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143-669: 2 Maccabees was originally written in Koine Greek by an unknown diaspora Jew living in Hellenistic Egypt . It was likely written some time between 150 and 100 BC. Together with the book 1 Maccabees , it is one of the most important sources on the Maccabean Revolt. The work is not a sequel to 1 Maccabees but rather its own independent rendition of the historical events of the Maccabean Revolt. It both starts and ends its history earlier than 1 Maccabees, beginning with an incident with

286-634: 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 (men, women, and children) 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

429-612: A stress accent system , and the monophthongization of several diphthongs: The Koine-period Greek in the table is taken from a reconstruction by Benjamin Kantor of New Testament Judeo-Palestinian Koine Greek. The realizations of most phonemes reflect general changes around the Greek-speaking world, including vowel isochrony and monophthongization, but certain sound values differ from other Koine varieties such as Attic, Egyptian and Anatolian. More general Koine phonological developments include

572-572: A Roman protectorate in 63 BC. The work was possibly modified some after creation, but reached its final form in the Septuagint , the Greek Jewish scriptures. The Septuagint version also gave the work its title of "2 Maccabees" to distinguish it from the other books of the Maccabees in it; the original title of the work, if any, is unknown. The author appears to be an Egyptian Jew, possibly writing from

715-521: 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

858-477: A defeat suffered by other commanders named Joseph and Azariah as because "they did not listen to Judas and his brothers. But they did not belong to the family of those men through whom deliverance was given to Israel." All of this makes clear that God has specifically chosen a new dynasty to rule Judea, the Hasmoneans. While the book holds all the Hasmoneans in high regard, it praises Simon Thassi in particular,

1001-574: A degree, the fact that it is a genuinely independent source is considered invaluable to historians. Many events in the Hellenistic and Roman periods have only passing mentions that they occurred; those that do have a detailed source often only have a single such detailed source, leaving it difficult to determine that author's biases or errors. For example, the Great Revolt against the Romans in 64–73 AD

1144-657: A fragment in Akhmimic Coptic , but they mostly match the Greek, or the Lucianic renditions of the Greek in the case of the Syriac versions. Robert Hanhart created a critical edition of the Greek text in 1959 with a second edition published in 1976. Koine Greek Koine Greek ( ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος , hē koinḕ diálektos , lit.   ' the common dialect ' ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek , common Attic ,

1287-419: A good story. In the 20th century, there was a renewed interest in rehabilitating 2 Maccabees as a source on par with 1 Maccabees by scholars. In particular, there was a growing recognition that a politically slanted history, as 1 Maccabees is, could be just as biased and unreliable as the religiously slanted history that 2 Maccabees is. A deeply devout observer could still be describing true events, albeit with

1430-515: A later date. 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 (Latinized as Judas Maccabeus ). Judas's Maccabee title is generally tied to the Aramaic word maqqaba ("makebet" in modern Hebrew ), "hammer" or "sledgehammer". It

1573-762: 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

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1716-425: 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,

1859-450: A more open pronunciation than other Koine dialects, distinguished as open-mid /ɛ/ vs. close-mid /e/ , rather than as true-mid /e̞/ vs. close-mid /e̝/ as has been suggested for other varieties such as Egyptian. This is evidenced on the basis of Hebrew transcriptions of ε with pataḥ/qamets /a/ and not tsere/segol /e/ . Additionally, it is posited that α perhaps had a back vowel pronunciation as /ɑ/ , dragged backwards due to

2002-588: A predecessor to the philosophy of the Sadducees in later eras. Notably, the author makes no reference to the idea of a bodily resurrection , which the Sadducees opposed. That said, our knowledge of the Sadducees is scant, so it is difficult to know for sure. The book also comes across as dismissive of martyrdom and passive approaches to resistance, seeing such gestures as futile and pointless. Some scholars go even farther than dismissive; Jonathan Goldstein writes that

2145-514: A rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees ; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under

2288-425: A religious interpretation of them. By the 1930s, historians generally came to the conclusion that the historical documents present in 2 Maccabees – while seemingly out of chronological order – were likely legitimate and matched what would be expected of such Seleucid negotiations. Archaeological evidence supported many of the references made to Seleucid leadership, causing historians to think that Jason and

2431-506: A simplified form of Ionic . The view accepted by most scholars today was given by the Greek linguist Georgios Hatzidakis , who showed that despite the "composition of the Four", the "stable nucleus" of Koine Greek is Attic. In other words, Koine Greek can be regarded as Attic with the admixture of elements especially from Ionic, but also from other dialects. The degree of importance of the non-Attic linguistic elements on Koine can vary depending on

2574-635: 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 " (establishing rites of pagan observance in the Temple, or sacrificing an unclean animal on the altar in the Holy of Holies ). Antiochus forbids both circumcision and possession of Jewish scriptures on pain of death. He forbids observance of

2717-460: A very important source of information on the ancient Koine is the modern Greek language with all its dialects and its own Koine form, which have preserved some of the ancient language's oral linguistic details which the written tradition has lost. For example, Pontic and Cappadocian Greek preserved the ancient pronunciation of η as ε ( νύφε, συνέλικος, τίμεσον, πεγάδι for standard Modern Greek νύφη, συνήλικος, τίμησον, πηγάδι etc.), while

2860-529: A work that is now known as Meditations . Koine Greek continues to be used as the liturgical language of services in the Greek Orthodox Church and in some Greek Catholic churches . The English-language name Koine is derived from the Koine Greek term ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος ( hē koinḕ diálektos ), meaning "the common dialect". The Greek word κοινή ( koinḗ ) itself means "common". The word

