning the holy gifts. 14. And in like manner Judas also gathered together all those things that were lost by the war we had, and they are in our possession. 15. Wherefore if you want these things, send some to fetch them to you. 16. Whereas then we are about to celebrate the purification, we have written to you: and you will do well if you keep the same days. 17. And we hope that God, who hath delivered his people, and hath rendered to all the inheritance, and the kingdom, and the priesthood, and the sanctuary, 18. As he promised in the law, will speedily have mercy on us, and gather us together from every land under heaven into the holy place. 19. For he hath delivered us out of great dangers, and hath purified the place. 20. Now as concerning Judas Machabeus, and his brethren, and the purification of the great temple, and the dedication of the altar; 21. As also the wars against Antiochus the Illustrious, and his son Eupator: 22. And the manifestations that came from heaven to those who behaved themselves manfully on the behalf of the Jews, so that, being but a few, they overran the whole country, and put to flight the barbarous multitude, 23. And recovered again the temple renowned all the world over, and delivered the city, and restored the laws that were abolished, the Lord with all clemency shewing mercy to them. 24. We, I say, have attempted to abridge in one volume what Jason of Cyrene hath comprised in five books. 25. For considering the multitude of books, and the difficulty that they find that desire to undertake the narrations of histories, because of the multitude of the matter, 26. We have taken care for those indeed that are willing to read, that it might be a pleasure of mind: and for the studious, that they may more easily commit to memory: and that all that read might receive profit. 27. And as to ourselves indeed, in undertaking this work of abridging, we have taken in hand no easy task, yea, rather a business full of watching and sweat. 28. Even as they that prepare a feast, and seek the benefit of others for the sake of many, we willingly undergo the labour. 29. Leaving to the authors the exact handling of every particular, and ourselves, according to the plan proposed, studying to be brief. 30. For as the master builder of a new house must have care of the whole building: but he that taketh care to paint it, must seek out fit things for the adorning of it: so I think it is with us. 31. For to collect all that is known, and to put the discourse in order, and curiously to discuss every particular point, is the duty of the author of a history: 32. But to pursue brevity of speech, and to avoid nice declarations of things, is to be granted to him that maketh an abridgment. 33. Here then we will begin the narration: let this be enough by way of a preface: for it is a foolish thing to make a long prologue, and to be short in the story itself.
1. IT IS FOUND ALSO IN THE DESCRIPTIONS OF JEREMIAS THE PROPHET, that he exhorted the Jews who were captive in Ba-
THAT HE COMMANDED THEM THAT WERE CARRIED AWAY TO TAKE OF THE FIRE,—out of Judea, captive to the Chaldeans in [Babylon]. He confirms what he said about the hidden fire from the writings of Jeremias himself. He calls the writing of Jeremias “descriptions,” as he explains at verse 4, that is, a codex, or a book, or commentary, as it is called at verse 13, in which Jeremias had described what he said and did when Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans, namely: first, that he commanded the fire of the temple to be hidden in a pit; secondly, that those who were being led away, seeing golden idols there, should not allow themselves to be enticed to worship them, but should constantly adore their God alone. Whence he gave them the volume of the divine law, namely Deuteronomy, or the Pentateuch, that they might read it often in Babylon, and console themselves and their captivity with it, and confirm themselves in the true worship of God; thirdly, that he carried the ark, the tabernacle and the altar of incense, and hid them in a cave of Mount Nebo.
Moreover it is uncertain whether this book was canonical, and approved by the Synagogue, and held as Sacred Scripture, as is the prophecy of Jeremias. It is certain, however, that this book was of great authority, being written by the prophet Jeremias, and is here cited as an undoubted witness of the hidden sacred fire.
At length this book perished by the injury of the times, as did several others written by Jeremias, namely his mournful song on the death of king Josias, of which 2 Paralipomenon 35; likewise his book on the overthrow of the city and the captivity of the people. Besides this, the book on the destruction of Babylon, which he commanded to be bound to a stone and cast into the Euphrates, Jeremias 51:60; and several others, of which I treated in the Prologue to Jeremias.
