Scripture Daily

Context No. 417 of 4322 · 1 Maccabees

Context · Reflection

1 Maccabees 11:30-37: in context

30“King Demetrius to his brother Jonathan, and to the nation of the Jews, greetings. 31The copy of the letter which we wrote to Lasthenes our kinsman concerning you, we have written also to you, that you may see it. 32‘King Demetrius to Lasthenes his father, greetings. 33We have determined to do good to the nation of the Jews, who are our friends, and observe what is just toward us, because of their good will toward us. 34We have confirmed therefore to them the borders of Judea, and also the three governments of Aphaerema, Lydda, and Ramathaim (these were added to Judea from the country of Samaria), and all their territory to them, for all who do sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the king’s dues which the king received of them yearly before from the produce of the earth and the fruits of trees. 35As for the other payments to us from henceforth, of the tithes and the taxes that pertain to us, and the salt pits, and the crown taxes due to us, all these we will give back to them. 36Not one of these grants shall be annulled from this time forth and forever. 37Now therefore be careful to make a copy of these things, and let it be given to Jonathan, and let it be set up on the holy mountain in a suitable and conspicuous place.’”

This passage is a letter from King Demetrius to Jonathan and the Jewish nation, and it is dripping with generosity. The king confirms the borders of Judea, adds three districts to their territory, and then remits one payment after another, the tithes owed to the crown, the tolls, the salt tax, the crown levy. And he seals it with the grandest possible language: not one of these grants, he declares, shall be annulled from this time forth and forever. He even orders that the letter be inscribed and set up on the holy mountain in a conspicuous place, so that everyone can see the permanence of his promise carved in stone.

It sounds magnificent, and it is worth knowing the context that the original readers knew well. The books of Maccabees are full of letters exactly like this one, rival kings outbidding one another for Jewish loyalty with lavish, permanent-sounding concessions. And these grand promises, for all their forever and their conspicuous inscriptions, were worth remarkably little. Demetrius was not being generous out of principle; he was courting support because he needed it, and the moment his political fortunes shifted, or a rival made a better offer, the guarantees evaporated. The word forever in the mouth of a self-interested king lasted exactly as long as it served him. The stone might stay carved, but the promise did not hold.

That is a very old lesson and a very current one. Impressive, official, permanent-sounding promises are seductive, especially when they come from someone with power and are announced with confidence and ceremony. But a promise is only as reliable as the character and the interest of the one making it, and forever from a party with an agenda usually means until it stops being convenient. What grand assurance from a person, an institution, a ruler have I trusted as though it were carved in stone, when the one making it had every reason to break it, and where should my confidence actually rest, on promises that hold only as long as they serve the promiser, or on the word of the one whose promises do not shift with his advantage?

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