| I Maccabees 2:41
| And they determined in that day, saying: Whosoever shall come up against us to fight on the sabbath day, we will fight against him: and we will not all die, as our brethren that were slain in the secret places.
| Come up. They say not that they will attack. (Calmet) --- Pompey perceived this, and made his advances and works on the sabbath, without opposition. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 1:5.) --- Pompey I had thus taken Jerusalem. (Josephus, Antiquities 12:1.) --- The Samaritans will not move on that day. (Exodus 16:29.; ep. 2. ad Scaliger) --- The Jews now take care of the sick, but will not help a beast out of the ditch on the sabbath, though in our Saviour's time they did just the reverse, Luke 14:5. The law has thus been variously explained. The Machabees judged with prudence. Yet superstition had again gained ground, when Josephus (vita) would not fight or assemble his forces on the sabbath, as being contrary to the law. In a storm, a Jewish pilot abandoned the helm till the danger was evident. (Synes. ep. iv.)
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