Simon, who was called Thassi; VERSE 21. and entered presumptuously into the sanctuary, and took the golden altar, and the candlestick of the light, and all that pertained thereto. He relented after angels intervened on behalf of the Jews. And from the people were gathered together to them many, every one that had forsaken the law; and they did evil things in the land; VERSE 53. and they made israel to hide themselves in every place of refuge which they had. Probably written about 100 B.C.E., the book was included as scripture in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible and later included in Christian scripture until the Protestant Reformation, when the apocrypha of the Old Testament were generally rejected by Protestants. CHAPTER 1. George Leo Haydock. It aims at bringing out even more strongly the religious lessons of the time, and the story is written more like a sermon than a history. the hundred and forty and fifth year. Finally, after Matthathias dies, his son Judas succeeds in liberating the Temple precincts and reconsecrating the Temple itself in 165 B.C.E. The festival of Hanukkah is instituted by Judas Maccabeus and his brothers to celebrate this event (1 Maccabees 4:59). put to shame and fled. The Maccabees formed the Hasmonean dynasty. Buy Also Available At: . ; and the Seleucids, who took over large parts of the Middle East and moved into Palestine in 200 B.C. Werner Kappler[de] published a critical edition of the Greek text in 1936, an eclectic compilation of the various surviving manuscripts and the best construction of the original text. There is a faithful remnant. After the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.) And they led captive the women and the children, and the cattle they took in possession. [11][12], The title "1 Maccabees" is not the original title of the work. It was probably written sometime in the second century bc, in other words very shortly after the events it described. Thus, for example, in 2 Maccabees 12:43 there is Judas act of faith in the resurrection and salvation of his fallen soldiers, but he realizes that they must atone for their sins in the next life, and he wishes to help them in this and asks for prayers from the living. Elephants were an important part of the army of Antiochus. Many Christians base their moral decisions on outcomes. [64], The Roman Catholic Lectionary makes use of texts from 1 Maccabees 1 to 6, along with texts from 2 Maccabees 6 and 7, in the weekday readings for the 33rd week in Ordinary Time, in year 1 of the two-year cycle of readings, always in November, and as one of the options available for readings for the dedication of an altar and as one of the suggested readings at a Mass celebrated to honour persecuted Christians.[65]. VERSE 16. Its vocabulary and style indicate a Greek original. They will not sin in order to save their lives. The author sees the revolt as divinely ordained, but downplays direct divine intervention such as miracles. I Maccabees presents a historical account of political, military, and diplomatic events from the time of Judaeas relationship with Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Syria (reigned 175164/163 bce) to the death (135/134 bce) of Simon Maccabeus, high priest in Jerusalem. In 1 Maccabees, those dissatisfied with the Hasmoneans "hated their nation"[39] as a whole; the Hasmoneans were equated with Judea itself. And Alexander reigned twelve years, and he died. The sacred writers purpose is to build up the morale of the Jews. It also seems to have been written in Judea where knowledge of Hebrew would have been more widespread. The second book overlaps with the first, starting earlier. Even in stories set during the Maccabean period, references to Judas by name were explicitly removed to avoid hero-worship of the Hasmonean line. 1 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book written by a Jewish author and included in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons of the Bible. Ptolemy IIs court at Alexandria was famed for its learning. And they built the city of David with a great and strong wall, with strong towers, and it became to them a citadel. 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. 1 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. Acts of the Apostles. In the town of Modein, the priest Mattathias finds the situation intolerable. 1 and 2 Maccabees tell the same story in two different ways. He may also have consulted it for Book 1 of The Jewish War. The author, probably a Palestinian Jew, is unknown. The [] The other Jews then reason that, when attacked, they must fight even on the holy day. VERSE 5. In either case, only the Greek text has survived, and this only through its inclusion in the Christian canon. Chapter 14 also features a long panegyric praising Simon as a worthy leader.[10]. The First Book of Maccabees, originally written in Hebrew during the last part of thesecond century b.c.e.,1 can be read, among other things, as the story of the 1 CarlL.W. The writer compares their virtues and their exploits with those of Israels ancient heroes, the Judges, Samuel, and David. VERSE 1. 1 and 2 Maccabees are stories that reflect on oppression and resistance. We will be talking about events that happened in the second century, which took place in Judea located in the Syrian empire. [44] For the author, bold military action while living is the proper response to oppression. 