Rest After Suffering: The Comfort Simon Brought

Capture of Demetrius In the one hundred and seventy-second year Deme′trius the king assembled his forces and marched into Media to secure help, so that he could make war against Trypho. When Ar′saces the king of Persia and Media heard that Deme′trius had invaded his territory, he sent one of his commanders to take him alive. And he went and defeated the army of Deme′trius, and seized him and took him to Ar′saces, who put him under guard. Eulogy of Simon The land had rest all the days of Simon. He sought the good of his nation; his rule was pleasing to them, as was the honor shown him, all his days. To crown all his honors he took Joppa for a harbor, and opened a way to the isles of the sea. He extended the borders of his nation, and gained full control of the country. He gathered a host of captives; he ruled over Gazar′a and Beth-zur and the citadel, and he removed its uncleanness from it; and there was none to oppose him. They tilled their land in peace; the ground gave its increase, and the trees of the plains their fruit. Old men sat in the streets; they all talked together of good things; and the youths donned the glories and garments of war. He supplied the cities with food, and furnished them with the means of defense, till his renown spread to the ends of the earth. He established peace in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great joy. Each man sat under his vine and his fig tree, and there was none to make them afraid. No one was left in the land to fight them, and the kings were crushed in those days. He strengthened all the humble of his people; he sought out the law, and did away with every lawless and wicked man. He made the sanctuary glorious, and added to the vessels of the sanctuary. Diplomacy with Rome and Sparta It was heard in Rome, and as far away as Sparta, that Jonathan had died, and they were deeply grieved. When they heard that Simon his brother had become high priest in his place, and that he was ruling over the country and the cities in it, they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew with him the friendship and alliance which they had established with Judas and Jonathan his brothers. And these were read before the assembly in Jerusalem. This is a copy of the letter which the Spartans sent: “The rulers and the city of the Spartans to Simon the high priest and to the elders and the priests and the rest of the Jewish people, our brethren, greeting. The envoys who were sent to our people have told us about your glory and honor, and we rejoiced at their coming. And what they said we have recorded in our public decrees, as follows, ‘Nume′nius the son of Anti′ochus and Antip′ater the son of Jason, envoys of the Jews, have come to us to renew their friendship with us. It has pleased our people to receive these men with honor and to put a copy of their words in the public archives, so that the people of the Spartans may have a record of them. And they have sent a copy of this to Simon the high priest.’” After this Simon sent Nume′nius to Rome with a large gold shield weighing a thousand minas, to confirm the alliance with the Romans. Official Honors for Simon When the people heard these things they said, “How shall we thank Simon and his sons? For he and his brothers and the house of his father have stood firm; they have fought and repulsed Israel’s enemies and established its freedom.” So they made a record on bronze tablets and put it upon pillars on Mount Zion. This is a copy of what they wrote: “On the eighteenth day of Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year, which is the third year of Simon the great high priest, in As′aramel, in the great assembly of the priests and the people and the rulers of the nation and the elders of the country, the following was proclaimed to us: “Since wars often occurred in the country, Simon the son of Mattathi′as, a priest of the sons of Jo′arib, and his brothers, exposed themselves to danger and resisted the enemies of their nation, in order that their sanctuary and the law might be perserved; and they brought great glory to their nation. Jonathan rallied the nation, and became their high priest, and was gathered to his people. And when their enemies decided to invade their country and lay hands on their sanctuary, then Simon rose up and fought for his nation. He spent great sums of his own money; he armed the men of his nation’s forces and paid them wages. He fortified the cities of Judea, and Beth-zur on the borders of Judea, where formerly the arms of the enemy had been stored, and he placed there a garrison of Jews. He also fortified Joppa, which is by the sea, and Gazar′a, which is on the borders of Azo′tus, where the enemy formerly dwelt. He settled Jews there, and provided in those cities whatever was necessary for their restoration. “The people saw Simon’s faithfulness and the glory which he had resolved to win for his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest, because he had done all these things and because of the justice a

1 Maccabees 14:4–15 sets the pastoral scene: elders sit in the streets, the young wear the garments of war turned into glory, each person sits under vine and fig tree with none to frighten them. This is the writer's theological answer to the suffering described in the surrounding chapters—comfort is not the absence of history, but the presence of a righteous ruler who seeks the good of his people.