Chapter 12
The sons of Joppitae treacherously killed two hundred Jews, and Judas avenged them. Of the Arab men who were defeated, Timotheus is subdued by Judas. Concerning sacrifices for the dead, etc.
12:3-4 The Joppites in fact committed a certain disgraceful crime of this sort: they asked the Jews with whom they lived to go up into the boats which they had prepared, together with their wives and children, as though no hostilities existed between them. Therefore, according to the common decree of the city, and with the Jews agreeing to it and, for the sake of peace, suspecting nothing, when they had gone out into the open sea, they sank not fewer than two hundred, etc.
Now these Joppites, of whom Scripture speaks, were inhabitants of a town in Palestine called Joppa, a coastal place located in the tribe of Dan; and, to touch briefly on the tales of the pagans, even to this day they show there very high rocks, situated on the sea shore, on which Andromeda, it is said, was once bound and freed by Perseus. But according to the mystical sense, these same Joppites who, dwelling by the sea, caused scandal to the Jews, signify heretics living near the waves of the turbulent world, who always lie in wait for the Jews, that is, the true confessors of Christ, and strive to drag into the pit of their error as many as they can from among their number. Therefore the Joppites, as it were, set up boats in which they drown the Jews, taken away from the shore into the deep, when heretics, devising wicked doctrines, adorn them with fine-sounding speech. This can well be signified by the name “Joppites,” for it is interpreted “beauty,” inasmuch as they may more easily deceive simple souls by the fluency of their language; and once they have drawn them away from the stability of the true faith and gathered them to themselves, they hurl these unsuspecting people headlong into the abyss of punishment. But Judas in type does not allow this to prevail greatly; rather, finding these murderers lurking in the darkness of their error, he torments them with the vengeance of just retribution, and, revealing the deceits that are owed to perpetual fire, rightly strikes down with the sword of anathema both these men and the authors of their transgression, nor does he allow the poison of their hatred to remain hidden any longer.
12:8-9 But when he had learned that those who were in Jamnia also wished to act in the same way toward the Jews living with them, he burned Jamnia and the harbor with its ships, etc.
By Jamnia, which is interpreted “sea,” may be understood the gathering place of schismatics, who are always in a storm. Schism, therefore, as some would have it, is called a cutting off of morals: for it believes with the same worship and the same rite, and in all other respects, it delights only in the disagreement of the congregation. Schism arises when they say, “We alone sanctify the unclean,” and such things as these. But Judas learns that the Jamnites are acting in the same way as the Joppites, contriving plots against the Jews living with them; so when the holy teachers discover that the deceit of schismatics is similar to the fraud of heretics, they fear the deception of the faithful by them. Against such people they wage war, and finding them in the darkness of superstition, they burn them together with their devices by the fire of excommunication; so that their fire appears in Jerusalem, that is, so that the condemnation of their error may be revealed to all worshipers of the true religion. Therefore Paul also, writing to Timothy and making known the errors of the foolish, says (2 Tim. 3:1-4): “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, covetous, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, fierce, without kindness, and traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasures rather than of God, having indeed a form of godliness, but denying its power. And from these turn away. For of these are those who creep into houses and lead captive little women laden with sins, led by various desires, always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth, men corrupted, reprobate in mind concerning the faith. But they shall progress no further, for their foolishness shall be seen to all, as also was that of the former.” Likewise the prince of the apostles, warning that the deceit of wicked men must be guarded against, says to the faithful (2 Peter 3:17-18): “You therefore, brethren, knowing this beforehand, guard yourselves, lest being led astray by the error of the foolish you fall from your own commitment. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. To him be glory both now and in the day of eternity. Amen.”
12:10 When they had already gone nine stadia and were on their way to Timotheus, etc.