1:9). While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. According to the first book of Maccabees, one of the Hellenistic kings defiled the temple, forbade circumcision, and even set up altars to his gods. 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, despite the Philistines no longer being a relevant cultural grouping in the era. He achieves semi-independence from the Seleucid Empire and gains recognition of his rulership from the Roman Senate in 139. This work no longer exists, but is the basis for 2 Maccabees.) The surviving Greek script has Hebraisms and Hebrew idioms. First and Second Maccabees help us to realize that God watches over his own, and they show that Israel always wins victory over its enemies when it stays true to the Covenant. VERSE 32. According to 1 Maccabees, there were some early groups of Jewish rebels who refused to fight on the Sabbath, and perished accordingly (1 Maccabees 2:29-38) until the Maccabean patriarch Mattathias decided to change the law and permit defensive warfare on the Sabbath (2:39-41). (He had previously become king of Greece.) The 1643 Westminster Confession says that the books "are of no authority in the Church of God, not to be any otherwise approved", for example. Registered charity 232759. 4:59). And he took the spoils of the city, and set it on fire, and pulled down the houses thereof and the walls thereof on every side. VERSE 35. He then calls forth the people to holy war against the Gentiles and their Jewish collaborators. And the land was moved for the inhabitants thereof, and all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame. The Hasmoneans were not an obvious choice to be rulers; they did not descend from the priestly line of Zadok that had taken the office of High Priest for generations at the point of the Maccabean Revolt. And after two full years the king sent a chief collector of tribute to the cities of Judah, and he came to Jerusalem with a great multitude. It is not in the Codex Vaticanus. VERSE 45. and should forbid whole burnt offerings and sacrifice and drink offerings in the sanctuary; and should profane the Sabbaths and feasts. The author was an enthusiastic a supporter of the Maccabees who shows little sympathy with either their Jewish or Greek opponents. 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 also requires Jewish leaders to sacrifice to idols. 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. It was included in standard printed Christian Bibles in the deuterocanon section. Mattathias proclaimed a holy war; Jewish armed resistance operated from the wilderness with great success under the successive leadership of three of Mattathias sonsJudas Maccabeus, the undisputed leader of the Jews (3:1-9); Jonathan (9:28-12:53), and Simon (chap. That is, about 168 BC. 25) gives testimony to the existence of an original Hebrew text. The rebellion began under the leadership of the Jewish priest Mattathias after Antiochus sought to stamp out Judaism by forbidding all Jewish practices and desecrating the temple (167 bc). many in Israel were fully resolved. 1:7 So Alexander reigned twelves years, and then died. The writer compares their virtues and their exploits with those of Israel's ancient . When Simon died he was succeeded by his son John Hyrcanus, who became the founder of the Hasmonean dynasty. At Explore the Faith, I share insights into the Bible and theological writings. If this is all new to you, don't worrywe're here to help. VERSE 22. and the table of the show bread, and the cups to pour withal, and the bowls, and the golden censers, and the veil, and the crowns, and the adorning of gold which was on the face of the temple, and he scaled it all off. In the Church of England's lectionary of 1922 in the Book of Common Prayer, 1st Maccabees is appointed annually to be read in late summer/early autumn. From the time of Alexander onward Greek culture spread throughout the Middle East. He also forbids circumcision and possession of Jewish scriptures, imposing the death penalty for those who disobey. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. 2 Simon now had the effrontery to name this benefactor of the city, this protector of his . First Maccabees gives a detailed account of the struggle in Palestine over a period of fifty years, from the time Antiochus IV Epiphanes came to the throne up to the death of Simon, the last of the Maccabee brothers (134 B.C.). It possibly was written during the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula (3741 ce). [20], The Jerusalem Bible divides the book into five sections:[24], 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. During the Protestant Reformation, the book (along with other books in the Catholic deuterocanon) was classed as biblical apocrypha in Protestantism, material useful for background but not canonical. Alexander the Great. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of them; and she became a habitation of strangers, and she became strange to those who were born in her, and her children forsook her. Corrections? In the year 142 BCE, after more than 500 years of subjugation, the Jews were again masters of their own fate. 2 He undertook many campaigns, gained possession of many fortresses, and put the local kings to death. The Book: 1 Maccabees is a deuterocanonical book of the Bible which was written by a Jewish (pre-Christian) author, probably about 100 BC, after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom. 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