Search results
People also ask
What are the books of the Maccabees?
When was 1 Maccabees written?
Who were the Maccabees in the Bible?
What does 1 Maccabees mean?
The Epic Story of a Resistance. The First Book of Maccabees was written in Hebrew by a Jew from Jerusalem, probably around the beginning of the first century before Christ. However, only translations are extant as well as the Greek text that provides faith for the Church.
The Books of the Maccabees or the Sefer HaMakabim (the Book of the Maccabees) recount the history of the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty.
- Overview
- The First Book of the Maccabees
- The Second Book of the Maccabees
- The Third Book of the Maccabees
- The Fourth Book of the Maccabees
The Books of the Maccabees, four books, none of which is in the Hebrew Bible but all of which appear in some manuscripts of the Septuagint. The first two books only are part of canonical scripture in the Septuagint and the Vulgate (hence are canonical to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy) and are included in the Protestant Apocrypha.
I Maccabees presents a historical account of political, military, and diplomatic events from the time of Judaea’s relationship with Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria (reigned 175–164/163 bce) to the death (135/134 bce) of Simon Maccabeus, high priest in Jerusalem. It describes the refusal of Mattathias to perform pagan religious rites, the ensuing Jewish revolt against Syrian hegemony, the political machinations whereby Demetrius II of Syria granted Judaea its independence, and the election of Simon as both high priest and secular ruler of the Judaean Jews.
I Maccabees is the only contemporary source for the civil wars in Judaea, and the only surviving one for Judaean-Syrian relations after the reign of Antiochus IV. The historical integrity of the book, which was compiled from official written sources, oral tradition, and eyewitness reporting, is attested to by the absence of almost all of the conventions of the Hellenistic rhetorical school of historiography and by its uncritical use by the later Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.
II Maccabees focuses on the Jews’ revolt against Antiochus and concludes with the defeat of the Syrian general Nicanor in 161 bce by Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the work. In general, its chronology coheres with that of I Maccabees. An unknown editor, the “Epitomist,” used the factual notes of a historian, Jason of Cyrene, to write this historical ...
III Maccabees has no relation to the other three books of Maccabees, all of which deal with the revolt of Judaea against Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It purports to be a historical account of the repression and miraculous salvation of Egyptian Jewry during the reign (221–205 bce) of Ptolemy IV Philopator. Ptolemy supposedly threatened the Jews with loss of citizenship after Palestinian Jews refused to permit him to enter the sanctuary of the Temple of Jerusalem. He relented after angels intervened on behalf of the Jews.
Students save 67%! Learn more about our special academic rate today.
IV Maccabees has scanty historical information and belongs to the Maccabees series only because it deals with the beginning of the persecution of Jews by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It possibly was written during the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula (37–41 ce). Throughout the early Christian period, IV Maccabees was wrongly attributed to Josephus.
The work’s main religious theme is that the martyr’s sufferings vicariously expiated the sins of the entire Jewish people.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn about the history and significance of the First Book of Maccabees, a Jewish account of the revolt against the Seleucid kings. Read the full text of the book online or listen to the audio version.
1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom.
A historical work in Greek covering the period of 40 years from 175 to 135 B.C.E., focusing on the Hasmonean revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes. The book is written in biblical Hebrew style, includes letters and documents, and ranks high as an accurate source for the events.
The book of Maccabees I is an apocryphal work recounting the victories of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greeks and the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE, the stories behind the holiday of Chanukkah.
