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1 Maccabees
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom. It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under the leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from around 170 BC to 134 BC.
The author is anonymous, but he probably wrote in the newly independent Hasmonean kingdom after the success of the Maccabean Revolt in the late 2nd century BC. 1 Maccabees was probably written in Hebrew originally. However, this original Hebrew has been lost, and the work only survives in translation in Koine Greek contained in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures. The Septuagint was preserved by early Christians as the basis for the Christian Old Testament. It became part of the deuterocanon in early Christianity. The book is held as canonical scripture today in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches (except for the Orthodox Tewahedo). The book is not part of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and is not considered canonical by Protestant denominations nor in any of the major branches of Judaism. Some Protestants include the book as biblical apocrypha, material useful for background and edification but that is not canonical. Rabbinic Judaism generally disapproved of the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty, but the book is openly pro-Hasmonean, one of several factors for a lack of enthusiasm for the book within later Judaism.
1 Maccabees is best known for its account of the recapture of Jerusalem in the year 164 BC and rededication of the Second Temple: the origin behind the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
The author of 1 Maccabees is anonymous and unknown. He wrote in the post-independence Hasmonean kingdom, probably during the reign of High Priest John Hyrcanus (reigned ~134–104 BC), with a few scholars suggesting that early in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (reigned 103–76 BC) is also a possibility. All agree that the book was written before 63 BC, as the author shows great admiration toward Rome and does not know of the Roman general Pompey conquering Jerusalem and reducing the Hasmonean kingdom to a client state of the Roman Republic in that year. He was likely a court historian or equivalent. The author appears to be very familiar with Judea and its geography, but appears less well-informed about the wider Hellenistic world. The entire work is generally considered to be a unity composed by a single author on both philological and thematic grounds, although there are occasional short passages sometimes contested as potentially being added at a later date.
The title "1 Maccabees" is not the original title of the work. Rather, it comes from the Septuagint, which gave it that title to distinguish it from the other books of the Maccabees. In the book itself, "Maccabee" is used solely as a personal title for Judah Maccabee (Latinized as Judas Maccabeus). Judas's Maccabee title is generally tied to the Aramaic word maqqaba ("makebet" in modern Hebrew), "hammer" or "sledgehammer". It is unknown how he got this epithet; most presume it was in recognition of his prowess in battle. The word "Maccabees" in plural, however, does not appear to have been used until centuries after the Maccabean Revolt. At first, it was used to describe the martyrs described in 2 Maccabees. It later became a title given to the rebels as a whole around the 3rd–5th century AD, hence the Septuagint naming the works as books of the Maccabees. This usage of "Maccabees" as a group-term may have originated in Greek, as no usage of it in Hebrew to refer to the rebels survives from any era earlier than the 19th century.
Eusebius, in his book Church History, quotes Origen of Alexandria who says the title of the work was Sarbēth Sabanaiel, an enigmatic Greek transliteration from a putative Hebrew original title. It is thought that the most likely parts are the Aramaic səpar ("book"), bêt ("house" or "dynasty"), and 'ēl ("God"). Various reconstructions have been proposed for the overall phrase:
The book was probably originally written in Hebrew. Both Origen and Jerome claim to have seen a Hebrew text of 1 Maccabees. The surviving Greek script has Hebraisms and Hebrew idioms. It also seems to have been written in Judea where knowledge of Hebrew was more widespread. If it really was originally written in Greek, then the author was intentionally imitating Hebrew style in Greek. The book is not written in colloquial "common" Koine Greek of the 2nd century BC, but rather a more archaic style of Greek consciously imitative of the style of older scriptures. It frequently imitates biblical phraseology and directly cites biblical precedents. The English equivalent would be writing new books in the style of the King James Version of the Bible. It also uses anachronistic terms at times to make explicit parallels between the exploits of the Hasmoneans and earlier Jewish heroes; for example, it refers to the coastal region of Palestine as the land of the Philistines, although the Philistines were no longer a relevant cultural grouping in the era.
The book is generally classed as a historical book of the Bible. While the main focus is a recounting of history, some consider the book to have merit as literary art as well. The narrative is primarily prose text, but is interrupted by seven poetic sections, which imitate classical Hebrew poetry. These include four laments and three hymns of praise. Various historical documents are included as well, notably of negotiations and letters with the Roman Republic and Hellenistic Sparta.
