Bible Encyclopedias
Maccabees, Books of

• Grimm, Das Erste Buch der Makkabäer, in Kurzgefasstes Exegetisches Handbuch zu den Apokryphen, 1853;
• Wace, Apocrypha;
• Bissell, Apocrypha, in Lange's Commentary;
• Fairweather and Black, First Book of Maccabees, in Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges;
• Kautzsch, Apokryphen; Torrey, Schweizer's Hebrew Text of I Maccabees, in Jour. Bib. Lit. 22:51-59.

1. Maccabees: The Second Book of the Maccabees opens with two letters written by Jews resident in Palestine to brethren dwelling in Egypt. The first letter occupies ch. 1:1-10a; the second, ch. 1:10b-2:18. These letters, it is thought by some, formed no part of the original work. The preface is found in ch. 2:19-32, and states that Jason of Cyrene had composed five books on the Maccabean revolt, which the writer undertakes to epitomize for his readers. Ch. relates how the attempt of Heliodorus to plunder the Temple was miraculously thwarted; ch. narrates the wickedness of the high priests Jason and Menelaus, and of Simon, the Temple overseer; ch. , how Antiochus began the persecution of the Jews; ch. and , the story of the martyrdom of Eleazar and the seven young men and their mother; while ch. - are occupied with the history of the wars of Judas Maccabeus.

Historical and Religious Character.

The time covered by this material is barely fifteen years, from the very end of the reign of Seleucus IV., whose servant was Heliodorus, to the victory of Judas over Nicanor (175-160 B.C.). The reason why the book terminates here is to be found in its aim, which was to set before the Jews of the Diaspora the importance of observing the two Maccabean feasts—the Feast of the Dedication and the Feast of Nicanor. In no other way, the writer believed, could they share in the glory and the fruits of the great struggle for liberty. The author is so intent on this that though he has lauded Judas as a splendid example of religious patriotism he passes in silence over his death. The writer further takes occasion often to impress upon his readers the sacred character of the Temple at Jerusalem, which the Diaspora might easily undervalue. In contrast with I Maccabees, the language of II Maccabees is highly religious. God appears as the great "Sovereign" who miraculously delivers His people (see 3:24 and, perhaps, 2:21). The author is a religious teacher (see 3:1 et seq., 4:15-17, 5:17-20, et al.); he did not write for the sake of the history as such. This places his work in a very different class from that of I Maccabees. In the earlier part he supplies some welcome information not contained in I Maccabees, and in nearly every chapter are interesting facts—some of them confirmed by Josephus—which may, with caution, be used. But his purpose, style, and temperament are such that, since the time of Ewald, it has been recognized that the work is not a sober and restrained history like I Maccabees, but is rhetorical and bombastic.

Sources.

One important fact to be noted is the writer's belief in the bodily resurrection of the dead (see 7:9,11,14,36; 14:16; and especially 12:43-45). This, together with his attitude toward the priesthood asshown in his lifting the veil which I Maccabees had drawn over Jason and Menelaus, led Bertholdt and Geiger to regard the author as a Pharisee and the work as a Pharisaic party document. This much, at least, is true—the writer's sympathies were with the Pharisees. The author claims that he epitomized the work of Jason of Cyrene (2:23), which seems to have been his only source, unless he himself prefixed the two letters to his work. Jason is thought by Schürer (c. p. 212) to have compiled his work from hearsay shortly after 160 B.C. at Cyrene. If this is true, the work of Jason, like II Maccabees, concluded with the victory over Nicanor. There can be no doubt that both the work of Jason and that of his epitomizer (e., the author of II Maccabees) were written in Greek, and that the latter was a Hellenistic Jew.

There is a reference in ch. 15:37 to the Book of Esther, which would preclude any earlier date of authorship than about 130 B.C. (see Cornill, "Einleitung," p. 252). On the other hand, II Maccabees was known to the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (see Peak, in "The Century Bible," p. 223) and to Philo (see Schürer, c. p. 214). The work, therefore, must have been composed about the beginning of the common era.

The Letters.

The two letters prefixed to II Maccabees have excited much discussion. Some scholars regard them as the basis of the author's work, which he himself prefixed to it because they treat of the topics of which he wished to speak—the Temple at Jerusalem and the importance of observing its feasts. Others hold that the letters were placed in their present position by a later hand, while some believe them to be fabricated. There is in the letters nothing which is inconsistent with their belonging to the time from which they profess to come, and there seems to be no good reason for doubting that it was the epitomist himself who prefixed them to the book. For details see the works mentioned below.

