Chapter 15
Onias and Jeremiah appear, who hand down to Judas a golden sword sent by God. With their hands the Jews fought, with their hearts they prayed. The head of Nicanor is cut off, etc.
15:12 The vision was of this kind: Onias, who had been high priest, a good and kindly man, modest in appearance, calm in conduct, and honorable in speech, etc.
But if anyone should ask whether this vision can be related to some ministry, this, unless I am mistaken, can be understood from the fact that the priest Onias signifies the priestly order; and Jeremiah the prophet, whose name is interpreted “the Exalted of the Lord,” represents the Lord himself and the head of the prophets; of whom Moses says: “The Lord will raise up a prophet from among your brothers; you shall listen to him as to me” (Deut. 18:15); and Isaiah: “Cease, he says, from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is reckoned as exalted” (Isa. 2:22).
Therefore, the priestly order itself, through the men who under the Old Testament accordingly carried out the divine office in the temple of God, was not only summoned for the sins of the people, but also prefigured the future incarnation of our mediator, by whose help the world was to be saved. Concerning him the apostle John says in his Epistle: We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for those of the whole world (1 Jn. 2:1-2).
Therefore here he gave a golden sword to Judah, when he granted to the teachers the divine Scripture, shining with spiritual meaning, for the fortification of the whole Church and the defense of his people, so that they might use it as armor against all enemies and overthrow the multitude of the enemy, etc.
15:17 Therefore Judas was greatly encouraged by the good exhortations, by which his zeal could be roused, etc.
The book of Esther relates that, at Haman’s instigation, King Ahasuerus ordered that all the Jews in his kingdom be put to death, and for the execution of this slaughter there were appointed thirty days of the twelfth month, which is called Adar, and that their goods should be plundered. But by the will of the Lord the same sentence was turned against their attackers, so that the aforesaid king, through the mediation of the Jew Mordecai, after the old writings and with new letters sent out, commanded that the Jews, on the very day on which their enemies had prepared their destruction, should kill their enemies and persecutors. And this they did on the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the month; concerning which it is written in the same story as follows: The thirteenth day of the month Adar was, for all, a single day of slaughter, and on the fourteenth day they ceased from killing, which they established to be a solemn feast, so that on it thereafter, for all time, they might devote themselves to banquets, rejoicing, and festivities. ( Esther 9:18)
As was just written, when Nicanor had been killed and the obvious help of God had been shown, all the Jews, by common decision, decreed that the thirteenth day of the month Adar, which in the Syrian language is called the day before Mordecai’s day, should always be kept as a feast, and therefore these two festivals came together mutually: that is, the one which is recorded in the Maccabees and the one which is read in the story of Esther, so that those held on the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the month Adar might likewise be joined together.