Chapter 14
On the loftiness and power of Simon, king of Juda, and on the abundance of peace in those times. Renewing of the friendship between the Romans and the Jews, etc.
14:4a And the land of Judah was quiet all the days of Simon, etc.
It is written in the prophet Isaiah about the Lord himself, the Savior: “His dominion will be increased, and there will be no end of peace. He will sit upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and strengthen it in judgment and righteousness, from now and forevermore” (Isa. 9:7). But his rule and dominion will be upon the throne and over the kingdom of David, which after the Babylonian captivity had been scattered, so that he may establish it and strengthen it, and teach that it is perpetual, lest the promise of God be judged void; and in the psalm the Prophet says: “In his days righteousness shall arise, and abundance of peace until the moon is no more” (Ps. 72:7). For this promise fits no one else but the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus, who for us was made incarnate and, by the obedience of the cross, has been made possessor of heaven and earth; to whom the Father says in the Psalter through the Prophet: “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession” (Ps. 2:8). All the land of Judah is silent, all the days of Simon, because the land of the Church, from the time of the incarnation of Christ even unto eternity, although outwardly it endures persecutions from enemies, nevertheless inwardly enjoys true peace. To whom the same Savior says in the Gospel: “My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you” (Jn. 14:27), he himself who builds up good things for his people.
14:4b And his authority pleased them, and his glory pleased them on all days.
Indeed, all good things granted by him to the Church are for the remission of sins and the mastery of virtues. Therefore his authority and his glory are pleasing to her, because she has chosen to serve him alone at all times.
14:5 He himself took Joppa as a port and made an entrance among the islands of the sea.
When he had founded for himself a Church with the entrance of faith from the people of the Gentiles, from there he might open to the Gentiles of the whole world the entrance of faith through the Gospel. Joppa is interpreted as “beauty,” and what is more beautiful than the holy Church, to which the Bridegroom says in the Song of Songs: How beautiful you are, my friend, how beautiful you are; your eyes are doves’ eyes apart from what lies hidden within (Song 4:1)? Therefore he enlarged the borders of his nation, that is, of the Church; he gained possession of the region of the whole world. And he gathered a great captivity. Of him it is written above: Ascending on high he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men (Eph. 4:8, Ps. 68:18).
14:7a And he took control of Gazara, and Bethzur, and the citadel.
For I have purified what was accomplished through the Gospel, bringing the Lord, whom I subdued, back to what is his own and removing the uncleanness of the sinner and of vices, cleansing it by the washing of regeneration.
14:7b And there was no one who could resist him.
Of whom it is written: In your will, Lord, all things are established, and there is no one who can resist your will. For you made heaven and earth and all things contained within the circuit of heaven; you are the Lord of all (Esther 4:17).
14:8a And each person cultivated his land in peace:
namely, his own body by practicing virtues, or the land of the Church by good works. Each of the saints, according to his strength, cultivates.
14:8b And the earth was giving its fruit.
That is, our flesh likewise brings forth the fruit of good works.
14:8c And the trees of the fields. That is, people, always blooming with the greenness of faith, bring forth the shoots of virtues.
14:9 The elders were all sitting in the streets and discussing the good things of the land, and the youths were clothing themselves in glory and the garments of war.
In the elders we can understand the prophets, apostles, and teachers of the holy Church, who help their hearers with counsel and strengthen them with their words; the youths, however, are the gatherings of the faithful, because, relying on the glory of the confession of Christ, they clothe themselves with the armor of virtues, so that they may more easily crush the army of their enemies.
14:10a He granted nourishment to the communities.
That is, they devoted sermons and teachings to the Churches.
14:10b He established these to be vessels of fortification,
so that they might preserve the treasure of spiritual wisdom in a pure conscience and an sincere faith (1 Tim. 3:9), which he did so long as the name of his glory was proclaimed even to the ends of the earth, because into all the earth went forth the sound of the preaching of the apostles, and to the ends of the world their words (Ps. 18). Therefore it is said through the prophet Isaiah: The Lord will make the glory of your voice to be heard, and will show the terror of his arm (Isa. 30:30).
14:11a He made peace upon the earth.
For he is our peace, who has made both one (Eph. 2).
14:11b And Israel rejoiced with great joy.
For the righteous will rejoice in the Lord and will hope in him, and all the upright in heart will be praised (Ps. 64:10).
14:12 And each one sat under his own vine and under his fig tree, and there was no one to frighten them.
This is in accordance with what is said in Micah: Each one shall rest under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and there will be no one to terrify (1 Kings 4:25). This is the vine spoken of in the Gospel: I am the vine and you are the branches, and my Father is the vinedresser. Everyone who does not bear good fruit will be cut off and cast into the fire (Jn. 15:1-6). Its fruits are drunk and eaten and gladden the heart of man, and intoxicate the friends of the Bridegroom, and in the kingdom of God they are drunk anew every day. Under the fig tree, however, rests the one who fears no plots, who enjoys the sweetness of the Holy Spirit and is filled with His fruits, love, joy, peace, self‑control, patience. Of such a planter it is said, that he who plants a fig tree eats its fruit (Prov. 27:18), who has built such houses and planted such vines, of which the Apostle speaks: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth (1 Cor. 3:6). He shall eat the labors of his hands, and he who sows in the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life (Gal. 6:8), nor shall he be overthrown by the deceits of the Devil and his henchmen.