1. Maccabees: The Third Book of the Maccabees has in reality nothing to do either with the Maccabees or with their times. It received its name probably because it is a fiction concerning the persecution of the Jews by a foreign king; that king was Ptolemy Philopator (222-205 B.C.). The story runs as follows: After Ptolemy's defeat of Antiochus III. in 217 B.C., at the battle of Raphia, the former visited Jerusalem and tried to enter the Temple, but was miraculously prevented (1:1-2:24). Returning to Alexandria, he assembled the Jews in the hippodrome to be massacred, but the necessity of writing down their names exhausted the paper in Egypt, so that they escaped (2:25-4:21). Next the king devised a plan for having the Jews trampled to death by elephants; this also was frustrated in various improbable ways (5:1-6:21). The king then underwent a change of heart and bestowed great favor on the Jews, and the day on which this occurred was ever after celebrated as a festival in memory of the deliverance (6:22-7:23).

Authorship and Character.

The author of this fiction was certainly an Alexandrian Jew who wrote in Greek, for its style is even more rhetorical and bombastic than that of II Maccabees. The work begins abruptly and is thought to be but a fragment of a once larger whole. Whether there is any foundation for the story concerning Philopator with which the writer begins there is no means of knowing. If true, it is one of a very few grains of fact in the whole account. Josephus ("Contra Ap." 2:5) tells how Ptolemy Physco (146-117 B.C.) cast the Jews of Alexandria, who, as adherents of Cleopatra, were his political opponents, to intoxicated elephants. When the elephants turned on his own people the king saw a sudden apparition and gave up his purpose. The Jews, it is added, celebrate the day of their deliverance. It would seem that the author of III Maccabees, anxious to connect this celebration with Jerusalem, has transferred it to an earlier Ptolemy and given it an entirely unhistorical setting. His narrative can not be regarded as a successful fiction, as it abounds in psychological as well as historical improbabilities.

This work was written later than II Maccabees, for its author made use of that book (see 2:9; comp. II Macc. 6:18 et seq. and 14:35 with III Macc. 3:25-33; see also Grimm, c. p. 220). He can not have written earlier, therefore, than the end of the first century B.C. On the other hand, he can not have written later than the first century C.E. or his work would not have been used by Christians. Ewald regarded this work as a polemic against Caligula and dated it accordingly about 40 C.E.; this view has been abandoned by more recent writers, since Philopator is not represented as claiming divine honors.

1. Maccabees: The Fourth Book of the Maccabees, so called, is a semiphilosophic discourse, or sermon, on the "supremacy of the pious reason" (ch. 1:1). It consists of a prologue (1:1-12) and of two principal parts. The first of these (1:13-3:18) is devoted to the elucidation of the author's philosophical thesis, and the second (3:19-18:24) to the illustration of the thesis by examples drawn from II Maccabees. In the latter portion of the work there is, first (3:19-4:26), a brief review of the sufferings of the Jews under Seleucus and his son(?) Antiochus Epiphanes; the conquering power of reason is illustrated (5:1-7:23) by the example of Eleazar, drawn from II Macc. 5:18-31; by that of the seven brethren (7:24-14:10), drawn from II Macc. 7:1-23; and by that of their mother (14:11-16:25), taken from II Macc. 7:25 et seq. In ch. and the author expresses his impressions with reference to these martyrdoms.It appears, therefore, that the only connection this work has with the Maccabees is in the fact that the author's illustrations are drawn from the Second Book of the Maccabees.

Integrity and Character.

Ch. 18:3-24 has been thought by several scholars to be the work of a later hand, but the opinion does not appear to be well founded. Ch. 17:2 would form a weak ending to the book, while 18:20-24 suits well the style of the author of the earlier parts, and the apparent incongruity of 18:6-19 would seem to be designed in this hortatory composition to make a strong impression on its hearers. This latter view is strengthened if it be remembered that the work is throughout a discourse addressed directly to listeners (comp. 1:1,7; 2:13; 13:19; 18:1). Ewald and Freudenthal called it a sermon and held that it is an example of Alexandrian synagogue preaching, but this view is now abandoned, for even in the Diaspora the sermon of the synagogue was usually founded on a passage from the Bible. This discourse, also, is too abstruse for an ordinary congregation; it is an address to a more select circle.