3003-621: Is a "wicked book", a "far more accurate picture of the situation is given in 2 Maccabees." Article VI of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion defines 2 Maccabees as useful but not the basis of doctrine. The texts regarding the martyrdoms under Antiochus IV in 2 Maccabees are held in high esteem by the Anabaptists , who faced persecution in their history. The most influential part of 2 Maccabees

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3146-420: Is a superior source on the military history of the revolt: it was written by a Judean who names and describes locations accurately compared to the occasional geographic blunders of 2 Maccabees written by an Egyptian, includes far more details on maneuvers and tactics than the simple depictions of battle in 2 Maccabees, and its figures for elements such as troop counts and casualties are considered more reliable than

3289-509: Is a term used for present tense verbs that are used in some narrative sections of the New Testament to describe events that are in the past with respect to the speaker. This is seen more in works attributed to Mark and John than Luke . It is used 151 times in the Gospel of Mark in passages where a reader might expect a past tense verb. Scholars have presented various explanations for this; in

3432-678: Is appointed annually to be read in late summer/early autumn. As noted above, if ancient manuscripts of the hypothesized original Hebrew version existed, they have been lost. The Greek text is extant in two of the three oldest codices of the Greek Septuagint : the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus . It is not in the Codex Vaticanus . Pre-modern translations of the work were made in Latin , Syriac , and Armenian . The Latin translation

3575-441: Is faithful and upholds the covenant, the Jews prosper; when Israel neglects the covenant, God withdraws his favor, and Israel suffers. The persecution of Antiochus IV stood in direct contradiction to this tradition: the most faithful Jews were the ones who suffered the most, while those who abandoned Jewish practices became wealthy and powerful. The author of 2 Maccabees attempts to make sense of this in several ways: he explains that

3718-570: Is often mentioned as Common Attic . The first scholars who studied Koine, both in Alexandrian and Early Modern times, were classicists whose prototype had been the literary Attic Greek of the Classical period and frowned upon any other variety of Ancient Greek . Koine Greek was therefore considered a decayed form of Greek which was not worthy of attention. The reconsideration on the historical and linguistic importance of Koine Greek began only in

3861-464: Is only closely recorded by Josephus's The Jewish War . The Maccabean Revolt having two independent detailed contemporary histories is a rarity. Early manuscripts of the Septuagint were not uniform in their lists of books. 2 Maccabees is found in the 5th century Codex Alexandrinus which includes all of 1, 2, 3, and 4 Maccabees, as well as the 8th century Codex Venetus . 2 Maccabees is missing from

4004-623: Is pronounced / k ɔɪ ˈ n eɪ / , / ˈ k ɔɪ n eɪ / , or / k iː ˈ n iː / in US English and / ˈ k ɔɪ n iː / in UK English. The pronunciation of the word koine itself gradually changed from [koinéː] (close to the Classical Attic pronunciation [koi̯.nɛ̌ː] ) to [cyˈni] (close to the Modern Greek [ciˈni] ). In Modern Greek,

4147-502: Is recorded as organizing a massacre of his political opponents, and many went into exile. The theory goes that 2 Maccabees praises Judas for saving the temple, but excludes mention of how his brothers and extended family later took the throne, and might have been written by a Pharisee from Judea writing in Egyptian exile. The work's emphasis on adherence to the Law even on pain of martyrdom, keeping

4290-517: Is rendered in a reconstructed pronunciation representing a hypothetical conservative variety of mainland Greek Koiné in the early Roman period. The transcription shows raising of η to /eː/ , partial (pre-consonantal/word-final) raising of ῃ and ει to /iː/ , retention of pitch accent, and retention of word-initial /h/ (the rough breathing ). περὶ peri ὧν hoːn Θισ[β]εῖς tʰizbîːs λόγους lóɡuːs ἐποιήσαντο· epojéːsanto; 1 Maccabees 1 Maccabees , also known as

4433-808: Is sometimes used for the Greek written by the Greek Church Fathers , the Early Christian theologians in late antiquity. Christian writers in the earliest time tended to use a simple register of Koiné, relatively close to the spoken language of their time, following the model of the Bible. After the 4th century, when Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire , more learned registers of Koiné also came to be used. Koine period Greek differs from Classical Greek in many ways: grammar , word formation , vocabulary and phonology (sound system). During

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4576-418: Is sometimes useful to identify certain changes made by Lucian of Antioch to the Greek text. With the advent of the printing press that obviated the need for scribes to manually and repeatedly copy such works, 1 Maccabees became more widely available. It was included in standard printed Christian Bibles in the deuterocanon section. A Greek version of the text was printed for the first time in 1514–1517 in

4719-650: Is still used to endorse the doctrine of resurrection of the dead, intercession of saints, and prayers for the dead to be released from purgatory in the Catholic tradition. The Latin Church Lectionary makes use of texts from 2 Maccabees 6 and 7, along with texts from 1 Maccabees 1 to 6, 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

4862-596: Is thought that the most likely parts are the Aramaic səpar ("book"), bêt ("house" or "dynasty"), and 'ēl ("God"). Various reconstructions have been proposed for the overall phrase: 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

5005-527: Is to some extent the "official" version of history according to the Hasmoneans and from the Maccabean point of view. Bezalel Bar-Kochva praises it as among the better military historiography of the period. He argues that the author was likely an eyewitness to at least some of the battles described given his great accuracy and plausibility in describing terrain and troop movements, and was able to obtain firsthand accounts from others in interviews. He also cites

