Books of the Maccabees

The Books of the Maccabees or Sefer Hamakabim, Book of the Maccabees, recount the history of the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty.

List of books

The Book of the Maccabees refers to a series of deuterocanonical books contained in various canons of the Bible:

  • 1 Maccabees, originally written in Hebrew and surviving only in a Greek translation, relates the history of the Maccabees from 175 BCE until 134 BCE.[1]
  • 2 Maccabees, a Greek abridgment by Jason of Cyrene of an earlier history in Hebrew, relates the history of the Maccabees from 176 BCE down to 161 BCE,[1] focusing on Judas Maccabaeus, discussing praying for the dead and offerings.
  • 3 Maccabees, a Greek narrative that professes a historical account of Egyptian Jews being delivered from impending martyrdom at the hands of Ptolemy IV. Philopator [1] in the 3rd-century BCE.[2]
  • 4 Maccabees, a philosophic discourse praising the supremacy of reason over passion, using the Maccabean martyrs as examples.[2]
  • 5 Maccabees, an Arabic-language history from 186 BCE to 6 BCE. The same title is used for a Syriac version of 6th book of Josephus' Jewish War.[2][3]
  • 6 Maccabees, a Syriac poem that possibly shared a lost source with 4 Maccabees.[3]
  • 7 Maccabees, a Syriac work focusing on the speeches of the Maccabean Martyrs and their mother.[3]
  • 8 Maccabees, a brief account of the revolt drawing on Seleucid sources, preserved in the Chronicle of John Malalas (pp. 206–207 in Dindorf).[3][4]

The first two books are considered canonical by the Catholic Church [5] and the Orthodox Church.

First vs Second Books of Maccabees

The books of the First and Second Maccabees offer similar accounts. The authors display notably different literary styles. The narratives are similar. In First Maccabees, the author offers a sober historical account of the persecution of the Jews under Antiochus IV. In contrast, the author of the Second Book presents a heavily dramatic and theologically dense account of a shorter but overlapping time period (180-161 B.C.)

The second author depicts martyrs alongside Judas Maccabaeus as champions; earning divine favor as a result. The author of First Maccabees presents an objective and sober account, taking influence from the authors of the Hebrew Bible. Second Maccabees is notably dramatic and emotional. First Maccabees begins with the rise and legitimacy of the Hasmonean dynasty, originating with a narrative of the Jewish priest Mattathias, a forefather to the Maccabean revolt. Second Maccabees begins with two letters, Epistle I and Epistle II.

See also

References
  1. Fairweather, William (1911). "Maccabees, Books of" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 198.
  2. 'Maccabees, Books of, 3-5.' International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (via BibleStudyTools.com). Last accessed: 7 May 2013.
  3. James R. Davila, 'The More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Project.' Archived 2013-10-12 at the Wayback Machine U of St. Andrews. Last accessed: 7 May 2013.
  4. John Malalas, Chronographia. Edited by Ludwig A. Dindorf. Vol. 15 of Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae. Bonn: Weber, 1831.
  5. Jerusalem Bible, 1966, "Introduction to the Books of Maccabees", p. 654
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