Its style is oratorical and ornate, though not so extravagant as that of III Maccabees. It contains a large philosophic element of the Stoic type, though its author possessed a taste for philosophy rather than real philosophical insight. It contains also a core of Judaism. The writer was a Jew who could clothe his religion in a philosophic garb in accordance with the tendency of the times. The Hellenic and the Jewish elements in his work both appear at their best and in a combination almost without a parallel; the nearest example is the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews.

Author and Date.

It is probable, therefore, that the author of IV Maccabees was an Alexandrian Jew. Eusebius ("Hist. Eccl." 3:10) and Jerome ("De Viris Illustribus," ) ascribe the work to Josephus—an opinion which was for a long time followed, and which has caused the text of IV Maccabees to be included in many editions of the works of Josephus. But the language and style of the work differ so radically from those of the writings of Josephus that it is clear that this is a mistaken opinion. Of some of its historical combinations, as in 4:5 and 5:1, Josephus could hardly have been guilty. The writer of IV Maccabees had certainly come under the influence of the culture of Alexandria, even if he lived and wrote in some other city. As to the time when the book was written, the data for an opinion are the same as in the case of III Maccabees: it was written probably at the close of the last century B.C. or during the first century C.E., and before the time of Caligula, for the Jews seem to have been at peace at the time.

Eschatology.

The writer is a strong believer in immortality, but he has abandoned the Pharisaic standpoint of II Maccabees, which recognizes a bodily resurrection, and holds to the view that all souls exist forever, the good being together in a state of happiness (17:18), with the Patriarchs (5:37) and with God (9:8 and 17:18). These views are the more striking as they are entwined with the same narratives which in II Maccabees express the more materialistic view. The writer holds, also, that the suffering of the martyrs was vicarious; by it they wrought deliverance for their nation (comp. 1:11, 17:19-23, 18:24).

II.A second article on the Book of Maccabees is inserted as treating the subject from a Jewish standpoint.—J.

I Maccabees.

I Maccabees, now extant only in Greek, was originally composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, most probably the former; but the original can not have been long in circulation. The fragment of a Hebrew text of I Maccabees published by Chwolson (1896) and again by Schweizer (1901) is not part of the original; and it may well be that even Origen knew only an Aramaic translation and not the original. He calls (Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl." 6:25) I Maccabees Σαρβηθ Σα(ρ)βαναιελ, a title which has given rise to much conjecture. Only two suggestions need be named: Derenbourg's ("Book of the Family of the Chief of the People of God"), given in his "Essai sur l'Histoire et la Géographie de la Palestine" (p. 450, Paris, 1867), and Dalman's , in his "Grammatik des Jüdisch-Palästinischen Aramäisch" (p. 6, Leipsic, 1894). Of the name "Maccabees" it may be mentioned that in a text of the Megillat Anteyukas ("J. Q. R." 11:291 et seq.) the reading is (= "the zealot"), which would be very acceptable were it better attested.

As to the date of the book, much turns on the meaning of the last two verses. Some critics, indeed, doubt the authenticity of the whole of the last section (14:16-16:24), but the trend of opinion is in favor of the integrity of the book. Schürer and Niese (in "Kritik der Beiden Makkabäerbücher," Berlin, 1900) maintain that the last verses imply that I Maccabees was written after the death of John Hyrcanus (105 B.C.), but there is good reason for holding that the reference is to the beginning (135 B.C.) and not to the end of Hyrcanus' reign (see "J. Q. R." 13:512 et seq.).

