Catholic Commentary
Jonathan's Campaign Through Syria and Simon's Capture of Bethsura
60Jonathan went out and took his journey beyond the river and through the cities. All the forces of Syria gathered themselves to him to be his allies. He came to Ascalon, and the people of the city met him honorably.61He departed from there to Gaza, and the people of Gaza shut him out. So he besieged it and burned its pasture lands with fire, and plundered them.62The people of Gaza pleaded with Jonathan, and he gave them his right hand, and took the sons of their princes for hostages, and sent them away to Jerusalem. Then he passed through the country as far as Damascus.63Then Jonathan heard that Demetrius’ princes had come to Kedesh, which is in Galilee, with a great army, intending to remove him from his office.64He went to meet them, but he left Simon his brother in the country.65Simon encamped against Bethsura, and fought against it many days, and hemmed it in.66They asked him to give them his right hand, and he gave it to them. He removed them from there, took possession of the city, and set a garrison over it.
1 Maccabees 11:60–66 describes Jonathan's military campaigns through Syria and Gaza, where he establishes Maccabean authority through both conquest and diplomatic covenants, while his brother Simon simultaneously recaptures the strategic fortress of Bethsura. These coordinated campaigns demonstrate the Hasmonean expansion of power and territorial control through formal peace agreements sealed by the traditional right-hand covenant gesture.
The right hand of peace is more powerful than the sword: Jonathan and Simon wage war not to dominate but to restore, making their final gesture of covenant fidelity more binding than all their sieges.
Commentary
1 Maccabees 11:60 — Jonathan beyond the river and into Syria: "Beyond the river" (Greek: peran tou potamou) almost certainly refers to the Euphrates, an ancient geopolitical boundary that demarcated Israel's traditional promised inheritance (cf. Gen 15:18). Jonathan's journey "through the cities" of Syria, with local forces gathering to him as allies, signals that his appointment by King Demetrius II — however politically expedient — has real diplomatic weight. That "all the forces of Syria" gravitate to him reflects the expanding Hasmonean prestige. The warm reception at Ascalon (ancient Philistine territory, modern Ashkelon) is notable: this city had long been an adversary of Israel (cf. Judg 1:18; 1 Sam 6:17), and its honorable greeting marks a new era of Maccabean regional authority.
1 Maccabees 11:61 — The siege of Gaza: Gaza's resistance stands in sharp contrast to Ascalon's welcome. Gaza was one of the five classic Philistine cities and a perennial symbol of hostile opposition to Israel. Jonathan's burning of its "pasture lands" (agrous) is a calculated act of economic warfare — cutting off food and commerce — rather than a wholesale destruction of the city. This distinguishes his campaign from indiscriminate violence; the goal is submission, not annihilation.
1 Maccabees 11:62 — The right hand and the hostages: The giving of the "right hand" (dexia) is a formal act of covenant-making throughout the ancient Near East and appears repeatedly in 1 Maccabees (cf. 1 Macc 6:58; 11:50; 13:50) as a solemn pledge of peace and protection. Jonathan's demand for "the sons of their princes as hostages" is consistent with Hellenistic diplomatic practice — it ensures compliance without requiring continued military presence. The hostages are sent to Jerusalem, the center of Hasmonean authority and the holy city, reinforcing that this peace is anchored in Israel's sacred identity. Jonathan then presses as far as Damascus — the northernmost reach of his campaign — demonstrating that Maccabean authority now shadows the full arc of the Davidic promise (cf. 2 Sam 8:6).
1 Maccabees 11:63 — The threat from Demetrius' princes at Kedesh: Kedesh, in the tribal territory of Naphtali in upper Galilee, was a city of refuge (cf. Josh 20:7) and a Levitical city. The arrival of hostile forces there — intending specifically "to remove him from his office" — suggests that Jonathan's growing strength has alarmed Demetrius' court. The Galilean heartland is now a theater of conflict, recalling the vulnerability of the northern tribes throughout Israel's history.