5148-408: 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

5291-643: The Alexandrian dialect , Biblical Greek , Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek , was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic period , the Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire . It evolved from the spread of Greek following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, and served as the lingua franca of much of the Mediterranean region and

5434-461: The Codex Vaticanus (which lacks any of the books of Maccabees) and the Codex Sinaiticus (which includes 1 and 4 Maccabees, but neither 2 nor 3 Maccabees). Additionally, other ancient fragments have been found, albeit with some attributed to Lucian of Antioch who is considered to have "improved" some of his renditions with unknown other material, leading to variant readings. Pre-modern Latin , Syriac , and Armenian translations exist, as well as

5577-596: The Complutensian Polyglot Bible . 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. More recent English language versions of the Bible which contain 1 Maccabees include the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), Good News Translation (GNT), New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), and

5720-666: The Council of Trent (1546) listed the first two books of Maccabees as canonical. 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. 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. The book

5863-578: 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 . It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of

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6006-584: The Gelasian Decree is correctly associated with it, issued a biblical canon identical with the list given at Trent including the two books of Maccabees. Origen of Alexandria (253), Augustine of Hippo ( c.  397 AD ), Pope Innocent I (405), Synod of Hippo (393), the Council of Carthage (397) , the Council of Carthage (419), the Apostolic Canons , the Council of Florence (1442) and

6149-518: The Orthodox Tewahedo ). The book is not part of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and is not considered canonical by Protestant denominations nor in any of the major branches of Judaism . Some Protestants include the book as biblical apocrypha , material useful for background and edification but that is not canonical. Rabbinic Judaism generally disapproved of the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty, but

6292-501: The Pharasaic tradition. The Pharisees emphasized adherence to Jewish law and disputed with the rulers of the Hasmonean kingdom . They criticized how the Hasmoneans took a dual role of both Chief Priest and King, and demanded that they cede one of the titles (usually the kingship, which was expected to be held by one of the family lineage of King David ). Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus

6435-519: The Septuagint , the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible , and the Greek New Testament . The teaching of these texts was aimed at the most common people, and for that reason, they use the most popular language of the era. Other sources can be based on random findings such as inscriptions on vases written by popular painters, mistakes made by Atticists due to their imperfect knowledge of Attic Greek or even some surviving Greco-Latin glossaries of

6578-506: The Synod of Hippo (393 AD), the Council of Carthage (397 AD) , the Council of Carthage (419 AD), and the Apostolic Canons all seemed to think that 2 Maccabees was canonical, either by explicitly saying so or citing it as scripture. Jerome and Augustine of Hippo (c. 397 AD) had seemingly inconsistent positions: they directly excluded 2 Maccabees from canon, but did say that the book was useful; yet in other works, both cited 2 Maccabees as if it

6721-536: The Tsakonian language preserved the long α instead of η ( ἁμέρα, ἀστραπά, λίμνα, χοά etc.) and the other local characteristics of Doric Greek . Dialects from the southern part of the Greek-speaking regions ( Dodecanese , Cyprus , etc.), preserve the pronunciation of the double similar consonants ( ἄλ-λος, Ἑλ-λάδα, θάλασ-σα ), while others pronounce in many words υ as ου or preserve ancient double forms ( κρόμμυον – κρεμ-μυον, ράξ – ρώξ etc.). Linguistic phenomena like

6864-565: The persecuted Christians of Lyon to the Maccabean martyrs, for example. Several churches were dedicated to the "Maccabean martyrs", and they are among the few pre-Christian figures to appear on the calendar of saints' days. A cult to the Maccabean martyrs flourished in Antioch , the former capital of the Seleucids; Augustine of Hippo found it ironic and fitting that the city that named Antiochus IV now revered those he persecuted. The one awkward aspect

7007-476: 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;

7150-623: The 1534 version of the Luther Bible , but set aside in their own separate section and not accepted as a sound basis for Christian doctrine. Luther had several complaints. One was that it was an abridgment of another work, rather than a single divinely inspired author. Another was a general preference for using the Hebrew Bible as the basis for the Old Testament, rather than the Latin Vulgate or

7293-460: The 1st century AD almost certainly read 1 Maccabees in Greek. He extensively uses the first thirteen chapters of it in Books 12 and 13 of his work Jewish Antiquities , paraphrasing it directly in parts, although supplementing it with other Greek histories such as Nicolaus of Damascus . He may also have consulted it for Book 1 of The Jewish War . It is not known whether Josephus's copy of 1 Maccabees

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7436-560: 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 . The vast majority of scholars and bible translations divide

7579-425: The Christian Old Testament . The inclusion of 2 Maccabees in some copies of the Septuagint saw it a part of various early canon lists and manuscripts, albeit sometimes as part of an appendix. Pope Damasus I 's Council of Rome in 382, if the 6th century Gelasian Decree is correctly associated with it, issued a biblical canon which included both 1 and 2 Maccabees, but neither 3 nor 4. Pope Innocent I (405 AD),

7722-618: The Dedication of the Temple is instituted. The Seleucid general Nicanor threatens the newly dedicated Temple. After his death, the festivities for the dedication are concluded. A special day is dedicated to commemorate the Jewish victory in the month of Adar , on the day before " Mordecai 's Day" ( Purim ). The work explicitly urges diaspora Jews to celebrate both Hanukkah and Nicanor's Day. 2 Maccabees consists of 15 chapters. The Catholic Church , Eastern Orthodox Church , and Oriental Orthodox Churches regard 2 Maccabees as canonical. Jews and Protestants do not. Greek-speaking Jews were

7865-415: The Four). This view was supported in the early twentieth century by Paul Kretschmer in his book Die Entstehung der Koine (1901), while Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff and Antoine Meillet , based on the intense Ionic elements of the Koine – σσ instead of ττ and ρσ instead of ρρ ( θάλασσα – θάλαττα , 'sea'; ἀρσενικός – ἀρρενικός , 'potent, virile') – considered Koine to be

8008-426: The Greek Septuagint. Another was with the prevailing Catholic interpretation and use of one story: that of Judas making a " sin offering " of silver after some of his troops were slain and found with idols, so that the dead might be delivered from their sin. This passage was used as an example of the efficacy of monetary indulgences paid to the Catholic Church to free souls from purgatory by some Catholic authors of

8151-424: The Jewish Scriptures never included it. Hellenistic Judaism slowly waned as many of its adherents either converted to Christianity or switched to other languages, and 2 Maccabees thus did not become part of the Jewish canon. Josephus , the most famous Jewish writer of the first century whose work was preserved, does not appear to have read 2 Maccabees, for example; neither does Philo of Alexandria . Neither book of

8294-434: The Jews to "gain glory in the sight of the king" (verse 51). 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

8437-440: The Jews". Simon fortifies Jerusalem (1 Maccabees 13:10) and secures the reoccupation of Joppa (1 Maccabees 13:11), 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

8580-482: 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 (1 Maccabees 10:20). Demetrius' death is reported in 1 Maccabees 10:50, and Ptolemy VI Philometor and Alexander Balas , claimant to

8723-408: The Latin translation of 2 Maccabees. Among Jews, there had been practically no interest in 2 Maccabees itself for a millennium; the Yosippon was a rare exception of medieval Jews rediscovering the work. Much like in Christian works, the story of the mother and her seven sons was the most retold and influential. 2 Maccabees has traditionally been considered a somewhat lesser source on the history of

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8866-417: The Maccabean Revolt than 1 Maccabees by secular historians, especially in the 19th century. This is for a number of reasons: it wears its religious moralizing openly; it skips around in time and place at parts, rather than the chronological approach in 1 Maccabees; and it includes a number of implausible claims directly in contention with 1 Maccabees. In general, most scholars continue to agree that 1 Maccabees

9009-469: 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

9152-436: The Maccabees were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls of the Essenes , a Jewish sect hostile to the Hasmoneans and their memory. Various works such as Seder Olam Rabbah (a 2nd-century AD work) indicate that the age of prophecy ended with Alexander the Great, and 2 Maccabees, a work clearly written later, thus could not be prophetic. Traditionally, it was hypothesized that the author of 2 Maccabees might have been influenced by

9295-463: The Middle East during the following centuries. It was based mainly on Attic and related Ionic speech forms, with various admixtures brought about through dialect levelling with other varieties. Koine Greek included styles ranging from conservative literary forms to the spoken vernaculars of the time. As the dominant language of the Byzantine Empire, it developed further into Medieval Greek , which then turned into Modern Greek . Literary Koine

9438-440: The New Testament , W.F. Howard argues that the heavy use of the historical present in Herodotus and Thucydides , compared with the relatively infrequent usage by Polybius and Xenophon was evidence that heavy use of this verb tense is a feature of vernacular Koine, but other scholars have argued that the historical present can be a literary form to "denote semantic shifts to more prominent material." The term patristic Greek

9581-433: The Protestant tradition, the book remains non-canonical. Many Protestant Bibles stopped including the apocrypha, leading to a loss of relevance for 2 Maccabees. Still, the book is treated at least somewhat respectfully. The twentieth century evangelical author James B. Jordan , for example, argues that while 1 Maccabees "was written to try and show the Maccabean usurpers as true heirs of David and as true High Priests" and

9724-434: The Roman Republic and Sparta. Uriel Rappaport calls it emblematic of Hasmonean politics in general: that the Hasmonean state was an explicitly Jewish one that sought to separate itself from polytheism, yet was pragmatic and sought allies where they could be found. 1 Maccabees is the most extensive source of information on events in Judea from 175 to 135 BC. It has traditionally been considered highly trustworthy, although it

9867-449: The Roman period, e.g.: Καλήμερον, ἦλθες; Bono die, venisti? Good day, you came? Ἐὰν θέλεις, ἐλθὲ μεθ' ἡμῶν. Si vis, veni mecum . If you want, come with us. Ποῦ; Ubi? Where? Πρὸς φίλον ἡμέτερον Λύκιον. Ad amicum nostrum Lucium. To our friend Lucius. Τί γὰρ ἔχει; Quid enim habet? Indeed, what does he have? What is it with him? Ἀρρωστεῖ. Aegrotat. He's sick. Finally,

10010-506: The Sabbath, and the promise of a future resurrection seem to fit with the Pharisees' ideology. Still, other scholars disagree that the author shows any signs of such inclinations, and belief in a future resurrection of the dead was not limited to only Pharisees; scholars since the 1980s have tended to be skeptical of the proposed connection. The theology of the work is an update to the " Deuteronomist " history seen in older Jewish works. The classical Deuteronomist view had been that when Israel

10153-450: The Seleucid official Heliodorus attempting to tax the Second Temple in 178 BC, and ending with the Battle of Adasa in 161 BC. Some scholars believe the book to be influenced by the Pharisaic tradition, with sections that include an endorsement of prayer for the dead and a resurrection of the dead . The book, like the other Books of the Maccabees , was included in the Septuagint , a prominent Greek collection of Jewish scripture. It

