Context No. 3540 of 4322 · 1 Maccabees

1 Maccabees 12:39-45: in context

39And Tryphon sought to reign over Asia and to crown himself, and to stretch out his hand against Antiochus the king. 40He was afraid that Jonathan wouldn’t allow him, and that he would fight against him; and he sought a way to seize him, that he might destroy him. So he marched out and came to Bethshan. 41Jonathan came out to meet him with forty thousand men chosen for battle, and came to Bethshan. 42Tryphon saw that he came with a great army, and he was afraid to stretch out his hand against him. 43He received him honorably, and commended him to all his friends, and gave him gifts, and commanded his forces to be obedient to him, as to himself. 44He said to Jonathan, “Why have you put all these people to so much trouble, seeing there is no war between us? 45Now send them away to their homes, but choose for yourself a few men who shall be with you, and come with me to Ptolemais, and I will give it to you, and the rest of the strongholds and the rest of the forces, and all the king’s officers. Then I will turn around and depart; for this is why I came.”

Tryphon, seeking power for himself, wants to destroy Jonathan but fears his army. So he resorts to deceit. He receives Jonathan warmly, showers him with honors and gifts, and then persuades him with flattery to send away his large force and come with only a few men, promising to hand over cities and strongholds.

It is a trap dressed as generosity, and Jonathan, disarmed by the flattery and the show of friendship, walks into it. There is a sober warning here about the danger of flattery and false friendship, which can accomplish what open hostility could not. Tryphon could not defeat Jonathan by force, so he defeated him by praise, getting him to lower his guard. Those who cannot beat us honestly may try to disarm us with flattery and false kindness, coaxing us to set aside the very caution that protected us. Wisdom stays especially alert precisely when it is being flattered and courted, for that is often when the trap is being set.

Am I alert to the danger of flattery and false friendship, which can disarm me where open opposition could not, rather than lowering my guard when I am praised and courted?

Sources

1 Maccabees 12:42: "Tryphon saw that he came with a great army, and he was afraid to stretch out his hand against him."
1 Maccabees 12:44-45: "Why have you put all these people to so much trouble...? Now send them away to their homes, but choose for yourself a few men."
Proverbs 29:5: "A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet."