Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
MACCABEES, BOOKS OF
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: LUP-MAL
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:MACCABEES, BOOKS OF , the name given to several Apocryphal books of the Old Testament. The See also:Vulgate contains two books of Maccabees which were declared canonical by the See also:council of See also:Trent (1546) and found a See also:place among the Apocrypha of the See also:English See also:Bible. Three other books of this name are extant. See also:Book iii. is included in the See also:Septuagint but not in the Vulgate. Book iv. is embraced in the Alexandrian, Sinaitic, and other See also:MSS. of the Septuagint, as well as in some MSS. of See also:Josephus. A "Fifth" book is contained in the Ambrosian Peshitta, but it seems to be merely a See also:Syriac 'See also:reproduction of the See also:sixth book of Josephus's See also:history of the Jewish See also:War. None of the books of Maccabees are contained in the Vatican (B); all of them are found in a Syriac recension. z Maccabees was originally written in See also:Hebrew, but is pre-served only in a See also:Greek See also:translation. See also:Origen gives a transliteration of "its semitic See also:title," 1 and See also:Jerome says distinctly: " The First Book of Maccabees I found in Hebrew." The frequent Hebraisms which See also:mark the Greek translation, as well as ' the fact that some obscure passages in the' Greek See also:text are best accounted for as mistranslations from the Hebrew, afford See also:internal See also:evidence of the truth of this testimony. There are See also:good reasons for regarding the book as a unity, although some scholars (Destinon, followed by See also:Wellhausen) consider the concluding chapters (xiii.—xvi.) a later addition unknown to Josephus, who, however, seems to have already used the Greek. It probably See also:dates from about the beginning of the first See also:century B.C.2 As it supplies a detailed and accurate See also:record of the See also:forty years from the See also:accession of See also:Antiochus Epiphanes to the See also:death of See also:Simon (175-135 B.C.), without doubt the most stirring See also:chapter in Jewish history, the book is one of the most See also:precious See also:historical See also:sources we possess. In its careful See also:chronology, based upon the Seleucid era, in the minuteness of its See also:geographical knowledge; in the frankness with which it records defeat as well as victory, on the See also:restraint with which it speaks of the enemies of the See also:Jews, in its command of details, it bears on its See also:face the See also:stamp of genuineness. Not, that it is wholly See also:free from See also:error or exaggeration, but its mistakes are due merely to defective knowledge of the outside See also:world, and its overstatements, virtually confined to the See also:matter of See also:numbers, proceed from a' patriotic See also:desire to magnify Jewish victories. While the author presumably had some written sources at his disposal,3 his narrative is probably for the most See also:part ' founded upon See also:personal knowledge and recollection of the events recorded, and upon such first-See also:hand See also:information as, living in the second 1 apt9l,o See also:Ea(3ava iX (Sarbeth Sabanaiel). No satisfactory explanation of this title has yet been given from the Hebrew (see the commentaries). The book may, however, have been known to Origen only in an Aramaic translation, in which See also:case, according to the happy conjecture of Dalman (Gramm. 6) the two words may have represented the Aramaic `io on'n ma -m (" book of the Hasmonaean See also:house"). 2 If the book is a unity,'ch. xvi. 23 implies that it was written after the death of See also:Hyrcanus which occurred in 105 B.C. On the other hand the friendly references to See also:Rome in ch. viii. show that it must have been written before the See also:siege of See also:Jerusalem by See also:Pompey in 63 s.c. 3 Cf. ix. 22, xi. 37, xiv. 18, 27. reference to prayers for the dead and See also:purgatory (xii. 43 seq.). An allusion to See also:Jeremiah as " he who prayeth much for the See also:people and the See also:holy See also:city " (xv. 14) it likewise appeals. to as favouring its views respecting the intercession of the See also:saints. Neither of See also:Jason's See also:work, nor of the epitomizer's, can the precise date be determined. The changed relations with Rome (viii. ro, 36) prove, however, that the latter was written later than r Macc.; and it. is equally clear that it was composed before the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. See also:generation after, he would still be in a position to obtain. His See also:sole aim is honestly to relate what he knew of the glorious struggles of his nation. Although written in the See also:style of the historical books of the old Testament, the work is characterized by a religious reticence which avoids even the use of the divine name, and by the virtual See also:absence of the Messianic See also:hope. The observance of the See also:law is strongly urged, and the cessation of prophecy deplored (iv. 46; xiv. 41). There is no allusion either to the See also:immortality of the soul or to the resurrection of the dead. The rewards to which the dying Mattathias points his sons are all for this See also:life. Many scholars are of See also:opinion that the unknown author was a Sadducee,T but all that can be said with certainty is that he was a Palestinian See also:Jew devotedly attached to the See also:national cause. Until the council of Trent i Maccabees had only " ecclesiastical " See also:rank, and although not accepted as canonical by the See also:Protestant churches, it has always been held in high estimation. See also:Luther says " it closely resembles the See also:rest of the books of Holy Scripture, and would not be unworthy to be enumerated with them." 2 Maccabees, the See also:epitome of a larger work in five books by one Jason of See also:Cyrene, deals with the same history as its predecessor, except that it begins at a point one See also:year earlier (176 B.C.), and stops See also:short at the death of See also:Nicanor (161 B.C.), thus covering a See also:period of only fifteen years. First of a112 the writer describes the futile See also:attempt of See also:Heliodorus to rob the See also:Temple, and the malicious intrigues of the Benjamite Simon against the worthy high See also:priest Onias III. (iii. 1--iv. 6). As throwing See also:light upon the situation See also:prior to the Maccabaean revolt. this See also:section of the book is of especial value. Chapters iv. 7-Vii. 42 contain a more detailed narrative of the events recorded in r Macc. i. 10-64. The See also:remainder of the book runs parallel to r Macc. iii.—vii. Originally written in excellent Greek, from a pronouncedly Pharisaic standpoint, it was possibly directed against the Hasmonaean See also:dynasty. It shows no sympathy with the priestly class. Both in trustworthiness and in style it is inferior to r Macc. Besides being highly coloured, the narrative does not observe strict See also:chronological sequence. Instead of the sober annalistic style of the earlier historian we have a work marked by See also:hyperbole, inflated See also:rhetoric and homiletic reflection. See also:Bitter invective is heaped upon the national enemies, and strong predilection is shown for the marvellous. The fullness and inaccuracy of detail which are a feature of the book suggest that Jason's information was derived from the recollections of See also:eye-witnesses orally communicated. In spite of its obvious defects, however, it forms a useful supplement to the first book. The writer's interests are religious rather than historical. In 1 Macc. there is a keen sense of the part to be played by the Jews themselves, of the See also:necessity of employing their own skill and valour; here they are made to rely rather upon divine intervention. Fantastic See also:apparitions of angelic and supernatural beings, gorgeously arrayed and mostly upon horseback, are frequently introduced. In See also:general, the views reflected in the book are those of the See also:Pharisees. The ungodly will be punished mercilessly, and in exact See also:correspondence to their sins.' The chastisements of erring Jews are of short duration, and intended to recall them to See also:duty. If the faithful suffer martyrdom, it is in See also:order to serve as an example to others, and they shall be compensated by being raised up " unto an eternal renewal of life." The See also:eschatology of 2 Macc. is singularly advanced, for it combines the See also:doctrine of a resurrection with that of immortality. It is worthy of See also:note that the See also:Roman See also: 38, 42; v. 9 seq.; ix. 5—i8.' ' The date of See also:composition can be only approximately determined. As the writer is acquainted with the Greek additions to See also:Daniel (vi. 6), the first century inc. forms the See also:superior limit; and as thebopkfound favour in the Eastern Church, the first century A.D. forms the inferior limit.
