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Catholic Commentary
Jonathan's Victory over Apollonius: The Battle of Azotus (Part 1)
74Now when Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was moved in his mind, and he chose ten thousand men, and went out from Jerusalem; and Simon his brother met him to help him.75Then he encamped against Joppa. The people of the city shut him out, because Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa.76So they fought against it. The people of the city were afraid, and opened to him; and Jonathan became master of Joppa.77Apollonius heard about that, and he gathered an army of three thousand cavalry, and a great army, and went to Azotus as though he were on a journey, and at the same time advanced onward into the plain, because he had a multitude of cavalry which he trusted.78He pursued him to Azotus, and the armies joined battle.79Apollonius had secretly left a thousand cavalry behind them.80Jonathan learned that there was an ambush behind him. They surrounded his army, and shot their arrows at the people, from morning until evening;81but the people stood fast, as Jonathan commanded them; and the enemy’s horses grew tired.
1 Maccabees 10:74–81 describes Jonathan's military campaign against the Seleucid general Apollonius, beginning with Jonathan's seizure of the coastal city Joppa and culminating in a fierce ambush battle on the plain near Azotus. Jonathan and his troops endure a day-long arrow assault from hidden cavalry but hold their disciplined position, causing the enemy horses to tire and breaking Apollonius's military advantage through patient obedience rather than bold offensive action.
Patient endurance breaks what brute force cannot—Jonathan's soldiers tire the enemy's cavalry not by striking harder, but by refusing to break formation under a day-long arrow assault.
Verses 80–81 — Endurance under fire. The sustained arrow attack "from morning until evening" is not merely a tactical detail; it is a biblical measure of total, exhausting trial — a full day's ordeal. The people "stood fast, as Jonathan commanded them." This is the moral and spiritual heart of the passage. Jonathan has apparently foreseen or suspected the cavalry ambush (v. 80 says he "learned" of it — possibly through scouts), and his prior command to hold position proves decisive. The soldiers' obedience and endurance outlasts the enemy's horses: the cavalry, designed for swift assault, tire when denied the decisive charge. Patient faithfulness defeats impatient force. The first movement of the battle ends not with a dramatic blow but with quiet, costly perseverance.
Catholic tradition reads the Books of Maccabees not merely as military chronicles but as sacred narrative illustrating the dynamics of covenant faithfulness under persecution. The Catechism of the Catholic Church situates 1–2 Maccabees within the canon precisely because they illuminate doctrines such as the resurrection of the dead (2 Macc 12:43–46; CCC §958) and the heroism of martyrdom. This passage speaks to a broader Catholic theological category: the virtue of fortitude. The Catechism defines fortitude as "the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good" (CCC §1808), and Jonathan's command — "stand fast" — is its military embodiment.
St. Ambrose of Milan, commenting on the Maccabean literature in De Officiis, holds up the Maccabean warriors as models of the interplay between prudence and courage: Ambrose notes that true fortitude is never recklessness but "armed reason." Jonathan's deliberate intelligence-gathering (learning of the ambush) combined with his command to endure rather than to flee or panic exemplifies precisely this Ambrosian synthesis.
The Church Fathers also read Israelite military narratives typologically. Origen, in his homilies on Joshua, established the principle that Israel's battles against Gentile enemies prefigure the soul's warfare against vice and demonic opposition. In this reading, Apollonius's cavalry ambush figures the hidden stratagems of the Enemy (cf. Eph 6:11 — "the wiles of the devil"), and the soldier's perseverance under a hail of arrows images the endurance of the faithful soul under spiritual assault. The command to "stand fast" (v. 81) resonates powerfully with St. Paul's repeated exhortation in the same vein (1 Cor 16:13; Eph 6:13–14), suggesting a deep structural continuity between Israel's martial obedience and the Christian's spiritual combat. The exhaustion of the enemy's horses is a fitting image of the ultimate futility of worldly power when met with patient, grace-sustained endurance.
Contemporary Catholics rarely face cavalry charges, but the tactical structure of this passage maps with striking precision onto ordinary spiritual experience. Apollonius's strategy is to encircle Jonathan — to attack from the front while cutting off retreat from behind — and to sustain the assault long enough that exhaustion rather than a single blow produces collapse. This is precisely how spiritual desolation, doubt, or moral temptation typically operates: not as a dramatic, visible attack but as a sustained, grinding pressure that wears down resistance over hours, days, or months. Jonathan's counter-strategy offers a concrete model: choose your ground deliberately, move toward the conflict rather than retreating from it (the capture of Joppa), maintain solidarity with trusted companions (Simon), and when the ambush comes, obey your prior resolve and simply hold position. The spiritual application is direct: Catholics facing prolonged trials — a difficult marriage, a crisis of faith, a moral struggle that returns day after day — are called not to a single heroic act but to the quieter heroism of not breaking formation. The rule of life, the sacramental rhythm, the community of the Church: these are the "ten thousand" who stand with us until the enemy's horses tire.
Commentary
Verse 74 — Jonathan's resolve and Simon's solidarity. The phrase "he was moved in his mind" translates a Greek idiom that connotes interior deliberation quickened by righteous indignation rather than rash emotion. Apollonius, acting as a military governor for King Demetrius II, has sent a letter mocking Jonathan and the Maccabean cause (10:70–73). Jonathan's response is measured: he marshals precisely ten thousand men, a round figure signifying a fully equipped battle force, and departs from Jerusalem — the holy city that legitimizes his authority. Simon's arrival is not incidental; the partnership of the two brothers recalls the whole Maccabean ethos of familial solidarity in the service of the covenant people. Throughout 1 Maccabees, Simon functions as a counselor and co-combatant whose presence signals the gravity of an undertaking (cf. 5:17; 9:65).
Verse 75–76 — The seizure of Joppa. Joppa (modern Jaffa) was a strategically critical coastal city — the principal Mediterranean port serving Jerusalem. That Apollonius had already garrisoned it reveals the sophistication of his strategy: to strangle Jerusalem's access to the sea and to outside support. The townspeople's initial refusal and subsequent capitulation under pressure ("they were afraid, and opened to him") follows the classic siege dynamic of the ancient Near East. Jonathan "became master of Joppa" — a phrase the author uses sparingly, signaling a meaningful territorial acquisition rather than mere passage. The taking of the port neutralizes one arm of Apollonius's encirclement strategy before the main battle begins.
Verse 77 — The deception of Apollonius. The enemy's response is tactically sophisticated and morally telling. Apollonius musters three thousand cavalry — elite, expensive, and symbolically associated with the power of Hellenistic empire — plus a "great army" of infantry. He marches "as though he were on a journey," feigning a routine movement to prevent Jonathan from reading his intentions. The plain beyond Azotus (biblical Ashdod, one of the old Philistine cities) is chosen deliberately: flat, open terrain where cavalry overwhelms infantry. The Seleucid commander is betting that his superior mounted force will annihilate an army of foot soldiers caught in the open. The author subtly underscores the contrast between Apollonius's reliance on cavalry — the preeminent symbol of worldly military power — and the Maccabeans' reliance on disciplined obedience and trust in God.
Verse 78–79 — The trap is sprung. The narrative tightens sharply. The armies "joined battle" (v. 78), and only then does the reader learn what Apollonius had secretly arranged: a thousand cavalry hidden in the rear. This rearguard ambush transforms the engagement from a pitched battle into a potential encirclement and annihilation. The literary structure mirrors the theological point — the enemy conceals his true strength and intentions, a mark of the deceitful power arrayed against Israel throughout 1–2 Maccabees.