10296-459: The Seleucid throne, enter into an agreement under which Alexander marries Cleopatra Thea , Ptolemy's daughter (1 Maccabees 10:58). 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 (verse 44), and a successful engagement against a popular revolt at Antioch enables

10439-505: The Seleucid-friendly Hellenizing Jews is unsurprising, as they were enemies in war, but 1 Maccabees extends criticism to internal Jewish opponents of the Hasmoneans as well. In 1 Maccabees, those dissatisfied with the Hasmoneans "hated their nation" as a whole; the Hasmoneans were equated with Judea itself. Jews who complain about Judas's activities "bring to the king an accusation against the people". The book dismisses

10582-604: The above imply that those characteristics survived within Koine, which in turn had countless variations in the Greek-speaking world. Biblical Koine refers to the varieties of Koine Greek used in Bible translations into Greek and related texts. Its main sources are: There has been some debate to what degree Biblical Greek represents the mainstream of contemporary spoken Koine and to what extent it contains specifically Semitic substratum features. These could have been induced either through

10725-421: The author has "considerable contempt for martyrs". For the author, bold military action while living is the proper response to oppression. The author sees the revolt as divinely ordained, but downplays direct divine intervention such as miracles. Rather, the author interprets events as God using the military genius of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers as the instrument to achieve the liberation of Judea. One of

10868-440: The author of 1 Maccabees depicts the problems as due to the external evil of Antiochus IV and his generals, not as a cleansing ordeal that was in some sense divine will. The book draws a sharp contrast between Jews and Gentiles, similar to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah . The persecution of Antiochus IV presumably radicalized the Jews. That said, the author is still proud of forging alliances with others, citing negotiations with

11011-437: The author of the book inserted these letters, the book would have to have been written after 188 SE (~124 BC), the date of the second letter. Some commentators hold that these letters were a later addition, while others consider them the basis for the work. 2 Maccabees both starts and ends its history earlier than 1 Maccabees does, instead covering the period from the high priest Onias III and King Seleucus IV (180 BC) to

11154-539: The book into four or five sections by the leader of the rebellion: 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

11297-489: The book is openly pro-Hasmonean, one of several factors for a lack of enthusiasm for the book 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 . The author of 1 Maccabees is anonymous and unknown.  He wrote in the post-independence Hasmonean kingdom, probably during

11440-526: The capital in Alexandria , addressing other diaspora Jews. The Greek style of the writer is educated and erudite, and he is familiar with the forms of rhetoric and argument of the era. The beginning of the book includes two letters sent by Jews in Jerusalem to Jews of the diaspora in Hellenistic Egypt encouraging the celebration of the feast day set up to honor the purification of the temple ( Hanukkah ). If

11583-404: The conflict. No angels or miracles come to save the Jews; rather, it is the divinely-approved firm leadership of the Hasmoneans that leads to victory. The book 2 Maccabees , preserved right next to 1 Maccabees in the Septuagint, provides a striking contrast in theology, and the works are often compared. 2 Maccabees interprets the misfortunes of the Jews as God's punishment for their own sins;

11726-579: The creation and evolution of Koine Greek throughout the entire Hellenistic and Roman eras of history until the start of the Middle Ages. The linguistic roots of the Common Greek dialect had been unclear since ancient times. During the Hellenistic period , most scholars thought of Koine as the result of the mixture of the four main Ancient Greek dialects, " ἡ ἐκ τῶν τεττάρων συνεστῶσα " (the composition of

11869-511: The dead , the reverse case of the living praying for the salvation of souls suffering in purgatory. The book became controversial due to opposition from Martin Luther and other reformers during the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s. Luther had a very high opinion of scripture, but precisely because of this, he wished for the canon to be strict. He would eventually demote the deuterocanonical works to " apocrypha "; still useful to read and part of

12012-490: The defeat of Nicanor in 161. The exact focus of the work is debated. All agree that the work has a moralistic tenor, showing the triumph of Judaism, the supremacy of God, and the just punishment of villains. Some see it as a paean to Judas Maccabeus personally, describing the background of the Revolt to write a biography praising him; some see its focus as the Second Temple , showing its gradual corruption by Antiochus IV and how it

12155-460: The doctrine that God has chosen the elect, and nothing can change this. Thus, the arguments from Clichtove and other Catholics that cited 2 Maccabees for the doctrine of the intercession of saints was suspect to him: for Calvin, salvation was strictly God's choice, and not a matter that dead saints could intervene on. Another issue Calvin and other Protestants raised was the self-effacing epilogue to 2 Maccabees, which Calvin took as an admission from

12298-469: The early 19th century, where renowned scholars conducted a series of studies on the evolution of Koine throughout the entire Hellenistic period and Roman Empire . The sources used on the studies of Koine have been numerous and of unequal reliability. The most significant ones are the inscriptions of the post-Classical periods and the papyri , for being two kinds of texts which have authentic content and can be studied directly. Other significant sources are

12441-525: The early 20th century some scholars argued that the use of the historical present tense in Mark was due to the influence of Aramaic , but this theory fell out of favor in the 1960s. Another group of scholars believed the historical present tense was used to heighten the dramatic effect, and this interpretation was favored in the New American Bible translation. In Volume II of the 1929 edition of A Grammar of

12584-473: The efforts of the Maccabees at the Battle of Beth Zur , but rather to respond to political turmoil resulting from Antiochus's death. 2 Maccabees writes that Antiochus's decrees were targeted against Judea and Samaria, which historians find more likely than the claim in 1 Maccabees that he demanded religious standardization across the entire empire. Even to the extent that 2 Maccabees is still distrusted as history to

