Introduction

On the First Book of Maccabees

On the First Book of Maccabees

The orderly chronological flow of the sacred canon, and the more or less connected, historically sequential content of its books — after the books of Nehemiah and the prophet Malachi — is suddenly interrupted by a significant gap of several centuries (440–175 BC), which found no worthy commemoration in the sacred books. From 175 onward, the Books of Maccabees resume the narrative of events of a sacred character for Old Testament humanity and carry it through to 135 BC, after which the Old Testament canon again breaks off entirely, yielding to the sacred books of the New Testament canon, which begins with the Gospel accounts of the Savior’s birth.

The Maccabean books derive their name from the epithet initially given to the third son of the priest Mattathias — Judas — Maccabeus, meaning “hammer”¹, on account of his outstanding heroism and successes in the struggle against the enemies of the Jews (1 Macc 2:4 — Ιούδας ό επικαλούμενος Μακκαβαιος; cf. Ιούδας Μακκαβαιος — 1 Macc 2:66 and others. In the Second Book of Maccabees in many places (2 Macc 8:5) simply ό Μακκοβαιος, and even Μακκαβαίος alone — 2 Macc 10:1, as also found in 1 Macc 5:34). — From this epithet of Judas, the entire family of Judas’s brothers came to bear the name “the Maccabees,” and the movement they provoked and led became known as the struggle or era “of the Maccabees.”

Under the name “Maccabean” the Bible contains three books, recognized as non-canonical.

The First Book of Maccabees, having briefly recounted the circumstances of Antiochus Epiphanes’ accession to the Syrian throne, narrates the severe persecutions of this godless man against the Jewish people who remained faithful to God, and the heroic struggle for faith and freedom of the entire Maccabean family in succession, beginning with Mattathias, the founder of this line, and ending with Simon — that is, from 175 to 135 BC (Mattathias, 1 Macc 1-2; Judas, 1 Macc 3:1-9:22; Jonathan, 1 Macc 9:23-12:53; Simon, 1 Macc 13-16).

According to the testimony of Origen and Jerome, this book was originally written in the Hebrew language. The testimony of the former (in Eusebius, Hist. eccles. VI, 25) reads: έξω τούτων (i.e., apart from these canonical books of the Old Testament) έστ i τα Μακκαβαικα², απερ έπιγέγραπται Σαρβήθ Σορβανέ έλ — (Heb. ..., i.e., “dominion,” or “History of the princes of the sons of God”). — Jerome in his testimony (prolog. galeat.) lists among the books not belonging to the canon only two Maccabean books, and adds: Machabeorum primum librum hebraicum reperi; secundus graecus est, quod ex ipsa quoque phrasi probari potest. — Both books are already found in the Itala codex, and from it passed into the Vulgate, so that Jerome did not translate them anew.

The date of the book’s composition. The date of the book’s composition can be approximately indicated as toward the end of the life of the high priest John, Simon’s successor. This follows from a note by the author himself at the end of the book, where, having reached the history of John, he refers the reader to the book of the days of his high priesthood, making no mention of his death, but enumerating — “and his wars and his brave deeds, which he performed gloriously, and the building of the walls which he built, and his other deeds... from the time when he became high priest after his father” — (1 Macc 16:23-24).

The translation of the Hebrew original into Greek was undoubtedly made very soon after the appearance of the original. Having been made with considerable freedom from the original and apparently by an equally authoritative figure, this translation displaced even the original, taking its place in the Greek canon. Josephus, the well-known Jewish historian, used exclusively the translated text for his classical work.

The author of the book (as also the translator) is not precisely known. He was probably a Palestinian Jew closely acquainted with the persons and events he describes, who was able in writing the book to draw not only on personal impressions and recollections but also on official documents of the time. This very fact places the authenticity and historical reliability of the described events beyond all doubt, all the more so because the same events are narrated in complete agreement by other Syriac and Greek historians (especially Polybius), who present the events of the reigns of the Syrian kings.

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The Books of Maccabees were translated from the Greek, because there is no Hebrew text of them.

The same as the German “Martell.”

Although the expression τά Μακκαβαικά seemingly implies several books, nevertheless the Hebrew title of the book cited further leaves no room for doubt.