The first book of Maccabees is a book written by a
Jewish author after the restoration of an independent
Jewish kingdom, probably about
100
BC. It is held as
Deuterocanonical scripture by both the
Catholic and
Orthodox churches.
Protestantism and modern-day
Judaism holds it an
Apocryphal book.
Contents
The
setting of the book is about a century after the conquest of
Judea
by the Greeks under Alexander the Great, after Alexander's
empire has been divided so that Judea was part of the Greek
Seleucid Empire. It tells how
the Greek ruler
Antiochus IV
Epiphanes attempted to suppress the practice of basic Jewish
religious law, resulting in a Jewish revolt against Seleucid rule.
The book covers the whole of the revolt, from
175 to
134 BC, highlighting how
the salvation of the Jewish people in this crisis came from God
through
Mattathias' family, particularly
his sons,
Judas Maccabeus,
Jonathan Maccabaeus, and
Simon Maccabaeus, and Simon's son,
John Hyrcanus. The doctrine expressed in the
book reflects traditional Jewish teaching, without later doctrines
found, for example, in
2
Maccabees.
In the first chapter, Alexander the Great conquers the territory of
Judea, only to be eventually succeeded by the Seleucid Antiochus IV
Epiphanes. After successfully invading the Ptolemaic kingdom of
Egypt, Antiochus IV captures Jerusalem and removes the sacred
objects from the Jerusalem temple, slaughtering many Jews. He then
imposes a tax and establishes a fortress in Jerusalem.
Antiochus then tries to suppress public observance of Jewish laws,
in an attempt to secure control over the Jews. He desecrates the
Temple by setting up an "
abomination of desolation" (an
idol). Antiochus forbids both
circumcision and possession of
Jewish scriptures on pain of death. He also forbids observance of
the
sabbath and the offering of sacrifices
at the Temple. He also requires Jewish leaders to sacrifice to
idols. While enforcement may be targeting only Jewish leaders, some
Jews (and children) are killed as a warning to others. Antiochus
introduces
Hellenistic culture; this
process of
Hellenization included the
foundation of
gymnasium
in Jerusalem. The latter practice discouraged the Jewish practice
of circumcision, which had already been forbidden, even further; a
man's state could not be concealed in the gymnasium, where men
socialized in the nude. Jews even engage in non-surgical
foreskin restoration in order to pass
in Hellenic culture.
Mattathias calls forth the people to
holy
war against the invaders, and his three sons begin a military
campaign against them. There is one complete loss of a thousand
Jews (men, women and children) to Antiochus when the Jewish
defenders refuse to fight on the Sabbath. The other Jews then
reason that, when attacked, they must fight even on the Sabbath. In
165 BC the Temple is freed and reconsecrated,
so that ritual sacrifices may begin again. The festival of
Hanukkah is instituted by Judas Maccabeus and his
brothers to celebrate this event (1 Macc. iv. 59). Judas seeks an
alliance with the
Roman Republic to
remove the Greeks.
He is "succeeded" by his brother Jonathan,
who becomes high priest and also seeks alliance with Rome and
confirms alliance with Areus of Sparta
(1 Macc.
xii. 1-23). Simon follows them, receiving the double office
of high priest and prince of Israel. (Simon and his successors form
the
Hasmonean dynasty, which is not always
considered a valid kingship by the Jews, since they were not of the
lineage of
David.) Simon leads the people in
peace and prosperity, until he is murdered by agents of
Ptolemy, son of
Abubus,
who had been named governor of the region by the Macedonian Greeks.
He is succeeded by his son, John Hyrcanus.
Name
The name
Maccabee in Hebrew, means "hammer". This is
properly applied to the first leader of the revolt, Judas, third
son of Mattathias, whose attacks were "hammer-like". The name
Maccabee also might have been derived from the battle cry
of the revolt,
Mi Kamocha B'elim, YHWH
("Who is like you among the heavenly powers,
YHWH!" -
Exodus ch. 15:11.) In Hebrew, the
first letters of this four word slogan form the acronym MKBY (Mem,
Kaf, Bet and Yud). This became synonymous with the revolt. The name
came to be used for his brothers as well, which accounts for the
title of the book. Scholars infer that in the original Hebrew, the
term used for "abomination of desolation" would have sounded
similar to "Lord of heaven", so that this term might refer to an
image or altar of
Zeus.
Form
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.
Transmission, language and author
The text comes to us in three codices of the
Septuagint: the
Codex
Sinaiticus,
Codex
Alexandrinus and Codex Venetus, as well as some cursives.
Though the original book was written in
Hebrew, as can be deduced by a number of
Hebrew idioms in the text, the original has been lost and the
version which comes down to us is the Septuagint. Some authors date
the original Hebrew text even closer to the events covered, while a
few suggest a later date. Because of the accuracy of the historical
account, if the later date is taken, the author would have to have
had access to first-hand reports of the events or other primary
sources.
Origen of Alexandria gives
testimony to the existence of an original Hebrew text.
Jerome likewise claims "the first book of Maccabees I
have found to be Hebrew, the second is Greek, as can be proved from
the very style" (per
Prologus Galeatus). Many scholars
suggest that they may have actually had access to a
Biblical Aramaic paraphrase of the
work—most Christian scholars of the time did not distinguish
between Hebrew and Aramaic. In either case, only the Greek text has
survived, and this only through its inclusion in the Christian
canon. Origen claims that the title of the original was
Sarbēth
Sarbanael (variants include Σαρβηθ Σα[ρ]βαναι ελ "
Sarbēth
Sa[r]banai El" and Σαρβηθ Σα[ρ]βανέελ
Sarbēth
Sa[r]baneel), an enigmatic Greek transliteration from a
Semitic original. Various reconstructions have been proposed:
- "Book of the Prince of the House of Israel" or
"the Prince of the House of God (El)",
from the Hebrew שַׂר בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, Sar Beit-Yisra'el
or בֵּית אֵל שַׂר, Sar Beit-El, respectively,
- "History of the House of the Warriors",
- "Book of the House of the Princes of God",
- "the Book of the Dynasty of God's resisters", perhaps
from סֵפֶר בֵּית סָרְבָנֵי אֵל, Sefer Beit Sarevanei El
("Book of the House who strive for God").
Gustaf Dalman, meanwhile, suggests
that the title is a corruption of the Aramaic "
The Book of the
House of the Hasmoneans".
The book's author is unknown, but is assumed to have been a devout
Jew from the Holy Land who may have even taken part in the events
described in the book. He shows intimate and detailed geographical
knowledge of the Holy Land, but is inaccurate in his information
about foreign countries. The author interprets the events not as a
miraculous intervention by God, but rather God's using the
instrument of the military genius of the Maccabees to achieve his
ends. The words "God" and "Lord" never occur in the text, always
being replaced by "Heaven" or "He".
Notes
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