14:14 And he strengthened all the lowly of his people and sought out the Law.
The lowly of the people are the saints whom he calls poor in spirit in the Gospel (Matt. 5:3). The works, too, of the people of God will not grow old, but will be renewed and brought to completion, or strengthened every day, so that they may not walk in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit (Rom. 7:6); such a Law our Simon sought out, and he removed every unjust and evil person, since now through holy teachers he excommunicates heretics and schismatics, and at the end of the world he sends all the devout, and they will gather out of his kingdom all scandals (Matt. 13:41).
14:15 The holy one glorified and multiplied the vessels of the saints,
when he taught his Church to preserve the religion of the New Testament in an orderly and fittingly instituted manner.
14:16 And it was heard in Rome that Jonathan had died, and even among the Spartans, and they were greatly saddened, etc.
When Simon received the high priesthood, various nations sent messengers to him, asking for those things that relate to peace. This signifies that, when the apostles and teachers of the New Testament, after the passion of Christ, his resurrection, and his ascension into heaven, were preaching the Gospel in the world, a multitude of nations flocked to the faith and sincerely sought to have peace with the Church.
14:19 Sending letters,
that is, laying open the secrets of their hearts to them through confession—so that, by receiving the words of truth, they might learn from them the rule of justice.
14:22 Bronze tablets as an eternal memorial.
For it is written: “The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance; he will not fear evil reports” (Ps. 112:6-7). Indeed, the metal bronze is long-lasting and ringing; likewise, the friendship and fellowship of the saints possess the surest and brightest condition of remaining.
14:24 After these things, however, Simon sent Numenius to Rome, etc.
Simon, by sending to the Romans a golden shield weighing one thousand minas in order to establish an alliance with them, signifies that holy teachers, in preaching the Gospel to the nations, promise the heavenly kingdom and eternal blessedness, if they are willing to receive the faith of Christ and to keep the evangelical doctrine until the end of life. For the roundness of the shield and the brightness of the gold, as well as the perfection of the number one thousand, through a figure signify the crown of eternal rest, etc.
14:26 And they established freedom for them and wrote it on wax tablets, etc.
Ebul [Vulg., Elul] is the eighth month among the Hebrews, which among the Greeks is called Gorpiaios (Γορπιαῖος), but among the Latins September; yet the sequences of numbers are scattered because of the different beginnings of the year that exist among each people. For the Hebrews, who place the first month Nisan, that is April, in the sixth place above the aforementioned Ebul. But the Greeks, who begin their year from their first month called Aprilis (Ἀπρίλλος), that is, from the Kalends of December, have Gorpiaios as the tenth month. The Latins, however, who in ancient times had the beginning of their year from the Kalends of March, counted September as the seventh month.
14:47 And Simon took it up and it pleased him to perform the office of high priest and to be leader, etc.
“Peribolus” in Greek is called the wall of the courtyard of the house of the Lord, which surrounded the whole temple in a square all around, as blessed Jerome shows in the Thirteenth Book of his Exposition of the Prophet Ezekiel. Therefore, in a prominent place of the inner court of the house, bronze tablets were set up, on which the priesthood of Simon and his sons had been confirmed in writing. But mystically, the priesthood of Christ and of His sons, that is, of the Christian people, is confirmed in the courtyard of the house of the Lord, that is, in the present Church, as Scripture bears witness, and it is declared to be stable and everlasting among all nations. Therefore is that which is written in the Psalm: “The Lord has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 110:4). And again: “Once,” he says, “I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David: his seed shall remain forever, and his throne as the sun before me, and as the moon, perfected forever, and a faithful witness in heaven” (Ps. 89:35-37). It is a common custom to swear frequently so that one may be believed; but God swears once, because He is not changed by any variation of time. We have said that it belongs to His swearing to promise things to come; for he who has no one stronger binds himself to his own authority. And he says “in your holy one,” in Christ, who said: “Keep my soul” (Ps.25:20), “for I am holy,” “if I lie to David”; if this is taken negatively, as common usage also has it. The seed of Christ are all who have believed in Him with a faithful mind, because in them the future kingdom has been sown, which the harvest to come will show, as He Himself says also in the Twenty‑second Psalm: “My seed shall serve Him.” (Ps. 22:30) Therefore the saints will remain forever, who persist in an excellent and blessed way of life. Therefore we do not properly say that those remain who are cast out from the kingdom of the Lord. But here the throne of God is to be understood as the faithful soul, in which He truly sits when He has filled it with the illumination of His majesty; for therefore it is written: “The soul of the just is the seat of wisdom.” He added, “as the sun before me.” For that soul of the just, which we have called the seat of the Savior, was indeed bright. By saying “as the sun,” he makes a comparison with visible things. For if it is great to shine with the light of a creature, it is much better to shine with the light of the Creator. The perfected moon signifies the transformation of the body from corruption into incorruption. For then the nature of our bodies will be perfect when there will no longer be any mortality or corruption; for the moon itself, which waxes and wanes, signifies the changeableness of human flesh, as can be shown in many places in the Scriptures. These testimonies indeed we have set forth from the Psalms, to show that the priesthood of the true Simon is most firm and everlasting.