Texts in Conversation
The Christian theologian Ambrose of Milan quotes 1 Maccabees where Jonathan’s soldiers abandon him in battle, yet he remains faithful. Ambrose shows how 1 Maccabees was used as an authoritative source for history and teaching in Christian tradition.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Maccabees 11:70
Deuterocanon
69 But those who lay in ambush rose out of their places and joined battle. 70 All those who were on Jonathan’s side fled. Not one of them was left, except Mattathias the son of Absalom, and Judas the son of Chalphi, captains of the forces. 71 Jonathan tore his clothes, put dirt on his head, and prayed. 72 He turned again to them in battle, and routed them, and they fled. 73 When the men on his side who had fled saw this, they returned to him and pursued with him to Kedesh to their camp, and they encamped there. 74 About three thousand men of the foreigners fell on that day. Then Jonathan returned to Jerusalem.
Date: 134–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Ambrose, On the Duty of the Clergy 1.201
Early Christian
201 Why need I further mention his brother Jonathan, who fought against the king's force, with but a small troop. Though forsaken by his men, and left with only two, he retrieved the battle, drove back the enemy, and recalled his own men, who were flying in every direction, to share in his triumph.
Date: 390–395 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... Treatments of 1 Maccabees in patristic writings highlighted the religious and moral virtues of Judas Maccabeus. Tertullian (Adversus Judaeos 4.1–11) and Victorinus (Routh: 3.451–483) praised Judas Maccabeus for legitimately breaking the observance of the Sabbath in order to fight his enemies. Origen, who supposedly still had access to the Hebrew original, criticized the zeal of the Jews in his Commentary on Romans 8.1, yet he emphasized the zeal and jealousy of Mattathias as being righteous and according to knowledge (8.1.2). A shift in perception is evident in Cyprian’s Testimoniorum Libri Tres, his collection of biblical passages on the moral duties of the Christian life, in which he praises the virtue and courage of Judas Maccabeus. Similarly, Ambrose of Milan stressed the courage and bravery of Judas Maccabeus ... Augustine cites 1 Maccabees 2:69 as part of an argument that righteousness does not depend on circumcision. Jerome, who primarily translated the Vulgate, was also responsible for the inclusion of 1 Maccabees ..."
Jens Kreinath, “First Book of Maccabees,” in Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, ed. Hans-Josef Klauck (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2019), 324–332.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,