12727-429: The epitomist must have had better knowledge of internal Seleucid affairs than the author of 1 Maccabees. As an example, 2 Maccabees appears to be more reliable and honest on the date of the death of Antiochus IV. Archaeological evidence supports the claim in 2 Maccabees he died before the cleansing of the Temple, while 1 Maccabees moves his death later to hide the fact that Lysias abandoned his campaign in Judea not due to

12870-469: The epitomist that he was not divinely inspired. In response to this, the Catholic Church went the opposite direction. While earlier Church Fathers had considered the deuterocanonical books useful but lesser than the main scriptures, the Catholic Church now affirmed that 2 Maccabees (and other deuterocanonical works) were in fact fully reliable as scripture at the Council of Trent in 1546. 2 Maccabees

13013-444: The fact that it makes various "admissions against interest" such as openly describing rebel military defeats, unlike 2 Maccabees which obscures or omits such matters. Jonathan A. Goldstein argues that the book was not imitative of older scriptures merely in linguistic style, but also in content; that is, the author adjusted or invented events to make them fit Biblical parallels better. Pope Damasus I 's Council of Rome in 382, if

13156-469: 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

13299-442: 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 (1 Maccabees 4:59). 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

13442-475: The idea of the resurrection of the dead even more directly than 2 Maccabees and Daniel: if God will revive those who suffer for obeying God's law, then it makes perfect sense to obey the greater ruler rather than the lesser ruler. To a lesser degree, the book 3 Maccabees evinces familiarity with 2 Maccabees; while the setting is different (it is set fifty years before the Maccabean Revolt in Egypt, not Judea), Eleazar

13585-453: The initial stage in the fortition of the second element in the αυ/ευ diphthongs) and the loss of vowel-timing distinctions are carried through. On the other hand, Kantor argues for certain vowel qualities differing from the rest of the Koine in the Judean dialect. Although it is impossible to know the exact realizations of vowels, it is tentatively argued that the mid-vowels ε / αι and η had

13728-523: The language is referred to as Ελληνιστική Κοινή , "Hellenistic Koiné", in the sense of "Hellenistic supraregional language "). Ancient scholars used the term koine in several different senses. Scholars such as Apollonius Dyscolus (second century AD) and Aelius Herodianus (second century AD) maintained the term koine to refer to the Proto-Greek language , while others used it to refer to any vernacular form of Greek speech which differed somewhat from

13871-505: The leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by 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

14014-403: The literary language. When Koine Greek became a language of literature by the first century BC, some people distinguished two forms: written as the literary post-classical form (which should not be confused with Atticism ), and vernacular as the day-to-day vernacular . Others chose to refer to Koine as "the dialect of Alexandria " or "Alexandrian dialect" ( ἡ Ἀλεξανδρέων διάλεκτος ), or even

14157-616: The main of the Greek language. S. J. Thackeray, in A Grammar of the Old Testament in Greek According to the Septuagint (1909), wrote that only the five books of the Pentateuch , parts of the Book of Joshua and the Book of Isaiah may be considered "good Koine". One issue debated by scholars is whether and how much the translation of the Pentateuch influenced the rest of the Septuagint, including

14300-477: The martyrdoms described in 2 Maccabees, but provides a different interpretation of them. While 2 Maccabees attempts to arouse sympathy and emotions ( pathos ), 4 Maccabees was written by someone schooled in Stoic philosophy . As such, in its depiction, the martyred woman and Eleazar calmly discuss matters with their oppressors; they use reason and intellectual argument to stay calm and defy Antiochus IV. 4 Maccabees takes

14443-536: The martyrs, it correspondingly was not cited or read. During the Crusades , Pope Urban II and other church leaders used 1 Maccabees to justify the concept of holy war against the Muslim kingdoms controlling the holy city of Jerusalem . Admired crusaders such as Baldwin I and Godfrey of Bouillon were explicitly compared to Judas Maccabeus, and material from 1 Maccabees was quoted in regards to their deeds. 1 Maccabees

14586-453: The mortal world. These references to the resurrection of the dead despite suffering and torture were part of a new current in Judaism also seen in the Book of Daniel , a work the authors of 2 Maccabees were likely familiar with. This would prove especially influential among Roman-era Jews who converted to Christianity. In the early Christian tradition, the Septuagint was used as the basis for

14729-424: The most important poetic passages in 1 Maccabees". Simon is succeeded by his son, John, referred to by Josephus as John Hyrcanus . The author propagates "Hasmonean propaganda" in the sense of upholding the righteousness of the Hasmoneans and their just claim to rule the Hasmonean kingdom. The Hasmoneans were not an obvious choice to be rulers; they did not descend from the priestly line of Zadok that had taken

14872-429: The most notable and unusual aspects of the book of 1 Maccabees by absence is the lack of any direct mention of God. Rather, the book refers to "heaven" ( ouranós ) instead, such as Judas saying in a speech that "It is not on the size of the army that victory in battle depends, but strength comes from Heaven." Even if "heaven" is merely shorthand for "God in heaven", 1 Maccabees is remarkably secular in its depiction of

15015-426: The notion of meeting and gathering of men, without any particular character. Therefore, etymologizing this word could be needless, or even misleading, when it could guide to false meanings, for example that ἐκκλησία is a name used for the people of God, Israel. The authors of the New Testament follow the Septuagint translations for over half their quotations from the Old Testament. The " historical present " tense

15158-453: The occasional " flash forward " to a villain's later death. The numbers cited for sizes of armies may also appear exaggerated, though not all of the manuscripts of this book agree. After the introductory stories of the controversies at the Temple and the persecutions of Antiochus IV, the story switches to its narrative of the Revolt itself. After the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes , the Feast of