2. AND HE GAVE THEM A LAW, (namely a copy of Deuteronomy, in which the whole law repeated by Moses is contained: or a copy of the whole Pentateuch, that the captives might read it assiduously in Babylon. Again, “he gave them a law,” that is, he gave them a command, and again impressed it on them with a grave adjuration,) THAT THEY SHOULD NOT (namely) FORGET THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD; (but should continually set them before the eyes of mind and body.) AND THAT THEY SHOULD NOT ERR IN THEIR MINDS,—that is, lest from the glitter of gold shining in the idols they should be led into the error that there was something of august divinity in the idols.
4. IT WAS ALSO CONTAINED IN THE SAME WRITING, HOW THE PROPHET COMMANDED THAT THE TABERNACLE AND THE ARK, BEING WARNED BY GOD (by an oracle) SHOULD ACCOMPANY HIM, TILL HE CAME FORTH TO THE MOUNTAIN (Nebo) WHERE MOSES (about to die) WENT UP, AND SAW THE INHERITANCE OF GOD,—that is, saw from afar the land of Chanaan, which God had promised to Abraham and his posterity to be possessed as an inheritance, Genesis 12. “To accompany,” that is, to be carried with him, and borne by his companions the priests or Levites: for Jeremias could command these, not angels; so Lyranus. Serarius, however, thinks that angels carried the ark after Jeremias (just as they also transferred from Palestine into Italy the house of the Blessed Virgin, in which, Gabriel announcing, she conceived the Son of God, namely to Loreto), yet so that the ark was seen by some, who therefore followed it and marked the place in which it was deposited by Jeremias.
WHERE MOSES.—The ark and the tabernacle were therefore stored in the same place where Moses died and was buried, who had been the maker of the ark and tabernacle. Moreover St. Epiphanius, and from him St. Thomas, recount the manner of the depositing of the ark; hear them: “Epiphanius says: This is Jeremias, who, foreknowing that the temple would be overthrown, took the ark of the testament with the things that were in it; and by prayers made it be swallowed up in a rock: and pointing to the rock with his finger, he impressed the name of God, and it became a seal in the likeness of writing engraved with iron, and the very name of the Lord was so hidden by the covering of a cloud that from then on no one can know the place, nor read the name, to this day, and [it stays] until the end, and a figure like fire and a cloud often appears there by night, because the glory of the Lord does not depart from his law. That rock is in the land of the desert, between two mountains, between which Moses and Aaron lie buried, and Jeremias said to those present: The Lord ascended from Sion to the heavens, thence to return with power, and this will be the sign of his presence, when all nations shall adore the wood; and he said that no one will be able to bring forth this ark, except Moses, the chosen prophet of God. And the tables that are in it no priest shall open, and none of the Prophets, but Aaron, the chosen of God. And in the first resurrection this ark shall rise, and come forth from the rock, and be placed on Mount Sinai, and all the Saints shall be gathered to it, awaiting the return of the Lord, and to escape the adversary, who will seek to destroy them as they flee.” So far he.
Dorotheus has the same in the life of Jeremias. Let the credit of these rest with the authors themselves.
Moreover Jeremias could do these things, and in fact did, either before Jerusalem was taken, in the reign not of Sedecias (for then he was in prison), but of Joachim; for Jeremias was held in veneration by him, whence he, on the persuasion of Jeremias, surrendered himself to the Chaldeans; or when Jerusalem was already taken by the Chaldeans, before the temple was burnt by them. For Jeremias was in great reputation of sanctity with Nabuchodonosor, because he had foretold that Jerusalem would be taken by him; whence he obtained from him whatever he wished, as is clear from Jeremias 39:12. The Innovators therefore have nothing here by which to detract from the credit of this book.