1 Maccabees 13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
IV. Leadership of Simon
Chapter 13
Simon as Leader. 1 When Simon heard that Trypho was gathering a large army to invade and ravage the land of Judah, 2 and saw that the people were trembling with terror, he went up to Jerusalem. There he assembled the people 3 and exhorted them in these words: “You know what I, my brothers, and my father’s house have done for the laws and the sanctuary; what battles and hardships we have seen. 4 For the sake of this, for the sake of Israel, all my brothers have perished, and I alone am left. 5 Far be it from me, then, to save my own life in any time of distress, for I am not better than my brothers. 6 But I will avenge my nation and the sanctuary, as well as your wives and children, for out of hatred all the Gentiles have united to crush us.”(A)
7 As the people heard these words, their spirit was rekindled. 8 They shouted in reply: “You are our leader in place of your brothers Judas and Jonathan. 9 Fight our battles, and we will do everything that you tell us.” 10 So Simon mustered all the men able to fight, and hastening to complete the walls of Jerusalem, fortified it on every side. 11 He sent Jonathan, son of Absalom, to Joppa with a strong force; Jonathan drove out the occupants and remained there.
Trypho’s Deceit. 12 Then Trypho moved from Ptolemais with a large army to invade the land of Judah, bringing Jonathan with him as a prisoner. 13 Simon encamped at Adida, facing the plain. 14 When Trypho learned that Simon had succeeded his brother Jonathan, and that he intended to fight him, he sent ambassadors to him with this message: 15 “It was on account of the money your brother Jonathan owed the royal treasury in connection with the offices that he held, that we have detained him. 16 Now send a hundred talents of silver, and two of his sons as hostages to guarantee that when he is set free he will not revolt against us, and we will release him.”
17 Simon knew that they were speaking deceitfully to him. Nevertheless, for fear of provoking much hostility among the people, he sent for the money and the boys, 18 lest the people say “Jonathan perished because I would not send Trypho the money and the boys.” 19 So he sent the boys and the hundred talents; but Trypho broke his promise and would not release Jonathan.
20 [a]Next Trypho moved to invade and ravage the country. His troops went around by the road that leads to Adora, but Simon and his army moved along opposite him everywhere he went. 21 The people in the citadel kept sending emissaries to Trypho, pressing him to come to them by way of the wilderness, and to send them provisions. 22 Although Trypho got all his cavalry ready to go, there was a very heavy snowfall that night, and he could not go on account of the snow. So he left for Gilead. 23 When he was approaching Baskama,[b] he had Jonathan killed and buried him there. 24 Then Trypho returned to his own land.
Jonathan’s Tomb. 25 Simon sent for the remains of his brother Jonathan, and buried him in Modein, the city of his ancestors. 26 All Israel bewailed him with solemn lamentation, mourning over him for many days. 27 Then Simon erected over the tomb of his father and his brothers a monument of stones, polished front and back, and raised high enough to be seen at a distance. 28 He set up seven pyramids facing one another for his father and his mother and his four brothers.(B) 29 For the pyramids he devised a setting of massive columns, which he adorned with suits of armor as a perpetual memorial, and next to the armor carved ships, which could be seen by all who sailed the sea. 30 This tomb which he built at Modein is there to the present day.
Alliance of Simon and Demetrius II. 31 Trypho dealt treacherously with the young King Antiochus. He killed him 32 and became king in his place, putting on the crown of Asia. Thus he brought much evil on the land.(C) 33 Simon, for his part, built up the strongholds of Judea, fortifying them all around with high towers, thick walls, and gates with bars, and he stored up provisions in the strongholds. 34 Simon also chose men and sent them to King Demetrius to obtain for the land an exemption from taxation, since Trypho did nothing but plunder. 35 King Demetrius replied favorably and sent him the following letter:
36 “King Demetrius sends greetings to Simon, high priest and friend of kings, and to the elders and the Jewish people. 37 We have received the gold crown and the palm branch that you sent. We are ready to make a lasting peace with you and to write to our officials to grant you exemption. 38 Whatever decrees we have made in your regard remain in force, and the strongholds that you have built you may keep. 39 We pardon any oversights and offenses committed up to now, as well as the crown tax that you owe. Any other tax that used to be collected in Jerusalem shall no longer be collected there. 40 Any of you qualified for enrollment in our service may be enrolled. Let there be peace between us.”
