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Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading — 1 Maccabees 4:36-37, 52-59

1 Macc 4:36-37

Then Judas, and his brethren said: Behold our enemies are discomfited: let us go up now to cleanse the holy places and to repair them. ³⁷ And all the army assembled together, and they went up into mount Sion. ⁵² And they arose before the morning on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month (which is the month of Casleu) in the hundred and forty-eighth year. ⁵³ And they offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of holocausts which they had made. ⁵⁴ According to the time, and according to the day wherein the heathens had defiled it, in the same was it dedicated anew with canticles, and harps, and lutes, and cymbals. ⁵⁵ And all the people fell upon their faces, and adored, and blessed up to heaven, him that had prospered them. ⁵⁶ And they kept the dedication of the altar eight days, and they offered holocausts with joy, and sacrifices of salvation, and of praise. ⁵⁷ And they adorned the front of the temple with crowns of gold, and escutcheons, and they renewed the gates, and the chambers, and hanged doors upon them. ⁵⁸ And there was exceeding great joy among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was turned away. ⁵⁹ And Judas, and his brethren, and all the church of Israel decreed, that the day of the dedication of the altar should be kept in its season from year to year for eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month of Casleu, with joy and gladness.

George Leo Haydock

Catholic 1774–1849

On 4:38

Burnt by Callisthenes, whom the Jews burnt in a house, 2 Machabees viii. (Calmet) — Chambers; ( pastophoria. Septuagint) places for beds, veils, &c. (Haydock) — St. Jerome commonly prefers “the treasury,” with Aquila, or “beds,” as Symmachus translates. Chambers for the officers of the temple were common both among pagans and Christians. (Rufin, Hist. ii. 23.; Com. Apost.[Apostolic Constitutions?] ii. 57; Clement [of Alexandria,] pæd. iii. 2.) (Calmet) — As it was the chief design of Judas to defend religion, so he presently purifies the temple. (Worthington)

On 4:41

Fight, or to be ready, if the garrison should offer to molest them (Calmet) from the higher part of Sion, while they were performing what religion required of them. (Haydock)

On 4:42

Blemish. Legal uncleanness or immorality. (Calmet)

On 4:43

Defiled. Altars, temples, and statues of false gods made of stone, and set up in the temple, (chap. i. 50.; Worthington) and before the houses, (2 Machabees x. 1.) were now demolished and thrown into the vale of Cedron, 2 Paralipomenon xxix. 16.

On 4:44

Profaned with impure victims, and with the altar of Jupiter erected above it, chap. i. 23.

On 4:46

Stones; rough, and covered with brass: (Exodus xx. 25.) though this latter circumstances is not certain with respect to the altar built by the captives. — Prophet. None was recognized after Malachias, as God prepared his people to pay more attention to the Messias.

On 4:47

Law. Nothing was specified. The altar in the desert was of wood. At Sinai and Hebal, turf or rough stones were used; whence unhewed stones were judged most proper.

On 4:48

Up, or repaired the temple chambers, &c.

On 4:51

Veils, at the entrance of the holy of holies. (Calmet)

On 4:52

Year. The temple was purified a little more than two years after it had been profaned. (The year [of the kingdom of the Greeks?] 145.) (Worthington) — The sacrifices had been interrupted just three years. The Second Book [of Machabees] (x. 3.) specifies two years; whence some infer, that the temple was twice dedicated. But these two years most probably refer to the administration of Judas. (St. Thomas Aquinas or some other com.[commentator]; Usher, the year of the world 3840.; Tirinus; Calmet; Salien; Menochius)

On 4:57

Escutcheons, or bucklers of gold, taken from the soldiers of Antiochus, chap. vi. 39. Such ornaments were placed in temples, to testify the gratitude of the people. They wished to restore as much as possible what had been taken away, chap. i. 23. On this occasion the Jews carried branches in memory of what they had suffered in desert places for three years. Hence they style it the feast of tabernacles of Casleu, 2 Machabees i. 9., and x. 6. (Calmet)

On 4:59

Decreed. Our Saviour observed this [Hanukkah] festival, which was appointed so long after Moses, John x. 22. (Worthington) — It was styled Encœnia, and kept in winter, while Solomon’s temple was dedicated in Tisri, and Zorobabel’s in Adar. The Jews light lamps, (Calmet) to testify their joy. (Josephus, Antiquities xii. 11.) — The Rabbins add, that a small bottle of oil had been preserved by the high priest, which multiplied so as to supply the lamps during the whole octave. Hence they still have lights at their windows on this festival. (Selden, Syn. iii. 13.)

