Texts in Conversation
The Letter of Aristeas tells the king that he will win his wars by calling on God and acting justly, not by trusting the size of his army. In 1 Maccabees 3, Judas says the same before battle, that victory comes from heaven and not from numbers.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Letter of Aristeas 1:193
Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
The king praised the man warmly for his answer and asked the next in order, How he could be invincible in military affairs? And he replied, 'If he did not trust entirely to his multitudes or his warlike forces, but called on God continually to bring his enterprises to a successful issue, while he himself discharged all his duties in the spirit of justice.' Welcoming this answer, he asked another how he might become an object of dread to his enemies. And he replied, 'If while maintaining a vast supply of arms and forces he remembered that these things were powerless to achieve a permanent and conclusive result. For even God instils fear into the minds of men by granting reprieves and making merely a display of the greatness of his power.'
1 Maccabees 3:19
Deuterocanon
17 But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas, “What? Shall we be able, being a small company, to fight against so great and strong a multitude? We for our part are faint, having tasted no food this day.” 18 Judas said, “It is an easy thing for many to be hemmed in by the hands of a few. With heaven it is all one, to save by many or by few; 19 for victory in battle does not stand in the multitude of an army, but strength is from heaven. 20 They come to us in fullness of insolence and lawlessness, to destroy us and our wives and our children, and to plunder us, 21 but we fight for our lives and our laws. 22 He himself will crush them before our face; but as for you, don’t be afraid of them.
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Notes and References
“... Question number five (§ 193) introduces the topic of the king as a military leader, an important subject of Hellenistic kingship literature, since one of the king’s primary duties was to protect his kingdom and subjects. The king’s question accords with the broad concern, but the answer is not one that would likely be found in the Hellenistic Peri Basileus literature. The respondent sets aside any notion of relying on military forces. Rather he tells the king that he must appeal to God, and to the extent that the king maintains justice, God will “direct his enterprises.” That is, God will protect a just king, and in this sense, Ps.-Aristeas exhibits a central idea in both Jewish and Greek conceptions – the virtue of the king is paramount to his success. As many scholars point out, the idea that one relies on God and not force of arms appears frequently in Jewish literature. One of the best examples is 1 Macc 3:19: “For victory in war is not in the multitude of the force, but rather, power is from heaven.” ...”
Wright, Benjamin G., III
The Letter of Aristeas: ‘Aristeas to Philocrates’ or ‘On the Translation of the Law of the Jews’
(p. 344) De Gruyter, 2015
* 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.
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