The Arabs, who are interpreted as “humble” or “western,” can signify those who love worldly and secular wisdom; which is rightly called humble and western, because it does not know how to imitate true wisdom, which comes from heavenly things. Therefore, intent on opposing Judas and his companions, they engage in battle with five thousand foot soldiers and five hundred horsemen: because, entangled in the senses and pursuits of the flesh, everything of spiritual meaning that is conveyed to them through holy teachers seems to be contrary and blasphemous. Therefore they strive to rebel against them; but, with the truth growing stronger, they are defeated, and overcome by the steadfastness of the holy preachers, they ask that right hands be given to them; so that, abandoning their errors, they may desire the power of the Catholic faith and wish to associate themselves with the confessors of Christ. The spiritual Judas, having judged that they could become useful to the Jews in many ways, promises them peace, gives them right hands, and allows them to depart unharmed: because often such men, who had been steeped in the philosophy of the world, when they are converted to the faith of Christ, become more suitable and better equipped to destroy the foolishness and error of the pagans; and when the word of faith has been fully preached to them, being equipped with both kinds of armor, they fight more bravely against unbelief. Therefore Solomon, for the building of the temple, asks Hiram, king of Tyre, for help in cutting timber from Lebanon, because in this craft the servants of Hiram were more skilled than his own servants; yet they did not devote themselves to this work by themselves alone, since, when they were associated with Solomon’s servants, they brought it to completion in a sincere and orderly manner. The reason for this is evident, namely that the apostles knew more surely the word of the Gospel of God, which they had learned to hear from the Lord; but the pagans, converted from error and transformed to the truth of the Gospel through those same apostles, knew better the very errors of the nations: and the more surely they knew them, the more skillfully they learned to attack and to abolish them.
12:13–14 He also attacked a certain strong city, surrounded by bridges and walls, which was inhabited by crowds of mixed nations, whose name was Casphin. But those who were inside, confident in the stability of the walls and the provision of food, were acting more carelessly, provoking Judas with curses, and blaspheming, and saying things that ought not to be said.
This city, under whose fortification many multitudes of different nations gathered and dwelt, I judge signifies nothing better than the powers of this world; under whose dominion diverse peoples have come, so that under its protection they might be physically guarded and enjoy the gratification of their flesh. Therefore, such an assembly, trusting in the stability of its walls, provokes Judas with curses, and in blasphemy spoke things that ought not to be spoken: when diverse kinds of people, favoring the flattery of rulers and rejoicing in their benefits, did things contrary to the holy preachers, and worshiping idols, hurled words of blasphemy against the Divinity itself. Judas, then, having invoked the prince of this world, by his help took the city: because the holy teachers partly by prayers, and partly also by doctrines, struggled against their adversaries, until by the word of God, according to the Lord’s will, they captured the rulers themselves. And therefore they were accomplishing indescribable massacres of men, not so that by eternal destruction they might utterly perish, but so that by dying to the world they might live more happily to Christ. Such a slaughter, moreover, Peter was ordered to accomplish in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 10:13), when in ecstasy he saw that mystical vessel with four corners being let down from heaven to earth, in which were all the four-footed animals and creeping things of the earth, and birds of the sky, and it was said to him: “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” (Acts 10:13) The animals therefore signified all nations, unclean through errors, but to be cleansed by sacred baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, who, abandoning the image of man, through imitation of beasts and serpents had taken on their forms; which that heavenly voice commands Peter to kill and eat, because it bade him to kill in the Gentiles what they had been, and to make them what he himself was. For whoever eats food placed outside transfers it into his own body; therefore he was commanded that the nations, placed outside the doors through unbelief, with their former life put to death, be grafted into the fellowship of the Church, which Peter signifies. In accordance with this the apostle Paul says of himself: “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live to God in Christ” (Gal. 2:19); and again: “And I now live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).
Nor is that other point without mystery, namely that the adjoining pool appeared to be filled with the blood of slain men: for the shedding of blood signifies the loss of a life drenched in blood, as if the blood, turned into water, were seen to flow, since in the sacrament of baptism, where the faithful die to sin, bloody deeds and the filth of carnal life are understood to be washed away, when the old man is put off with his deeds, and the new man is put on, who according to the Lord is created in righteousness and holiness of truth (Eph. 4:24).
