“Then Numenius and his companions arrived from Rome. They had letters to the kings and the countries.”
Obviously this fits in better in the preceding chapter, where there was all this talk about going to Rome and Sparta. Now Numenius came back from Rome with a letter. The insertion of the invasion of King Antiochus VII seemed out of place just before this. However, it is what it is.
“After this, Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a large gold shield weighing a thousand minas, to confirm the alliance with the Romans.”
There is not much added here except that it is only Numenius who went to Rome. It seems that Antipater did not go with him. He brought the gift of an expensive gold shield with him to confirm their alliance with the Romans.
“This is a copy of the letter that the Spartans sent.
‘The rulers and the city of the Spartans
To the high priest Simon
And the elders
And the priests
And the rest of the Jewish people,
Our brothers,
Greetings!
The envoys you sent to our people
They have told us about your glory and honor.
We rejoiced at their coming.
We have recorded in our public decrees,
As follows.
‘Numenius son of Antiochus
And Antipater son of Jason,
Envoys of the Jews,
They have come to us
To renew their friendship with us.
It has pleased our people to receive these men with honor.
We put a copy of their words in the public archives,
So that the people of the Spartans may have a record of them.
They have sent a copy of this to the high priest Simon.’”
Once again like the letter in chapter 12, it is the leader and all the people who are involved in this letter writing. The envoys of Numenius and Antipater are mentioned by name. They spoke highly of Simon. They wanted to renew their friendship so that that their words were put in the public archives.
“Therefore, though we have no need of these things,
Since we have as encouragement
The holy books that are in our hands.
We have undertaken to send
To renew our family ties and friendship with you,
So that we may not become estranged from you.
Considerable time has passed
Since you sent your letter to us.
We therefore remember you constantly on every occasion,
Both in our festivals and on other appropriate days,
At the sacrifices which we offer
And in our prayers,
As it is right and proper to remember brothers.
We rejoice in your glory.
But as for ourselves,
Many trials and many wars have encircled us.
The kings around us have waged war against us.
We were unwilling to annoy you
And our other allies and friends with these wars.
We have the help that comes from Heaven for our aid.
We were delivered from our enemies.
Our enemies were humbled.
We therefore have chosen Numenius son of Antiochus
And Antipater son of Jason,
We have sent them to Rome to renew our former friendship
And alliance with them.
We have commanded them to go also to you,
To greet you
To deliver to you this letter from us
Concerning the renewal of our family ties.
Now please send us a reply to this.”
Jonathan’s letter continued to remind them that they relied on their holy books, which would have been the law, Torah, and the prophets. Nevertheless, Jonathan thought that it was time to renew their alliance and friendship. Almost a century and a half had passed without any renewal. During this time, they had remembered the Spartans in their prayers and festivals. Funny, this is the first mention of the Spartans. The Jews have had some problems, but their aid from heaven has helped them to defeat their enemies on every side. He was sending Numenius and Antipater to Rome to renew their friendship. However, he also wanted to renew the family ties with the Spartans. Jonathan also wanted a reply from them.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 