15301-419: The office of High Priest for generations at the point of the Maccabean Revolt. The author seeks to promote the view that the Hasmoneans were indeed God's new chosen and would-be rulers in line with heroes of the Hebrew Bible . Various passages call back to Biblical passages such as Joshua's conquests or the battle of David and Goliath and equate the Hasmoneans' deeds with the earlier stories. Antipathy toward

15444-461: The older scriptures during the early 1500s. Josse van Clichtove , in his work The Veneration of Saints , cited 2 Maccabees as support for the idea of dead saints interceding for the salvation of the living ; in Chapter 15, during a dream vision, both the earlier high priest Onias III and the prophet Jeremiah are said to pray for whole of the people. He also cited 2 Maccabees as support for prayers for

15587-402: The opening of ε . Influence of the Aramaic substrate could have also caused confusion between α and ο , providing further evidence for the back vowel realization. The following texts show differences from Attic Greek in all aspects – grammar, morphology, vocabulary and can be inferred to show differences in phonology. The following comments illustrate the phonological development within

15730-557: The options available for readings during a Mass for the Dead . The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches consider the book canonical. As in antiquity, the most notable section remains the martyrs, who are celebrated as saints by a variety of feast days. They are especially honored in Syriac Christianity , perhaps due to suffering persecution themselves; the mother of seven sons is known as Marth Shmouni in that tradition. In

15873-454: The original audience addressed by the work. Both 1 and 2 Maccabees appear in some manuscripts of the Septuagint . Unlike most works in the Septuagint which were Greek translations of Hebrew originals, 2 Maccabees was a Greek work originally. While not a problem for Greek-speaking Hellenistic Jews nor Christians (whose scriptures were written in Greek), other Jews who kept to the Hebrew version of

16016-399: The period generally designated as Koine Greek, a great deal of phonological change occurred. At the start of the period, the pronunciation was virtually identical to Ancient Greek phonology , whereas in the end, it had much more in common with Modern Greek phonology . The three most significant changes were the loss of vowel length distinction, the replacement of the pitch accent system by

16159-523: The period of Koine. The phonetic transcriptions are tentative and are intended to illustrate two different stages in the reconstructed development, an early conservative variety still relatively close to Classical Attic, and a somewhat later, more progressive variety approaching Modern Greek in some respects. The following excerpt, from a decree of the Roman Senate to the town of Thisbae in Boeotia in 170 BC,

16302-538: The period. Luther disagreed with both indulgences and the concept of purgatory, and in his 1530 work Disavowl of Purgatory , he denied that 2 Maccabees was a valid source to cite. Luther was reported as having said: "I am so great an enemy to the second book of the Maccabees, and to Esther , that I wish they had not come to us at all, for they have too many heathen unnaturalities." The reformer Jean Calvin agreed with Luther's criticism of 2 Maccabees, and added his own criticism as well. Calvin propounded predestination ,

16445-469: The person who would pass the High Priesthood to his sons and establish the dynasty. In Chapter 2, there is a line from a dying Mattathias who tells his sons to always listen to Simon and that "he shall be your father", seemingly praising him even over Judas. Chapter 14 also features a long panegyric praising Simon as a worthy leader. The school of philosophy seen in 1 Maccabees is often thought to be

16588-438: The post-Classical period of Greek is defined as beginning with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, when cultures under Greek sway in turn began to influence the language. The passage into the next period, known as Medieval Greek , is sometimes dated from the foundation of Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 330 AD, but often only from the end of late antiquity . The post-Classical period of Greek thus refers to

16731-505: The practice of translating closely from Biblical Hebrew or Aramaic originals, or through the influence of the regional non-standard Greek spoken by originally Aramaic-speaking Hellenized Jews . Some of the features discussed in this context are the Septuagint's normative absence of the particles μέν and δέ , and the use of ἐγένετο to denote "it came to pass". Some features of Biblical Greek which are thought to have originally been non-standard elements eventually found their way into

16874-487: The present text of 2 Maccabees is copied from Jason's work. The author wrote in Greek, as there is no particular evidence of an earlier Hebrew version. A few sections of the book, such as the Preface, Epilogue, and some reflections on morality are generally assumed to come from the author, not from Jason. Scholars disagree on both when Jason's work was written and when 2 Maccabees was written. Many scholars argue that Jason's work

17017-463: The region of the Hellenistic world. In that respect, the varieties of Koine spoken in the Ionian colonies of Anatolia (e.g. Pontus , cf. Pontic Greek ) would have more intense Ionic characteristics than others and those of Laconia and Cyprus would preserve some Doric and Arcadocypriot characteristics, respectively. The literary Koine of the Hellenistic age resembles Attic in such a degree that it

17160-460: The reign of High Priest John Hyrcanus (reigned ~134–104 BC), with a few scholars suggesting that early in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (reigned 103–76 BC) 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

17303-503: The scribe appears in it, and the depictions of turmoil and suffering among Egyptian Jews are influenced by 2 Maccabees. The Christian Epistle to the Hebrews possibly makes a reference to 2 Maccabees as well, or has similar knowledge of the Maccabean martyr tradition. A later work that directly expanded 2 Maccabees was the Yosippon of the 10th century, which includes a paraphrase of parts of

17446-429: The spirantization of Γ , with palatal allophone before front-vowels and a plosive allophone after nasals, and β . φ, θ and χ still preserve their ancient aspirated plosive values, while the unaspirated stops π, τ, κ have perhaps begun to develop voiced allophones after nasals. Initial aspiration has also likely become an optional sound for many speakers of the popular variety. Monophthongization (including

