Maccabees, second book of ii maccabees, known in greek as. It is a chapter based on persecution by antiochus, the tyrant of syria, whom some called epiphanes, the madman. The first heroic figure of the war was the old priest mattathias 1 macc 2. Please refer to the pdf format of this volume for an undistorted view of the foldout.
In general, its chronology coheres with that of i maccabees. The first book of maccabees all chapters the bible. Traditionally the name has come to be extended to the brothers of judas, his supporters. In first maccabees, pious jews martyrdom does not stimulate god to act in the maccabean revolt. This caused the maccabean revolt, led by mattathias and his sons. The name maccabee, probably meaning hammer, is actually applied in the books of maccabees to only one man, judas, third son of the priest mattathias and first leader of the revolt against the seleucid kings who persecuted the jews 1 mc 2. First maccabees written circa 4104 bce and describing the period of 1665 bce is devoted to presenting the maccabean dynasty, from mattathias through his son judah, to jonathan and simon who became high priests and gained political independence. The principle of the hebrew canon as authoritative i. It was this title which gave the title to the other books of the apocrypha bearing the same name. It is preserved here for its supplementaryhistoricalvalue. The designation 5 maccabees was first given to the book now commonly so called by cotton the five books of maccabees english, 1832, and it has been perpetuated by dr.
The second book has a more theological slant, advancing several. First and second maccabees are part of the deuterocanonical books used by the roman catholic church, orthodox church, and anglican church. Holy war, liberation war the book of maccabees shows us. A reading from the second book of maccabees judas the ruler of israel, then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. Click download or read online button to get the god of the maccabees book now. Look out for what you might learn about the judaism of the period from the story. About the same time antiochus prepared his second voyage into.
After a general introduction to the book as a whole, the text is given in short passages, with a commentary directly following each. Ii maccabees focuses on the jews revolt against antiochus and concludes with the defeat of the syrian general nicanor in 161 bc by judas maccabeus, the hero of the work. The book of maccabees shows us a people who desire to live but for whom. Similar to the traditional tale though, the books of first and second maccabees. This book is like a fearful peal of thunder echoing out of the dim horrors of ancient tyranny. However, second maccabees seeks to explain to diaspora jews and greeks alike that the maccabean revolt was not the result of an inevitable clash of two cultureshellenism and judaismor of two peoples, hellenes and jews. The god of the maccabees download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Whereas 1maccabees begins with the reign of antiochus iv, who ruled syria from 175 to 164, 2maccabees takes us back to the previ.
For more details, you might want to check out the first and second books of maccabees, but dont look for them in the bible unless you have a catholic one. God be gracious unto you, and remember his covenant that he made with abraham, isaac, and jacob, his faithful servants. To the brethren the jews that are i throughout egypt, the brethren, the jews that are in jerusalem, and in the land of judea, send health, and good peace. 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. The term mostly refers to two deuterocanonical books contained in various. He advanced to the ends of the earth, and plundered many nations. Part of the bible according to the catholic and orthodox canons. The first book, common ly kn own as the thir d, con tain s the. The first book of maccabees formatted and revised by avram yehoshua the chapter one after alexander, son of philip the macedonian, who came from the land of kittim greece, had defeated king darius of the persians and the medes, he succeeded him as king. In contrast, jason of cyrene, the author of the second book of maccabees, believed.
May 30, 2016 so, i have been reading the book of maccabees and for the life of me, i cannot understand why it isnt included in our bible. The jews to whom the book was addressed were both loyal to their nation and its new hasmonean state and yet faithful subjects of the kingdoms of the greek dynasty of ptolemies in egypt. In the introduction, he covers the name maccabee, the events leading up to the maccabean revolt, and the wars of the maccabees, plus the contents and style of the book, its original language and unity, its date and authorship, its. Second maccabees begins with two letters, epistle i and epistle ii. Second maccabees entire book alluded to in hebrews 11. The first book of the maccabees first book of the maccabees first the assideans that were among the children of israel, and they sought peace of them. The second book of maccabees is not a continuation of the first book. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book without typos from the publisher. Mr bartletts volume, like the others in the series, contains the text in the new english bible. First and second maccabees isbn 9780814628461 pdf epub.
The second book overlaps with the first, starting earlier. This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. The first book of the maccabees first, and obey the kings commandment, as all nations have done, and the men of juda, and they that remain in jerusalem. The first book of maccabees acknowledged as one of the most perfect books of ancient history relates the events in the war and the deeds of the five maccabean brothers, from the year 170 to b.
First and second maccabees describe the hasmoneans efforts to uphold some type of traditional jewish life in palestine while simultaneously reacting against. Second maccabees includes a different edition of the first seven chapters of 1 maccabees and was written at a later date, likely in alexandria, egypt. The martyr stories inform the early christian martyrdoms, and the books are written in greek, the language in which the jews of jesus time read the. The five books of maccabees in english my lapid media.