Responsorial Psalm — 1 Chronicles 29:10bcd, 11abc, 11d-12a, 12bcd

1 Chr 29:10-10

And he blessed the Lord before all the multitude, and he said: Blessed art thou, O Lord the God of Israel, our father from eternity to eternity. ¹¹ Thine, O Lord, is magnificence, and power, and glory, and victory: and to thee is praise: for all that is in heaven, and in earth, is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art above all princes. ¹¹ Thine, O Lord, is magnificence, and power, and glory, and victory: and to thee is praise: for all that is in heaven, and in earth, is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art above all princes. ¹² Thine are riches, and thine is glory, thou hast dominion over all, in thy hand is power and might: in thy hand greatness, and the empire of all things. ¹² Thine are riches, and thine is glory, thou hast dominion over all, in thy hand is power and might: in thy hand greatness, and the empire of all things.

800 – 1500

After 1500

Rashi

Jewish 1040–1105

On 29:10

And David blessed the Lord before the eyes of the entire assembly that he had assembled, as is stated (above 28:1): “And David assembled,” and he blessed them for their willing donations.
and David said, “Blessed are You, the God of Israel our Father For this reason he mentions Israel more than Abraham and Isaac because Jacob also vowed, as it is written (Gen. 28:20): “And Jacob made a vow.”
Israel our Father Israel the Patriarch, and also in Genesis Rabbah is (70:2) it is explained in that manner. I, David, and my people, have vowed like Israel the Patriarch, and whoever makes a vow must mention Israel in his vow. And likewise (Ps. 132:2): “vowed to the mighty God of Jacob.”
from everlasting to everlasting David said: Jethro was one proselyte among six hundred thousand, and he said (Ex. 18:10): “Blessed is the Lord who saved you.” This was a great disgrace for all Israel, but I shall bless the Holy One, blessed be He, more than Jethro.

On 29:11

Yours, O Lord, are the greatness He gave praise to the Holy One, blessed be He, that He gave him so much strength to amass such a fortune for the building of the Temple, as it is written (above 17: 12): “He will build Me a House,” and near this [is written]: “O Lord, for the sake of Your servant and according to Your own heart, You have brought about all this greatness.” Now the expression of greatness can also refer to the building of the Temple, as it is written (above 22:5): “... and the House to build for the Lord, to magnify it on high.”
Yours, O Lord, are the greatness Although I have amassed all this fortune for the building of the Temple, which is called greatness, You have given me all this greatness.
the might for You gave me might to wage war with Israel’s enemies and to plunder their spoils before You, to build the House, as above. After he had waged war with all his enemies and defeated them, it is written (above 18:11): “Those also King David dedicated to the Lord, etc.”
the glory All these praises he praised him because the Holy One, blessed be He, had given him strength to amass a fortune for the building of the Temple, which is called glory (פְּאֵר), as it is written (Isa. 60: 13): “to glorify (לְפָאֵר) the place of My sanctuary,” and also above (22:5): “for fame and for glory (וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת).”
the victory that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him victory to plunder the spoils of the heathens for the purpose of the construction.
for all that is in the heavens is Yours. You rule over even that which is above the heavens, surely over that which is on the earth. Therefore, You can give greatness to whomever You wish.
and on the earth - Heb. וּבָאָרֶץ. This is intoned with an אֶתְנַחְתָּא a hiatus, for the verse ends here, and it refers to that which is above it, as I have explained.
Yours is the kingdom and [You are He] Who is exalted over everything as the Leader The meaning is: If a flesh and blood king gives a position or a ruling power in the kingdom to one of his servants after the prince, he is his servant wherever he is, but the kingdom does not belong to the king, and the one to whom the kingdom belongs does not have the servant, but as for the Holy One, blessed be He - the servant appointed to rule is His, and also the kingdom is His (cotre in Old French, kingdom) and therefore, it is written: “Yours is the kingdom, and You are He Who is exalted” over them, for even the superintendent of the well is appointed from heaven (Baba Bathra 91b). They explained further: “... and [You are He] Who is exalted over everything at the beginning.” When we think that we have praised You with all the thanksgivings, and You have no more praise, it is still nothing, for the praised One stands at the beginning of the praises. And so when David concludes all his praises in Psalms, he commences with the final psalm (149:1): “Sing to the Lord a new song,” i.e., all the praises are new, as though we had never praised Him. In this manner Rabbi Eleazar the son of Rabbi Meir the son of Rabbi Isaac of Orleans explained, and it seems to me that it is so in Hagigah Yerushalmi.

On 29:12

And wealth and honor are from before you from Your hand. “Honor” applies to wealth, as it is written (Nahum 2:10): “Plunder silver! Plunder gold! etc.” And like (Gen 31:1): “... and from what belonged to our father he amassed all this wealth (הַכָּבוֹד).” That is to say that all the wealth that I have amassed is from You, for “You rule over all, and in Your hand is strength and might, etc.”

Gospel — Luke 19:45-48

Luke 19:45-48

And entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought. ⁴⁶ Saying to them: It is written: My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves.† ⁴⁷ And he was teaching daily in the temple. And the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people sought to destroy him: ⁴⁸ And they found not what to do to him: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.