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1 Maccabees
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom. It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under the leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from around 170 BC to 134 BC.
The author is anonymous, but he probably wrote in the newly independent Hasmonean kingdom after the success of the Maccabean Revolt in the late 2nd century BC. 1 Maccabees was probably written in Hebrew originally. However, this original Hebrew has been lost, and the work only survives in translation in Koine Greek contained in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures. The Septuagint was preserved by early Christians as the basis for the Christian Old Testament. It became part of the deuterocanon in early Christianity. The book is held as canonical scripture today in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches (except for the Orthodox Tewahedo). The book is not part of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and is not considered canonical by Protestant denominations nor in any of the major branches of Judaism. Some Protestants include the book as biblical apocrypha, material useful for background and edification but that is not canonical. Rabbinic Judaism generally disapproved of the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty, but the book is openly pro-Hasmonean, one of several factors for a lack of enthusiasm for the book within later Judaism.
1 Maccabees is best known for its account of the recapture of Jerusalem in the year 164 BC and rededication of the Second Temple: the origin behind the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
The author of 1 Maccabees is anonymous and unknown. He wrote in the post-independence Hasmonean kingdom, probably during the reign of High Priest John Hyrcanus (reigned ~134–104 BC), with a few scholars suggesting that early in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (reigned 103–76 BC) is also a possibility. All agree that the book was written before 63 BC, as the author shows great admiration toward Rome and does not know of the Roman general Pompey conquering Jerusalem and reducing the Hasmonean kingdom to a client state of the Roman Republic in that year. He was likely a court historian or equivalent. The author appears to be very familiar with Judea and its geography, but appears less well-informed about the wider Hellenistic world. The entire work is generally considered to be a unity composed by a single author on both philological and thematic grounds, although there are occasional short passages sometimes contested as potentially being added at a later date.
The title "1 Maccabees" is not the original title of the work. Rather, it comes from the Septuagint, which gave it that title to distinguish it from the other books of the Maccabees. In the book itself, "Maccabee" is used solely as a personal title for Judah Maccabee (Latinized as Judas Maccabeus). Judas's Maccabee title is generally tied to the Aramaic word maqqaba ("makebet" in modern Hebrew), "hammer" or "sledgehammer". It is unknown how he got this epithet; most presume it was in recognition of his prowess in battle. The word "Maccabees" in plural, however, does not appear to have been used until centuries after the Maccabean Revolt. At first, it was used to describe the martyrs described in 2 Maccabees. It later became a title given to the rebels as a whole around the 3rd–5th century AD, hence the Septuagint naming the works as books of the Maccabees. This usage of "Maccabees" as a group-term may have originated in Greek, as no usage of it in Hebrew to refer to the rebels survives from any era earlier than the 19th century.
Eusebius, in his book Church History, quotes Origen of Alexandria who says the title of the work was Sarbēth Sabanaiel, an enigmatic Greek transliteration from a putative Hebrew original title. It is thought that the most likely parts are the Aramaic səpar ("book"), bêt ("house" or "dynasty"), and 'ēl ("God"). Various reconstructions have been proposed for the overall phrase:
The book was probably originally written in Hebrew. Both Origen and Jerome claim to have seen a Hebrew text of 1 Maccabees. The surviving Greek script has Hebraisms and Hebrew idioms. It also seems to have been written in Judea where knowledge of Hebrew was more widespread. If it really was originally written in Greek, then the author was intentionally imitating Hebrew style in Greek. The book is not written in colloquial "common" Koine Greek of the 2nd century BC, but rather a more archaic style of Greek consciously imitative of the style of older scriptures. It frequently imitates biblical phraseology and directly cites biblical precedents. The English equivalent would be writing new books in the style of the King James Version of the Bible. It also uses anachronistic terms at times to make explicit parallels between the exploits of the Hasmoneans and earlier Jewish heroes; for example, it refers to the coastal region of Palestine as the land of the Philistines, although the Philistines were no longer a relevant cultural grouping in the era.
The book is generally classed as a historical book of the Bible. While the main focus is a recounting of history, some consider the book to have merit as literary art as well. The narrative is primarily prose text, but is interrupted by seven poetic sections, which imitate classical Hebrew poetry. These include four laments and three hymns of praise. Various historical documents are included as well, notably of negotiations and letters with the Roman Republic and Hellenistic Sparta.