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From: 1 Maccabees 2:15-29

Mattathias Takes Action at Mode-in

[15] Then the king’s officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the city
of Modem to make them offer sacrifice. [16] Many from Israel came to them; and
Mattathias and his sons were assembled. [17] Then the king’s officers spoke to
Mattathias as follows: “You are a leader, honored and great in this city, and sup-
ported by sons and brothers. [18] Now be the first to come and do what the king
commands, as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah and those that are left in
Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the
friends of the king, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold
and many gifts.”

[19] But Mattathias answered and said in a loud voice: “Even if all the nations
that live under the rule of the king obey him, and have chosen to do his command-
ments, departing each one from the religion of his fathers, [20] yet I and my sons
and my brothers will live by the covenant of our fathers. [21] Far be it from us to
desert the law and the ordinances. [22] We will not obey the king’s words by tur-
ning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the left.”

[23] When he had finished speaking these words, a Jew came forward in the
sight of all to offer sacrifice upon the altar in Modein, according to the king’s com-
mand. [24] When Mattathias saw it, be burned with zeal and his heart was stirred.
He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and killed him upon the altar. [25] At the
same time he killed the king’s officer who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he
tore down the altar. [26] Thus he burned with zeal for the law, as Phinehas did
against Zimri the son of Salu.

[27] Then Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: “Let every one
who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me!” [28] And
he and his sons fled to the hills and left all that they had in the city.

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Commentary:

2:15-28. Mattathias certainly behaves savagely but he has a special reason for
acting in this way: it helps to legitimate his leadership and that of his descendants
in the liberation of Israel. Due to his priestly background Mattathias was a man of
some status; what he did could influence others. Here, in a sense, he represents
the people. Not only does he not succumb to the temptation to gain social and fi-
nancial advantage by being untrue to his conscience and his religion (cf. vv. 17-22);
he shows signs of being a savior of his people. His action is comparable to that
of Phinehas (v. 26), that priest who, according to Numbers 25:6-15, ran a spear
through an Israelite and a Midianite woman, thereby turning God’s wrath back from
the people. In reward for his action God gave Phinehas a covenant of peace and
promised him and his line a perpetual priesthood (cf. v. 54). Moreover, on that oc-
casion God disposed that the Israelites should attack the Midianites and defeat
them. The memory of Phinehas endured in Jewish tradition (cf. Ps 106:28-31; Sir
45:23). Although the sacred writer does not expressly say so, the comparison
with Phinehas gives us an inkling that Mattathias is becoming someone who has
a covenant with God and will be a savior of the people.

Both Phinehas and Mattathias were motivated by zeal for the Lord and for his Law
(vv. 24, 26-27; Num 25:11). Although the way they expressed their zeal was under-
standable only in that distant context (it would not he acceptable today), their zeal
for God and the things of God is still something to be imitated (cf. Origen, “Com-
mentarii in Epistulam ad Romanos”, 8, 1). Our Lord Jesus Christ will also feel zea-
lous for the house of God, the temple, and will perform a symbolic act of violence
against those who profaned it (cf. Jn 2:17; Ps 69:9). It is this sort of zeal that leads
a Christian to “holy intransigence”. “Be uncompromising in doctrine and conduct.
But be yielding in manner. A mace of tempered steel, wrapped in quilted covering.
Be uncompromising, but don’t be obstinate” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 397).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.