+ Apart from its abrupt commencement, the references in i. 2 to " the See also:plot " as something already specified, and in ii. 25 to the See also: 19), and the existence of the See also:synagogue at Ptolemais when the book was written, are viewed as the See also:witness of tradition' to the fact of some great deliverance. Fritzsche has well pointed out, however (See also:art. " Makkahaer in See also:Schenkel's Bibel-See also:Lexicon) that in the hands of Jewish writers of the period nearly every event of consequence has a festival attached to it. The See also:account given of the martyrs in chs. vi. and vii. led to frequent allusions to this book in See also:early patristic literature. Only See also:Augustine, however, was minded to give it the canonical rank to which it has been raised by the Roman Church. Luther judged of it as unfavourably as he judged ofMacc. favourably, and even " wished it had never existed." 3 Maccabees, although purporting to be an historical narrative, is really an animated, if somewhat vapid, piece of fiction written iq Greek somewhere between Too B.c. and A.D. 7o,' and apparently preserved only in part.' It has no connexion with the Hasmonaeans, but is a See also:story of the deliverance experienced by the Egyptian Jews from impending martyrdom at the hands of Ptolemy IV. Philopator, who reigned in the century previous to the Maccabaean rising (222-2o5 B.C.). The title is of later origin, and rendered possible only by the generalization of the name Maccabee so as to embrace all who suffered for the ancestral faith. Josephus refers the See also:legend on which it is based to the See also:time of Ptolemy VII. Physcon (146—117 B.O. Some scholars (See also:Ewald, See also:Reuss, See also:Hausrath) think that what the story really points to is the persecution under Caligula, but in that case Ptolemy would naturally have been represented as claiming divine honours. No other source informs us of a visit to Jerusalem, or ,of a persecution of the Jews, on the part of Philopator. Possibly, however, the story may be founded on some historical situation regarding which we have no definite knowledge. The purpose of the writer was evidently to cheer his Egyptian brethren during some persecution at See also:Alexandria. Although the book was favourably regarded in the Syrian, it was apparently unknown to the Latin Church. Among the Jews it was virtually ignored. Briefly, the tale is as follows: After the See also:battle of Raphia 6 (all B.C.), Ptolemy IV. Philopator insisted on entering the See also:sanctuary at Jerusalem, but was struck down by the Almighty in See also:answer to the prayers of the horrified Jews. On his return to See also:Egypt he revenged himself by curtailing the religious See also:liberty of the Alexandrian Jews, and by depriving of their civic rights all who refused to See also:worship Bacchus.. Exasperated by their See also:loyalty to their See also:religion, the king ordered all the Jews in Egypt to be imprisoned in the See also:hippodrome of Alexandria. Clerks were told off to prepare a See also:list of the prisoners' names, but after forty days See also:constant toil they had exhausted theit See also:writing materials without See also:finishing their task. Ptolemy further commanded that 50o elephants should be intoxicated and let loose upon the occupants of the racecourse. Only an See also:accident prevented the carrying out of this See also:design; the king had slept until it was past the time for his See also:principal See also:meal. On the following See also:day, in virtue of a divinely induced forgetfulness, Ptolemy recollected nothing but the loyalty of the Jews to his See also:throne. The same evening, nevertheless, he repeated his order for their destruction. Accordingly, on the See also:morning of the third day, when the king attended to see his commands executed, things had reached a crisis. The Jews prayed to the See also:Lord for See also:mercy, and two angels appeared from See also:heaven, to the confusion of the royal troops, who were trampled down by the elephants. Ptolemy now vented his wrath upon his counsellors, liberated the Jews, and feasted them for seven days. They deter-See also:mined that these should be kept as festal days henceforth in See also:commemoration of their deliverance. The provincial See also:governors were enjoined to take the Jews under their See also:protection, and leave was given to the latter to slay those of their kinsmen who had deserted the faith. They further celebrated their deliverance at Ptolemais, where they built a synagogue, and they reached their various abodes to find themselves not only reinstated in their possessions, but raised in the esteem of the Egyptians. 4 Maccabees differs essentially from the other books of this name. While it does not itself aim at being a history, it makes striking use of Jewish history for purposes of edification. It bears, moreover, a distinctly philosophical See also:character, and takes the See also:form of a " tractate " or discourse, addressed to Jews only,l upon " the supremacy of pious See also:reason over the passions."2 The material is well arranged and systematically handled. In the See also:prologue (i. 1-12) the writer explains the aim and See also:scope of his work. Then follows the first main See also:division (i. 18), in which he treats philosophically the proposition that reason is the See also:mistress of the passions, inquiring what is meant by " reason" and what by " See also:passion," as well as how many kinds of passion there are, and whether reason rules them all. The conclusion reached is that with the exception of forgetfulness and See also:ignorance all the affections are under the lordship of reason, or at all events of pious reason. To follow the dictates of pious reason in op-position to natural inclination is to have learned the See also:secret of victory over the passions. In the second part of the book (iii. 19-xviii. 