Scripture Daily

Context No. 891 of 4322 · 1 Maccabees

Context · Reflection

1 Maccabees 10:51-58: in context

51Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy king of Egypt with this message: 52“Since I have returned to my kingdom, and am seated on the throne of my fathers, and have established my dominion, and have overthrown Demetrius, and have taken possession of our country— 53yes, I joined the battle with him, and he and his army were defeated by us, and we sat on the throne of his kingdom— 54now also let’s make friends with one another. Give me now your daughter as my wife. I will be joined with you, and will give both you and her gifts worthy of you.” 55Ptolemy the king answered, saying, “Happy is the day you returned to the land of your ancestors and sat on the throne of their kingdom. 56Now I will do to you as you have written, but meet me at Ptolemais, that we may see one another; and I will join with you, even as you have said.” 57So Ptolemy went out of Egypt, himself and Cleopatra his daughter, and came to Ptolemais in the one hundred sixty-second year. 58King Alexander met him, and he gave him his daughter Cleopatra, and celebrated her wedding at Ptolemais with great pomp, as kings do.

Back in the political maneuvering of First Maccabees. Alexander, having defeated Demetrius and taken the throne, sends to Ptolemy king of Egypt proposing an alliance sealed by marriage: give me your daughter as my wife. Ptolemy agrees, comes out of Egypt with his daughter Cleopatra, meets Alexander at Ptolemais, and the wedding is celebrated with great pomp, as kings do.

On the surface it is a happy scene, a royal wedding with splendor and mutual congratulation. But the reader who has been paying attention knows how these alliances go. A daughter is again a diplomatic instrument, married off to cement a treaty between men who trust each other only as long as it pays. In the very next chapter Ptolemy will turn on Alexander, take this same daughter back, and hand her to his enemy. The pomp at Ptolemais is real, and it is also hollow, a marriage built on convenience that will dissolve the moment the politics shift. First Maccabees keeps showing us this world of kings, the glittering weddings and the swift betrayals, without moralizing, simply letting the pattern speak. It is the backdrop against which the faithfulness of Judah's God stands out. He does not marry his people for advantage and trade them away when it suits him.

Do I value people for the advantage they bring me, dressing it up with warmth when it is really just convenience?

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