Critics are practically unanimous in attaching great value to I Maccabees as a historical record. "On the whole, the book must be pronounced a work of the highest value, comparing favorably, in point of trustworthiness, with the best Greek and Roman histories" (Torrey). This is high praise; but it is fully deserved (comp. Schürer, "Gesch." 3:141). Niese (c.) has done good service in vindicating the authenticity of Judas' embassy to Rome; and it is no peculiar demerit in I Maccabees that in the reports of the numbers engaged in battle, of speeches, and even of documents, its account is inexact and sometimes quite incredible. Such defects are shared by Thucydides and Livy. The substance, not the exact form, of documents was given by ancient historians. On the other hand, it differs somewhat from the Biblical histories in its standpoint. The divine element is not wanting, and success is ultimately traced (as in Mattathias' deathbed utterances) to God. Judas invariably sings psalms of thanksgiving for victory, and the key-note of the revolt is "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,but unto thy name give glory" (Psalms 115:1). The period also, as many hold, gave rise to numerous new psalms. But in I Maccabees, nevertheless, history is written from the human standpoint. Victory is earned by endeavor as well as bestowed by grace. Partly because of this phenomenon, it was urged by Geiger ("Urschrift," 1857, pp. 200-230) that one may detect a dynastic purpose in the book and that its author was a Sadducean apologist for the Hasmoneans.

It is certainly true that the author is silent concerning the worst excesses of the (Sadducean) high priests, and attaches primary importance to the founder of the dynasty, Mattathias. Mattathias is unknown to II Maccabees, though the latter is supposed by Geiger to be a Pharisaic counterblast to the Sadducean I Maccabees. Yet, strangely enough, in the Pharisaic tradition of the Talmud and Synagogue Mattathias plays a large part, so large that Judas is thrown into the background.

On one important point some modern writers are unfair to the book. God is not "named" in it; the term "heaven" replaces the divine name. From this the inference has been drawn that "God was absolutely conceived as reigning in the remote heaven, and no longer as dwelling among the people by the Shekinah" (Fairweather and Black, "I Maccabees," Introduction, p. 47). This is as false an inference as would be a similar conclusion from the opening words of the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father who art in Heaven." God is not "named" throughout the Lord's Prayer. In I Maccabees the personal pronoun is most significantly used (3:22,51; 4:10,55) with relation to the term "heaven"; and, more remarkable still, the pronoun is sometimes used (2:61) without any noun at all: "And thus consider ye from generation to generation, that none that put their trust in him shall want for strength." That there grew up a disinclination to "name" God is undoubted; but whatever the origin of this scrupulosity, it was not any sense of the remoteness of God (see discussion by Benjacob, "Im Namen Gottes," p. 164, Berlin, 1903). From the Maccabean period onward God becomes ever nearer to Israel. If there was a fault at all, it was not that God became too transcendent; the tendency was rather in the direction of overfamiliarity than of undue aloofness.

II Maccabees.

Unlike I Maccabees, the book known as II Maccabees was written in Greek. For the history of the war it is of less value than I Maccabees, though some recent writers (in particular Niese) have maintained the opposite opinion. It adds, however, important particulars regarding the events that led up to the Maccabean revolt. Besides this, II Maccabees, written quite independently of I Maccabees, is a strong support of the general truth of the familiar story of the revolt, though II Maccabees is embellished with angelical and miraculous ornament foreign to the first book. Its style is rhetorical, its purpose didactic. It emanated from Alexandria and was addressed to the Greek-speaking Jews of the Diaspora. It was designed to impress on them the unity of Judaism, the importance of Jerusalem as the center of religious life, and the duty of observing the two feasts of Ḥanukkah and Nicanor's Day (see NICANOR). That the book has a Pharisaic color is undoubted, but not in the sense of being a partizan pamphlet in reply to I Maccabees, which, indeed, the author of II Maccabees most probably did not know. Moreover, II Maccabees takes no account of Mattathias, nor, indeed, of any of the band of heroes except Judas; and this is not easily forced into evidence of Pharisaic partizanship. On the other hand, in II Macc. 14:6 Judas is represented as the leader of the Hasidtæans, who have many points in common with the Pharisees, and from whom the Hasmoneans were soon alienated.

Of specifically non-Sadducean doctrines, II Maccabees has a very clear expression of belief in the resurrection. Death is a "short pain that bringeth everlasting life" (II Macc. 7:36; comp. other passages in the same chapter and 14:46). Judas is represented (II Macc. 12:43 et seq.) as making offerings for the dead because "he took thought of the resurrection." The reference to such offerings is, however, without parallel in Jewish literature, and nothing is otherwise known of such offerings being made at the Temple in Jerusalem (see Israel Lévi, "La Commemoration des Ames dans le Judaïsime," in "R. E. J." 29:48).