1 Maccabees 11:64 — Division of command: Jonathan's decision to divide his forces — going north himself while leaving Simon "in the country" to the south — reveals a sophisticated, two-front strategic mind. It also highlights the fraternal partnership at the core of the Maccabean enterprise. From Mattathias onward (cf. 1 Macc 2:1–5), the Hasmonean brothers function as a unified body, each carrying out his appointed task.
Verses 65–66 — Simon and Bethsura: Bethsura (Beth-zur) was a fortress of immense strategic and symbolic importance. It had been the site of Judas Maccabeus's great victory (1 Macc 4:29–34), had been fortified by him (1 Macc 4:61), subsequently fell to Antiochus V (1 Macc 6:49–50), and was garrisoned by enemy forces. Its recovery is therefore not merely a military objective but a restoration of sacred Maccabean heritage. Simon's patient siege — "many days" — mirrors the perseverance required of righteous warfare. Like Jonathan at Gaza, Simon concludes with the "right hand" of peace, removes the occupying garrison, and installs his own — a complete transfer of possession and authority.
Typological sense: Jonathan and Simon's coordinated campaigns typologically anticipate the dual mission of the Church: the proclamation of the Gospel to distant nations (Jonathan ranging to Ascalon, Gaza, and Damascus) and the interior consolidation of sacred spaces against hostile occupation (Simon's recapture of Bethsura). The right hand of peace extended to conquered peoples prefigures the Church's offer of reconciliation — authority tempered by mercy — which finds its fullest expression in Christ's outstretched hands on the Cross.
Catholic Commentary
Catholic tradition reads 1 Maccabees within the full canon of Scripture as a divinely inspired account of God's providential care for his covenant people during one of history's gravest religious crises. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that God "guides human history" even through secular and military events (CCC 302–304), and this passage illustrates precisely that: Jonathan and Simon are instruments of divine providence restoring the integrity of the land and the worship of the Lord.
The recurring motif of the "right hand" (dexia) carries deep theological resonance in Catholic tradition. The Fathers frequently cite the "right hand" as a symbol of covenant fidelity and divine power (cf. Ps 118:16: "The right hand of the Lord has done mighty things"). St. Ambrose, in De Officiis, drew on Maccabean examples to argue that just warfare must always be ordered toward peace and the common good — force used not for dominion but for the restoration of right order. Jonathan's and Simon's conduct embodies this principle: military action culminates in the outstretched hand, not continued violence.
Bethsura's recapture also resonates with the broader Catholic theology of sacred space. The Second Vatican Council's Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC 2) affirms that the Church on earth is always engaged in the work of restoring what has been profaned or lost. Simon's repossession of Bethsura — a place previously consecrated to Israel's defense and worship — is a type of the Church's mission to reclaim human culture and history for God.
Finally, the fraternal cooperation of Jonathan and Simon anticipates the ecclesial theology of communio: authority in the Church is not solitary but collegial, exercised in fraternal partnership for the salvation of the whole people of God (cf. Lumen Gentium 22).
For Today
The image of the "right hand" extended in peace after hard-won conflict speaks powerfully to Catholics navigating conflict in family life, parish communities, and the public square. Catholic social teaching insists that force — whether in argument, legal action, or even just correction — must always be proportionate and oriented toward reconciliation, never mere domination (cf. CCC 2302–2317). Jonathan does not raze Gaza; he secures peace with a binding gesture.
Simon's patient siege of Bethsura invites Catholics to reflect on the virtue of perseverance in restoring what has been lost — whether that is a lapsed family member's faith, a corrupted institution, or one's own prayer life after a period of spiritual desolation. The fortress was not retaken in a day, and "many days" of faithful effort preceded the breakthrough.
Practically: when you face a conflict that seems intractable, ask whether you are fighting to destroy or to restore. Jonathan and Simon never lose sight of Jerusalem as the goal — all their campaigns serve the holy city. For a Catholic today, that means keeping the Kingdom of God as the orienting purpose of every struggle, every negotiation, every act of courage or patience.
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