12:17 And they came to Characa, to those who are called Tubianaeans, Jews; and they did not capture Timotheus in those places, and with no business completed he returned, having left a very strong military base in a certain place, etc.
I once heard a Hebrew explaining that those Jews are called Tubianaeans who, after foreigners had been summoned, came to the aid of Judea, and that they were called Tubianaeans as if they had been brought in by foreign trumpets.
12:19 Dositheus and Sosipater, who were commanders with Maccabeus, killed ten thousand men whom Timotheus had left in the military base.
These two commanders, that is, Dositheus and Sosipater, represent the holy preachers who, by the arrangement of the man Maccabeus, that is, the most heroic warriors, of whom it is written in the psalm: “The Lord strong and mighty in battle” (Ps. 24:8), are appointed to wage war against all the errors of the faithless. They are fittingly marked by the number two, because, well instructed in the spiritual knowledge of the two Testaments, they are known to carry out the Lord’s battle properly. Therefore they kill the ten thousand men left in the military base by Timotheus, since they justly put to death with the spiritual sword, by the authority and severity of the same Law, the associates of the heresiarchs, appointed by them to defend their own wickedness, who hold opinions contrary to the Law of God.
12:23 But Judas was pressing on passionately, punishing the wicked, and he laid low thirty thousand men of them, etc.
The question arises how it is that Timotheus is here said to have been released alive by the Jewish leaders out of regard for the humility of his prayers, because he had parents and brothers among many of the Jews, who would happen to be deceived by his death if he were killed; and yet a little earlier it is related that he had been in the military base of Gazara, where he was killed by the soldiers. For if he had then been killed there, in no way could he now here be released alive. This, unless I am mistaken, can be resolved in no other way than that either he is said to have been killed there by prolepsis, or that one Timotheus is to be understood as the one who was killed in the military base of Gazara, and another as this one who is read to have been released by Dositheus and Sosipater. The fact, moreover, that the leaders of Judas, considering the good of their brethren and the redemption of their own people, spared Timotheus, shows that sometimes it is necessary to deal more gently with those who err, not, I say, so that one consents to their iniquity, but that with fatherly devotion one may provide for their weakness, and especially in those places where some fruit from the conversion of those who err is hoped for, so that by ecclesiastical gentleness they may be prompted to flee from the snares of the Devil and to come to catholic freedom. Therefore in the African council it was decreed concerning the Donatist heretics that a milder course be taken with them, where it is written as follows: “After all things had been examined and considered which seemed to be suited to the welfare of the Church, with the assent and admonition of the Spirit of God, we decree to deal gently and peacefully with the aforementioned men, although they hold opinions with restless dissension about the unity of the Lord’s body, so that, as far as is in us, it may become thoroughly known to all who in their communion and fellowship are heretics throughout all the African provinces, in what a miserable error they have been overcome; lest at some time, as the Apostle says, while we in gentleness are correcting those who think differently, God should give them repentance for the acknowledging of the truth, and they may come to their senses out of the snares of the Devil, by whom they are held captive at his will (2 Tim. 2:26).”
12:25-27 But Judas left Carnion after killing twenty‑five thousand. After their flight and slaughter, he moved his army against Ephron, a fortified city in which a multitude of different nations lived; and strong young men, standing on the walls, resisted bravely, etc.