The book is usually held to belong to the latter part of the first century B.C.; Jason (of whose work it purports to be an epitome) wrote at least a century earlier. Niese places II Maccabees at the date 125-124 B.C., thus regarding it as older than, as well as superior to, I Maccabees. In this preference of the second to the first book, Niese stands practically alone, but he has done great service in vindicating the importance and value of the former (comp. also Sluys, "De Maccabæorum Libris I et II Quæstiones," Amsterdam, 1904). It remains to add that the authenticity of the letters prefixed to II Maccabees has been fiercely assailed. Yet it is coming to be recognized that the letters have a clear bearing on the design of the book, as explained above, and it is quite conceivable, though very improbable, that they were part of the original work of Jason. On these letters see, besides earlier literature, Herkenne, "Die Briefe zu Beginn des Zweiten Makkabäerbuchs," Freiburg, 1904.

One point remains. The martyrdoms described in II Maccabees, especially of the mother and her seven sons, have given the book undying value as an inspiration and encouragement to the faithful of all ages and creeds. As will be seen below (in connection with IV Maccabees), this feature of the Maccabean heroism made a special appeal to the Christianity of the first four centuries. "The figure of the martyr, as the Church knows it, dates from the persecution of Antiochus; all subsequent martyrologies derive from the Jewish books which recorded the sufferings of those who in that day were strong and did exploits" (E. Bevan, "House of Seleucus," 1902, 2:175).

III Maccabees.

III Maccabees purports to record a persecution of the Jews in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy (IV.) Philopator (222-204 B.C.). The Jews are assembled in the hippodrome, and 500 infuriated elephants are to be let loose upon them. In the event the elephants turned against the persecutors, and the Jews not only escaped, but were treated with muchhonor by the king. That there is much of the fabulous in this story is obvious, and it may well be that the similar story told in Josephus ("Contra Ap." 2:5) concerning Ptolemy (VII.) Physcon is, as most assume, the original of III Maccabees. The book would thus belong at the latest to the first century C.E.; at the earliest to the last century B.C. Recently important new light has been thrown on the book by the discovery of early Jewish settlements in the Fayum. On independent gounds, the present writer ("J. Q. R." 9:39) and Prof. A. Büchler ("Tobiaden und Oniaden," pp. 172 et seq., Vienna, 1899) have put forward the theory that the book refers to a persecution in the Fayum. Certainly, the rapid transference of Jewish allegiance from Egyptian to Syrian hegemony about 200 B.C. finds its explanation if the Jews of Egypt were then undergoing persecution. That the author was an Alexandrian is unquestionable. On the other hand, Willrich ("Hermes," 1904, 39:244) disputes the Fayum theory and supports the view that the book is best explained as referring to Caligula.

IV Maccabees.

The beautiful work known as IV Maccabees is a homily, not a history. As Freudenthal was the first to show, it is a sermon addressed to a Greekspeaking audience, and delivered probably on Ḥanukkah ("Die Flavius Josephus Beigelegte Schrift über die Herrschaft der Vernunft [IV Makkabäerbuch]," Breslau, 1869), the thesis being that, reason (religion) can control the passions; the author illustrates this from many examples, especially from the story of the Maccabean martyrdoms as related in II Macc. , A very noble level of eloquence is reached by the writer, and the book is in many ways one of the best products of the syncretism of Hebraic and Greek thought.

The authorship of IV Maccabees was at one time ascribed (as by Eusebius, Jerome, and other authorities) to Josephus, but this is clearly wrong. Nothing can with definiteness be asserted as to the date of the book; it belongs probably to the period shortly before the fall of Jerusalem. In its present form it contains possibly some Christian interpolations (e.g., 7:19, 13:17, 16:25), but they are certainly very few and insignificant. Later on, Christian homilists used the same topic, the martyrdoms, as the theme for sermons; the Church maintained a Maccabean feast (though not on the same date as the Jews) for at least four centuries. Homilies by Gregory Nazienzen and Chrysostom for the festival of Aug. 1 (the "Birthday of the Maccabees") are extant on this subject. On the "Maccabees as Christian Saints" see Maas in "Monatsschrift," 44:145 et seq.

V Maccabees.

V Maccabees, so called by Cotton ("Five Books of Maccabees," 1832), is known also as the Arabic II Maccabees. It is included in the Paris and London Polyglots. It has clear relations to II Maccabees, the Arabic "Yosippus," and the Hebrew "Yosippon." Late in origin and without historical value, the book is, however, of considerable importance from other points of view.