41 Thus in the one hundred and seventieth year,[c] the yoke of the Gentiles was removed from Israel, 42 and the people began to write in their records and contracts, “In the first year of Simon, great high priest, governor, and leader of the Jews.”
Simon Captures Gazara. 43 (D)In those days Simon besieged Gazara[d] and surrounded it with troops. He made a siege machine, brought it up against the city, and attacked and captured one of the towers. 44 Those in the siege machine leaped down into the city and a great tumult arose there. 45 Those in the city, together with their wives and children, went up on the wall, with their garments rent, and cried out in loud voices, begging Simon to grant them terms of peace. 46 They said, “Treat us not according to our evil deeds but according to your mercy.” 47 So Simon came to terms with them and did not attack them. He expelled them from the city, however, and he purified the houses in which there were idols. Then he entered the city with hymns and songs of praise. 48 After removing from it everything that was impure, he settled there people who observed the law. He improved its fortifications and built himself a residence.
Simon Captures the Citadel. 49 The people in the citadel in Jerusalem were prevented from going out into the country and back to buy or sell; they suffered greatly from hunger, and many of them died of starvation. 50 They finally cried out to Simon, and he gave them terms of peace. He expelled them from the citadel and cleansed it of impurities. 51 On the twenty-third day of the second month,[e] in the one hundred and seventy-first year, the Jews entered the citadel with shouts of praise, the waving of palm branches, the playing of harps and cymbals and lyres, and the singing of hymns and canticles, because a great enemy of Israel had been crushed.(E) 52 Simon decreed that this day should be celebrated every year with rejoicing. He also strengthened the fortifications of the temple mount alongside the citadel, and he and his people dwelt there. 53 Seeing that his son John[f] was now a grown man, Simon made him commander of all his soldiers, and he dwelt in Gazara.
Notas al pie
- 13:20–21 The invaders made a wide flanking movement to invade Judea from the south (see 4:29; 6:31). Adora was a few miles southwest of Beth-zur. They would avoid Beth-zur itself and other strongholds of the Maccabees by following the way of the wilderness.
- 13:23 Baskama: perhaps northeast of the Sea of Galilee.
- 13:41 The one hundred and seventieth year: March, 142, to April, 141 B.C., by the Temple calendar.
- 13:43 Gazara: ancient Gezer, a key position in the Shephelah, fortified by Bacchides in 160 B.C.; cf. 9:52.
- 13:51 The twenty-third day of the second month: June 3, 141 B.C.
- 13:53 John: John Hyrcanus, who was to succeed his father as ruler and high priest; cf. 16:23–24.
Song of Songs 7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 7
The Beauty of the Beloved
1 D? Turn, turn, O Shulammite![a]
turn, turn that we may gaze upon you!
W How can you gaze upon the Shulammite
as at the dance of the two camps?
2 M How beautiful are your feet in sandals,[b]
O noble daughter!
Your curving thighs like jewels,
the product of skilled hands.
3 Your valley,[c] a round bowl
that should never lack mixed wine.
Your belly, a mound of wheat,
encircled with lilies.
4 (A)Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
5 (B)Your neck like a tower of ivory;
your eyes, pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose like the tower of Lebanon
that looks toward Damascus.[d]
6 Your head rises upon you like Carmel;[e]
your hair is like purple;
a king is caught in its locks.
Love’s Desires
7 How beautiful you are, how fair,
my love, daughter of delights!
8 Your very form resembles a date-palm,[f]
and your breasts, clusters.
9 I thought, “Let me climb the date-palm!
Let me take hold of its branches!
Let your breasts be like clusters of the vine
and the fragrance of your breath like apples,
10 And your mouth like the best wine—
Wthat flows down smoothly for my lover,
gliding[g] over my lips and teeth.