5) the writer goes on to prove his thesis from Jewish history, dwelling in particular upon the See also:noble stand made against the tyranny of Antiochus IV. Epiphanes by the priest Eleazar, the seven See also:brothers and their See also:mother—all of whom See also:chose See also:torture and,death rather than apostatize from the faith. Finally he appeals to his readers to emulate these acts of piety (xvii. 7-xviii. 24). In his gruesome descriptions of See also:physical sufferings the author offends against good See also:taste even more than the writer of 2 Macc., while both contrast very unfavourably in this respect with the sober reserve of the See also:gospel narratives. The book is written in a cultured, if somewhat rhetorical, Greek style, and is unmistakably coloured by the Stoic See also:philosophy. The four See also:cardinal virtues are represented as forms of See also:wisdom, which again is inseparable from the See also:Mosaic law. That the writer owes no slavish adherence to any philosophical See also:system is See also:plain from his See also:independent treatment of the affections. Although influenced by See also:Hellenism, he is a loyal Jew, earnestly desirous that all who profess the same faith should adhere to it in spite of either Greek allurements or barbaric persecution. It is not to reason as such, but only to pious reason (i.e. to reason enlightened and controlled by the divine law), that he attributes lordship over the passions. While in his zeal for legalism he virtually adopts the standpoint of Pharisaism, he is at one with Jewish Hellenism in substituting belief in the soul's immortality for the doctrine of a bodily resurrection. The name of the author is unknown. He was, however, clearly a Hellenistic Jew, probably See also:resident in Alexandria or See also:Asia See also:Minor. In the early Church the work was commonly ascribed to Josephus and incorporated with his writings. But apart from the fact that it is found also in several MSS. of the Septuagint, the See also:language and style of the book are incompatible with his authorship. So also is the circumstance that 2 Macc., which forms the basis of 4 Macc., was unknown to Josephus. Moreover, several unhistorical statements (such as, e.g. that Seleucus was succeeded by his son Antiochus Epiphanes, iv. 15) 1 Even if with Freudenthal we regard the work as a See also:homily actually delivered to a Jewish See also:congregation—and there are difficulties in the way of this theory, particularly the absence of a Biblical text—it was clearly intended for publication. It is essentially a book in the form of a discourse, whether it was ever orally delivered or not. So Deissmann in Kautzsch, See also:Die Apok. u. Pseudepigr. See also:des A. T. ii. 151. 2 Hence the title sometimes liven to it: atrroKpllropoc Xorywwpoe (" On the supremacy_ of reason ). It is also styled MaxKa,q+atwv 6', MaxKa94aixbv, ets roes MaKKai3atous.militate against the view that Josephus was the author. The date of composition cannot be definitely fixed. It is, however, safe to say that the book must have been written later than 2 .Macc., and (in view of the See also:acceptance it met with in the See also:Christian Church) prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. Most likely it is a product of the Herodian period. 5 Maccabees. Writing in 1566 See also:Sixtus Senensis mentions having seen at See also:Lyons a See also:manuscript of a so-called " Fifth Book of Maccabees " in the library of Santas Pagninus, which was soon afterwards destroyed by See also:fire. It began with the words: " After the See also:murder of Simon, See also: Fritzsche (1871) and H. B. Swete (See also:Cambridge Septuagint, vol. iii., 1894). C. J. See also:Ball's The Variorum Apocrypha will be found specially useful by those who cannot conveniently consult the Greek. The best modern commentary is that of C. L. W. Grimm (1853-1857). C. F. Keil's commentary on 1 and 2 Macc. is very largely indebted to Grimm. More recently there have appeared commentaries by E. C. See also:Bissell on 1, 2 and 3 Macc. in See also:Lange-See also:Schaff's commentary, 188o—the whole Apocrypha being embraced in one See also:volume, and much of the material being transferred from Grimm; G. See also:Rawlinson on 1 and 2 Macc. in the See also:Speaker's Commentary 1888 (containing much useful matter, but marred by too frequent inaccuracy) ; O. Zockler, on 1, 2 and 3 Macc., 1891 (slight and unsatisfactory) ; W. Fairweather and J. S. See also:Black on 1 Macc. in the See also:Cam-See also:bridge Bible for See also:Schools (1897); E. Kautzsch on 1 and 3 Macc., A. Kamphausen on 2 Macc. and A. Deissmann on 4 Macc. in Die Apok. u. Pseudepigr. des Alt. Test., 1898 (a most serviceable work for the student of apocryphal literature). Brief but useful introductions to all the four books of Maccabees are given in E. Schiirer's Geschichte des Judischen Volkes See also:im Zeitalter Jesu Christi (3rd ed., 1898–1901; Eng. tr. of earlier edition, 1886-1890). (W. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] MACCABEES |
[next] MACCARTHY, DENIS FLORENCE (1817-1882) |