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Context No. 1800 of 4322 · 1 Maccabees

Context · Reflection

1 Maccabees 11:60-66: in context

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.

Jonathan campaigns through the region, welcomed by some cities and resisted by others, extending the influence of his people. When he hears that enemy commanders have come to Galilee with a large army, intending to remove him from his office, he goes to meet them, but he does not go alone or leave the rest undone: he leaves his brother Simon in charge of the country. Simon, for his part, presses his own siege at Bethsura and takes the city. The two brothers divide the work between them, each handling a front.

A small detail in this military account carries a wider wisdom: Jonathan left Simon his brother in the country. Faced with more than one task at once, an enemy to meet in the north and a country to hold and secure behind him, Jonathan did not try to do it all himself. He went to meet the threat in Galilee, and he entrusted the rest to Simon, who took up his own share of the work and pressed his own siege to success. The brothers divided the labor, each trusted with a real part, and together they accomplished what neither could have done alone by trying to be everywhere. There is practical wisdom here that we often ignore. We are tempted to try to do everything ourselves, to be present at every front, to hold every responsibility in our own hands, distrusting others to carry a real share of the load. But this is neither wise nor possible; one person cannot be everywhere, and the attempt to do it all leads to exhaustion and to things left undone. Jonathan's way was to divide the work, to trust Simon with genuine responsibility and go deal with what he himself must handle. This is the wisdom Jethro once gave Moses, who was wearing himself out trying to judge every case alone: you cannot do this by yourself; share the load. To trust others with real responsibility, to divide the work rather than hoarding it, to let a capable partner take a share, is not a failure of diligence but a mark of wisdom. Jonathan met the enemy while Simon held the country; each did his part, and together they prevailed. The one who insists on doing everything alone does less, and wears out doing it; the one who shares the work with trusted others accomplishes more.

Do I try to do everything myself, present at every front, hoarding every responsibility because I distrust others to carry a real share, and can I learn from Jonathan, who left Simon to hold the country while he met the enemy, to divide the work and trust capable others with genuine responsibility rather than wearing myself out trying to do it all alone?

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