1 Maccabees


1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book that 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 by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes forbidding traditional Jewish practices, and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias, a member of the Hasmonean family, and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus takes over the revolt, and the rebels are collectively called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees achieve autonomy and, under the leadership of the Hasmonean family, independence for Judea. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest of Israel by the 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 survives only in translation in Koine Greek in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures. The Septuagint was preserved by 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. The book is not included in the Hebrew Bible and is not recognized as canonical in Jewish tradition or by the Protestant denominations. Some Protestants include the book in the biblical apocrypha, as material useful for background and edification but not canonical. The early Rabbis generally disapproved of the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty, but the book is openly pro-Hasmonean, one of several factors contributing to its lack of enthusiasm 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.

Authorship and date

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, with a few scholars suggesting that early in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus 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.

Title

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. Judas's Maccabee title is generally tied to the Aramaic word maqqaba, "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, an enigmatic Greek transliteration from a putative Hebrew original title. It is thought that the most likely parts are the Aramaic səpar, bêt, and 'ēl. Various reconstructions have been proposed for the overall phrase:
  • Book of the Prince of the House of Israel, from the Hebrew שַׂר בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל,, or "Book of the Prince of the House of God" שַׂר בֵּית אֵל,.
  • Book of the House of the Princes of God,
  • The Book of the Dynasty of God's Resisters, perhaps from סֵפֶר בֵּית סָרְבָנֵי אֵל, .
  • ''The Book of the House of the Hasmoneans''

    Language and style

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.

Contents

Structure

The vast majority of scholars and bible translations divide the book into four or five sections by the leader of the rebellion:
  1. Crisis and Response
  2. Leadership of Judas Maccabeus
  3. Leadership of Jonathan Apphus
  4. Leadership of Simon Thassi

    Synopsis

The setting of the book is about a century and a half after the conquest of Judea by the Greeks under Alexander the Great, after Alexander's empire had been divided so that Judea had become part of the Greek Seleucid Empire. It tells how the Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes attempted to suppress the practice of basic Jewish law, resulting in the Maccabean Revolt. 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 through Mattathias' family, particularly his sons, Judas Maccabeus, Jonathan Apphus, and Simon Thassi, 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. The First Book of Maccabees also gives a list of Jewish colonies scattered elsewhere through the Mediterranean at the time.
In the first chapter, Alexander the Great conquers the territory of Judea, and is later 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 Temple in Jerusalem, 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. In 168 BC, he desecrates the Temple by setting up an "abomination of desolation". Antiochus forbids both circumcision and possession of Jewish scriptures on pain of death. He 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, ordinary Jews were also killed as a warning to others.
Hellenization included the construction of gymnasia in Jerusalem. Among other effects, this discouraged the Jewish rite of circumcision even further, which had already been officially forbidden; a man's state could not be concealed in the gymnasium, where men trained and socialized in the nude. However, 1 Maccabees also insists that there were many Jews who sought out or welcomed the introduction of Greek culture. According to the text, some Jewish men even engaged in foreskin restoration in order to pass as fully Greek.
The narrative reports that news of the desolation reaches Mattathias and his five sons, a priestly family who live in Modein. Mattathias calls upon people loyal to the traditions of Israel to oppose the invaders and the Jewish Hellenizers, and his sons begin a military campaign against them. There is one complete loss of a thousand Jews 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 holy day. 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.
More wars involving Judas and his brothers Simon and Jonathan are reported in chapters 5, 6 and 7. Chapter 6 reports the last days of Antiochus Epiphanes and the accession of his young son Antiochus V Eupator to the throne.
In chapter 8, Judas seeks an alliance with the Roman Republic, aiming to remove the Greeks. Verses 23–32 record an agreement between Rome and the nation of the Jews, whereby each party would act as a willing ally of the other and refuse to supply their enemies in time of war, specific warning being given to Demetrius I Soter that this pact would be activated against him if requested by the Jews. Jewish historian Uriel Rappaport asserts that "the majority of scholars today accept the authenticity of this document".
After the death of Judas and a period of lawlessness, he is succeeded by his brother Jonathan Apphus, whose battles with the Greek general Bacchides are recounted in chapter 9. Jonathan becomes high priest. Demetrius' death is reported in 1 Maccabees 10:50, and Ptolemy VI Philometor and Alexander Balas, claimant to the Seleucid throne, enter into an agreement under which Alexander marries Cleopatra Thea, Ptolemy's daughter. The relationship between Jonathan and Demetrius' son and successor, Demetrius II Nicator, is covered in chapter 11: Jonathan provides military support to Demetrius at the latter's request, and a successful engagement against a popular revolt at Antioch enables the Jews to "gain glory in the sight of the king". Maccabees does not mention the involvement of the mercenaries who are mentioned in other accounts, whereas other accounts do not mention the Jewish involvement. Ultimately the relationship between Jonathan and Demetrius breaks down: Maccabees' opinion is that Demetrius "broke his word about all that he had promised; he became estranged from Jonathan and did not repay the favors that Jonathan had done him, but treated him very harshly".
Proposed alliances with Rome and with Areus of Sparta are covered in 1 Maccabees 12:1–23. Jonathan's capture in 143 BC, having been double-crossed by Diodotus Tryphon, is recorded in 1 Maccabees 12:48. Simon follows Jonathan as the next Jewish leader "in place of Judas and your brother Jonathan", taking on civil, military and liturgical roles: "great high priest, governor, and leader of the Jews". Simon fortifies Jerusalem and secures the reoccupation of Joppa, leading 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. The period of peace and prosperity is celebrated in a biblical-style poetic passage, the "Eulogy of Simon", which Rappaport considers to be "one of the most important poetic passages in 1 Maccabees".
Simon is succeeded by his son, John, referred to by Josephus as John Hyrcanus.