Jan 01, 2014 2 maccabees is a deuterocanonical book which focuses on the jews revolt against antiochus iv epiphanes and concludes with the defeat of the syrian general nicanor in 161 bc by judas maccabeus. These jewish historical works, the two books of the maccabees, were written to describe the struggles of the jews in the second century bc against encroachment of the greek way of life and against the political. It runs from the end of the reign of seleucus iv, the predecessor of antiochus iv epiphanes, up to the defeat of nicanor, shortly before the death of judas maccabeusthat is, a period of fifteen years 176161, which are covered in chapters 17 of the first book. Alexander the great after alexander son of philip, the macedonian, who came from the land of kittim, had defeated king darius of the persians and the medes, he succeeded him as king. Maccabees, books of, 12 international standard bible. Their rededication of the temple establishes the annual celebration of hanukkah, and the martyr stories in second maccabees emphasize faithfulness to the law of moses. Samuel davidson introduction to the old testament, iii, 465.
Written in hellenistic greek and told from a jewishhellenistic perspective, 2 maccabees narrates and interprets the ups and downs of events that took place in jerusalem prior to and during the maccabean revolt. These jewish historical works, the two books of the maccabees, were. The author of the second book of maccabees states in the preface to his work that he is offering a condensed version of a five volume history by jason of cyrene see 2maccabees 2. Pious jews, in the authors eyes, had to obey the hasmoneans, whom he believed were favored by god. Syllabus the first and second book of maccabees 843 last update 19042015 hu credits.
These two books tell you a lot about jewish selfdefinition in the second and first century bc. The first book of maccabees in order that he might reign. The books of the maccabees biblical literature britannica. Religious devotion was not sufficient to emancipate the jews. The author of first maccabees, who wrote for judeans, sought to promote the legitimacy of the hasmonean priesthood and its political rule. The second book of maccabees is regarded as an apocryphal book of the old testament by less than onethird of christian believers.
The book of 2 maccabees consists of a greek synopsis of a fivevolume history of the maccabean revolt written by jason of cyrene. Pdf the metatexts of 1 and 2 maccabees researchgate. Look out for the similarities and differences between the two. In the first month of the hundred and fifty second year they brought the army to jerusalem. Israel, first as high priests and then as high priests and princes of israel.
Pdf generated using haiola and xelatex on 18 apr 2020 from source files dated 28. The first book of maccabees i maccabees is historical work extant in greek, covering the period of 40 years from the accession of antiochus epiphanes 175 b. He fought many battles, conquered strongholds, and put to death the kings of the earth. The five books of maccabees in english internet archive. Apocrypha 2ndmaccabees of the king james bible 1611. Why isnt the book of maccabees included in the bible. The third book of the maccabees iii maccabees, chapter 1 1 when philopator learned from those who returned that the regions which he had controlled had been seized by antiochus, he gave orders to all his forces, both infantry and cavalry, took with him his sister arsinoe, and marched out to the region near raphia, where antiochuss supporters. Jan 02, 2020 the book of 2 maccabees consists of a greek synopsis of a fivevolume history of the maccabean revolt written by jason of cyrene. Its name in the septuagint and in the writings of the church fathers eusebius and clement is. Ginsburg kittos cycyclopedia of biblical literature. Unlike 1 maccabees, 2 maccabees was written in koine greek, probably in alexandria, egypt, c. These two books tell you a lot about jewish selfdefinition in. Pdf the two books of maccabees contain important and actual moral teachings. First maccabees begins with the rise and legitimacy of the hasmonean dynasty, originating with a narrative of the jewish priest mattathias, a forefather to the maccabean revolt.
The books of the maccabees are books concerned with the maccabees, the leaders of the jewish rebellion against the seleucid dynasty and related subjects. Roman history of the first centuries records two such tyrantsthe other, caligula, the second brilliant madman. First and second maccabees new collegeville bible commentary. I am thoroughly struck by how profound the life of christ was in the light of the book of 1 and 2 maccabees. Thefourthbookofthe maccabees thefourthbookofthemaccabees appearsinanappendix. In contrast to first maccabees, the book of second maccabees is a summary of a history written originally in greek for diaspora hellenistic jews living in the greekspeaking area in egypt. The books of first and second maccabees are also important for christians, as in them is told how the jewish people established the political and religious culture into which. The first and second books of the maccabees william fairweather on.
The five books of maccabees in english by cotton, henry, 17891879. The creators of the septuagint, an early greek translation of the old testament created about 200 to 300 years before jesus, called 1 and 2 maccabees useful writings but not inspired scripture. Holy war, liberation war the book of maccabees shows us a people who desire to live but for whom faith is. May god be gracious to you, and remember his covenant that he made with abraham, and isaac, and jacob, his faithful servants. The books of first and second maccabees are also important for christians, as in them is told how the jewish people established the political and religious culture into which jesus was born. Pdf moral teaching of 1 and 2 maccabees researchgate. After a general introduction to the book as a whole, the text is given in short passages, with a commentary. The first book, although written from a biased perspective, does not directly mention god or divine intervention. Fairweather provides introductions, notes, and english translations for the first and second books of maccabees. The first book of maccabees mmmmmm introduction the english bible, as is well known, originally contained but two socalled books of the maccabees. Itisconsideredtobeapocrypha by most church traditions. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. The second book of the maccabees the brethren, the jews that be at jerusalem and in the land of judea, wish unto the brethren, the jews that are throughout egypt health and peace.
956 644 173 121 322 169 1463 645 294 1151 1211 1554 1395 1151 530 1182 1240 320 757 1419 54 564 1017 939 618 1331 1347 436 1523 184 489 399 71 708 546 399 999