11 (C)I belong to my lover,[h]
his yearning is for me.
12 Come, my lover! Let us go out to the fields,
let us pass the night among the henna.
13 (D)Let us go early to the vineyards, and see
if the vines are in bloom,
If the buds have opened,
if the pomegranates have blossomed;
There will I give you my love.
14 The mandrakes[i] give forth fragrance,
and over our doors are all choice fruits;
Fruits both fresh and dried, my lover,
have I kept in store for you.
Notas al pie
- 7:1 Shulammite: the woman is so designated because she is considered to be from Shulam (or Shunem) in the plain of Esdraelon (cf. 1 Kgs 1:3), or because the name may mean “the peaceful one,” and thus recall the name of Solomon. Turn: she is asked to face the speaker(s). How…: she refuses to be regarded as a spectacle (“the dance of the two camps” is unknown). Some interpret the episode as an invitation to her to dance.
- 7:2–6 Another description of the woman’s charms. Sandals: the woman’s sandaled foot was apparently considered quite seductive (Jdt 16:9). Noble: a possible connection to the enigmatic “prince” of 6:12. Curving…jewels: the meaning of these Hebrew words is not certain. Wine and wheat suggest fertility.
- 7:3 Valley: lit., navel; a discreet allusion to her sex.
- 7:5 The comparison emphasizes the stateliness of her neck, and the clarity of her eyes. Bath-rabbim: a proper name which occurs only here; there was a city of Rabbah northeast of Heshbon in Transjordan. Cf. Jer 49:3.
- 7:6 Carmel: a prominent set of cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean.
- 7:8–9 Date-palm: a figure of stateliness. The lover is eager to enjoy the possession of his beloved.
- 7:10 Gliding: the beloved interrupts her partner’s compliment by referring to the intoxication of their union. The translation rests on an emendation of the enigmatic “the lips of the sleepers.”
- 7:11–14 The woman’s answer assures him of her love, and invites him to return with her to the rural delights associated with their love (cf. also 6:11–12). Yearning: used only here and in Gn 3:16; 4:7. The dependency and subordination of woman to man presented as a consequence of sin in the Genesis story is here transcended in the mutuality of true love.
- 7:14 Mandrakes: herbs believed to have power to arouse love and promote fertility; cf. Gn 30:14–16.
Luke 10:25-42
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
25 [a]There was a scholar of the law[b] who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”(A) 26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” 27 He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”(B) 28 He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”(C)
The Parable of the Good Samaritan. 29 But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. 31 [c]A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. 32 Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. 33 But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. 34 He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ 36 Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” 37 He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Martha and Mary.[d] 38 (D)As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. 39 [e]She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. 40 Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” 41 The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. 42 [f]There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Read full chapterNotas al pie
- 10:25–37 In response to a question from a Jewish legal expert about inheriting eternal life, Jesus illustrates the superiority of love over legalism through the story of the good Samaritan. The law of love proclaimed in the “Sermon on the Plain” (Lk 6:27–36) is exemplified by one whom the legal expert would have considered ritually impure (see Jn 4:9). Moreover, the identity of the “neighbor” requested by the legal expert (Lk 10:29) turns out to be a Samaritan, the enemy of the Jew (see note on Lk 9:52).
- 10:25 Scholar of the law: an expert in the Mosaic law, and probably a member of the group elsewhere identified as the scribes (Lk 5:21).
- 10:31–32 Priest…Levite: those religious representatives of Judaism who would have been expected to be models of “neighbor” to the victim pass him by.
- 10:38–42 The story of Martha and Mary further illustrates the importance of hearing the words of the teacher and the concern with women in Luke.
- 10:39 Sat beside the Lord at his feet: it is remarkable for first-century Palestinian Judaism that a woman would assume the posture of a disciple at the master’s feet (see also Lk 8:35; Acts 22:3), and it reveals a characteristic attitude of Jesus toward women in this gospel (see Lk 8:2–3).
- 10:42 There is need of only one thing: some ancient versions read, “there is need of few things”; another important, although probably inferior, reading found in some manuscripts is, “there is need of few things, or of one.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.