We said in the exposition of the previous book, where Timotheus is discussed, that his army signified the crowd of heretics; likewise about the inhabitants of the city of Ephron, that they figuratively represent those who, in the times of grace, diminished the rite of Judaism, namely the Jews themselves and the heretics who wished, along with the Gospel, to keep the ceremonies of the Law. For these, thinking in a carnal way, wished to learn spiritual knowledge and were not able to understand that “Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4), to the Jew, that is, and to the Gentile. Five thousand are reported as struck down in the Ephronite war, just as in that war which was fought at Carnion, because “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and the prudence of the flesh is death” (1 Cor. 3); “for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (1 Cor. 3:19). Therefore it is likewise said by Paul: “God has made foolish the wisdom of this world” (1 Cor. 1:29). And again: “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). From this the Apostle James, writing to those who are scattered abroad, says (James 3:14): “If you have bitter zeal and strife in your hearts, do not boast and be false against the truth; for this wisdom does not descend from above, from the highest Father, but is earthly, animal, and devilish.” Its followers the prince of battles [the apostles] calls springs or water and clouds driven about by whirlwinds, for whom the gloom of darkness is reserved: they are vain talkers, enticing in the desires of the flesh, of lust, those who barely escape, who live in error; promising them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of corruption (2 Peter 2:17-19). For Judas with his men utterly laid low the hosts of the enemy and won the victory, because the holy teachers, defenders of the truth and attackers of all error, aided by divine help, everywhere take from their enemies the trophy of victory. Therefore they can say with Paul: “But thanks be to God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus and reveals through us the fragrance of his knowledge in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14).
12:29 There they went away to the city of the Scythians, which was six hundred stadia distant from Jerusalem, etc.
The Scythopolitans, who treated the Jews kindly and, because of their supports, obtained favor and praise from Judah, signify those who receive holy teachers and confessors of the true faith, and who assist them with bodily comforts as far as they are able: whose reward will not perish in vain; especially since the Lord in the Gospel says to the apostles concerning such people: He who receives you receives me; he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward; and whoever gives a drink to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he will not lose his reward (Matt. 10:41-42.). Therefore John, writing to Gaius in his epistle, says: Beloved, you act faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers, and this for strangers, who have accepted witness to your love before the Church: whom you will do well to send on their way worthily of God, for they went out for the sake of his name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to receive such people, that we may be fellow workers for the truth (3 Jn. 5-8). So also Paul praised this, writing to the Corinthians: I ask you, brothers, you know the household of Stephanas, and of Fortunatus, and of Achaicus, that they are the first fruits of Achaia, and have devoted themselves to the service of the saints: that you also be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. And I rejoice at the presence of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have supplied what was lacking to you: for they have refreshed both my spirit and yours. Acknowledge therefore such men (1 Cor. 16:15-18).
12:32-33 And after Pentecost they went out against Gorgias, the commander of Idumaea. He came out with three thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry. When they engaged, it happened that a few of the Jews fell.
Gorgias, the commander of Idumaea, can well bear the figure of the Devil, who, always delighting in bloody and blood‑stained activity, nevertheless sometimes imitates the appearance of virtues, though he himself through vices diligently fights against virtues. Therefore, deceiving by cunning any of the simple ones from the number of the faithful, he kills them; yet he does not obtain daily victory, because rather, under the leadership of Judas, his soldiers call upon the Lord as their helper, and by persevering in prayers and hymns the opposing side, confused by fear, is turned to flight, and the honor of triumph is granted to the true worshipers of God. Therefore Peter, writing to believers in his Epistle, says: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation; casting all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you. Be sober and watchful, for your adversary the Devil, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour; resist him, firm in the faith.” (1 Peter 5:6-8) Therefore also it is said through James: “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). But the fact that Dositheus wanted to take Gorgias alive, yet could not, because, his shoulder having been cut off, his enemy escaped, this shows figuratively that the ancient foe is conquered not by human strength but by divine help. For whoever, trusting in his own strength together with the Pelagians, hopes that he can obtain victory over the Devil, indeed does not conquer the enemy, nor does he even keep the condition of his own will unharmed.
12:39-40 And on the following day Judas came with his men to take up the bodies of the slain and place them with their relatives in the tombs of their fathers. But they found beneath the tunics of the killed some ritual offerings of idols that were at Jamnia, which the Law forbids the Jews, etc.
These are the men who were struck down by the enemy because of hidden idolatry, and they more fittingly represent those who, in the secret of the heart, pollute themselves through greed and covetousness. They carry ritual offerings of idols beneath their tunic, who outwardly perform works of virtue for the sake of earthly greed or the ambition of human praise, but under the veil of devotion conceal the deceit of wickedness within; such men are deservedly struck down by enemies, because the poison of deceit, which escaped the sight of men, did not deceive the gaze of the inner Judge. That greed and avarice are idolatry is shown by Paul, who says (1 Tim. 6:10): The root of all evils is greed; which some, desiring, have strayed from the faith and have plunged themselves into many sorrows. And again (Eph. 5:5): “This, moreover,” he says, “know and understand, that every fornicator, or unclean person, or greedy man, which is idolatrous service, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God; for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience [Vulg. unbelief].” Against this vice, wishing to heal human minds, the Savior teaches in the Gospel, saying: “Take care not to practice your righteousness before men in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 6:1). And again, “See,” he says, “and beware of all greed, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).
The mystical Judas, considering that a calamity had come upon his soldiers because of their artificial conduct, does not abandon them, but with fatherly devotion cares for them, both by interceding with prayers for their sins and by correcting their error through the word of preaching and exhortation, so that, once restored again to the practice of virtue, they may from this time watch over themselves more carefully, lest by a similar downfall they fall again into a worse state, according to that passage of the Gospel: “Behold, you have been made whole; do not sin any more, lest something worse happen to you” (Jn. 5:14).
12:42-43 But indeed the very brave Judas was urging the people to keep themselves without sin, seeing under their eyes the things that were done because of the sins of those who had fallen. And when a collection had been made, he sent twelve thousand silver drachmas to Jerusalem so that a sacrifice might be offered for the sins of the dead, etc.
That there must indeed be intercession made after the end of this present life for the sins of the faithful, and that works of almsgiving must be performed in order that those for whose remedy the matter is undertaken may be released from sins, is shown both by this passage and by the Lord in the Gospel, where, when speaking of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, he points out that this is an unforgivable sin, saying: “Whoever speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the age to come” (Matt. 12:32). For when he named that one unforgivable sin, he showed that other sins can be forgiven both in the present life and in the life to come. But how one ought to act for the salvation of the departed is shown by the holy Fathers in their writings. Therefore it has seemed good to insert one of the minor works of Saint Augustine into this volume, instructing the reader to seek similar teachings in the writings of the other Fathers; for that revered Father reports in the work which he wrote to Laurentius on Faith, Hope, and Love (1.29.109) , speaking therefore: “The time which is interposed between a man’s death and the final resurrection keeps souls in hidden receptacles, as each is worthy either of rest or of trial, according to what it obtained in the flesh while it lived. Nor must it be denied that the souls of the departed are relieved by the devotion of their loved ones, when the sacrifice of the Mediator is offered for them or alms are given in the Church; but these things benefit those who, while they were living, so lived that they merited that these things could afterwards profit them: for there is a certain manner of life that is not so good as not to require these helps after death, nor so evil that these helps after death do not benefit it. There is indeed a condition in the good such that it does not require these things, and there is again a condition in the wicked such that, when life has passed, it cannot be helped by them. Therefore, all merit is acquired here by which someone may be either relieved or burdened after this life. Let no one think that, once he has departed, he will obtain from the Lord what he has neglected here. Therefore these practices which the Church frequently performs for the acclaiming of the departed are not contrary to that apostolic sentence in which it is said: ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive according to what he has done through the body, whether good or evil’ (2 Cor. 5:10), because each person also acquired this merit when he was living in the body, so that these things might be able to profit him. For they do not profit all; and why do they not profit all, except because of the merits of the life which each person lived in the body? When therefore sacrifices, whether of the altar or of whatever alms, are offered for the baptized deceased, for those who were very good they are thanksgivings; for those who were not very evil they are appeasements; for those who were very evil, even if they bring no help to the dead, they are, in whatever way, supports to the living. For those to whom they do profit, they either profit so that full remission may be granted, or so that the condemnation may become more tolerable.”