17589-585: 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

17732-525: The suffering was a swift and merciful corrective to set the Jews back on the right path. While God had revoked his protection of the Temple in anger at the impious High Priests, his wrath turns to mercy upon seeing the suffering of the martyrs. The work also takes pains to ensure that when setbacks occur, some sort of sin or error was at fault. For those truly blameless, such as the martyrs, the author invokes life after death: that post-mortem rewards and punishments would accomplish what might have been lacking in

17875-410: 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

18018-427: The translation of Isaiah. Another point that scholars have debated is the use of ἐκκλησία ekklēsía as a translation for the Hebrew קָהָל qāhāl . Old Testament scholar James Barr has been critical of etymological arguments that ekklēsía refers to "the community called by God to constitute his People". Kyriakoula Papademetriou explains: He maintains that ἐκκλησία is merely used for designating

18161-568: The universal dialect of its time. Modern classicists have often used the former sense. Koine Greek arose as a common dialect within the armies of Alexander the Great . Under the leadership of Macedon , their newly formed common variety was spoken from the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt to the Seleucid Empire of Mesopotamia . It replaced existing ancient Greek dialects with an everyday form that people anywhere could understand. Though elements of Koine Greek took shape in Classical Greece ,

18304-446: 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 . In the Church of England 's lectionary of 1922 in the Book of Common Prayer , 1st Maccabees

18447-511: The wildly inflated numbers in 2 Maccabees. (For example, 2 Maccabees implausibly claims that there were 35,000 Syrian casualties at the Battle of Adasa, a number likely far larger than the entire Seleucid force.) 2 Maccabees was also written in a "pathetic" in the sense of pathos style, appealing to emotions and sentiment. Skeptical historians considered this a sign that the epitomist was not interested in historical accuracy much, but merely telling

18590-405: The work deuterocanonical; Protestant Christians do not regard 2 Maccabees as canonical, although many include 2 Maccabees as part of the biblical apocrypha , noncanonical books useful for the purpose of edification. The author of 2 Maccabees is not identified, but he claims to be abridging a 5-volume work by Jason of Cyrene . This longer work is not preserved , and it is uncertain how much of

18733-537: The work only survives in translation in Koine Greek contained in the Septuagint , the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures. The Septuagint was preserved by early 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 (except for

18876-429: 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 Sarbēth Sabanaiel , an enigmatic Greek transliteration from a putative Hebrew original title. It

19019-526: Was also cited during the 11th–12th century Investiture Controversy concerning whether monarchs had the authority to appoint bishops, or only the Pope. 1 Maccabees includes passages describing the appointment of Jonathan and Simon by Seleucid authorities, so it was generally cited by the side of those who favored royal appointment of bishops. The Roman Catholic Lectionary makes use of texts from 1 Maccabees 1 to 6, along with texts from 2 Maccabees 6 and 7, in

19162-433: Was its stories of the martyrdom of Eleazar and the woman with seven sons; various works expanded the story to add more details such as the woman's name (variously called Hannah, Miriam, Shmouni, and other names) and their story. A prominent early example is the book of 4 Maccabees , written by a 1st-century Jewish author who used 2 Maccabees as a direct source (as well as the Book of Daniel ). 4 Maccabees discusses in detail

19305-432: Was likely published by a contemporary of the Maccabean Revolt, around 160–140 BCE, although all that is known for sure is that it was before 2 Maccabees. Scholars suggest 2 Maccabees was composed at some point from 150–100 BC. It is generally considered that the work must have been written no later than the 70s BC, given that the author seems unaware that Pompey would defeat the Hasmonean kingdom and make Judea

19448-548: Was missing the final three chapters, or he simply found a better source for that era of history. 1 Maccabees is only very rarely quoted or referenced by the Church Fathers in the era of early Christianity . When Christians of the Roman Empire discussed the Maccabees, it was usually in reference to the " Maccabean martyrs " described in 2 Maccabees 6 and 2 Maccabees 7 , as they were seen as models and precursors to Christian martyrs . As 1 Maccabees has very little to say about

19591-462: 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

19734-425: Was never included in the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh and is not canonical in Judaism. Later Jewish leaders thought poorly of the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty for several reasons, and a document so openly celebratory of them was problematic. Even in stories set during the Maccabean period, references to Judas by name were explicitly removed to avoid hero-worship of the Hasmonean line. The Jewish historian Josephus of

19877-600: Was not promptly translated to Hebrew or included in the Masoretic Hebrew canon, the Tanakh . While possibly read by Greek-speaking Jews in the two centuries after its creation, later Jews did not consider the work canonical or important. Early Christians did honor the work, and it was included as a deuterocanonical work of the Old Testament . Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , and Oriental Orthodox Christians still consider

20020-514: Was saved and purified; others see the focus as the city of Jerusalem and how it was saved; and others disagree with all of the above, seeing it as written strictly for literary and entertainment value. The author is interested in providing a theological interpretation of the events; in this book God's interventions direct the course of events, punishing the wicked and restoring the Temple to his people. Some events appear to be presented out of strict chronological order to make theological points, such as

20163-449: Was scripture, or lists it among scriptural works. Theologically, the major aspects of 2 Maccabees that resonated with Roman-era Christians and medieval Christians were its stories of martyrology and the resurrection of the dead in its stories of Eleazar and the woman with seven sons . Christians made sermons and comparisons of Christian martyrs to the Maccabean martyrs, along with the hope of an eventual salvation; Eusebius compared

20306-453: Was that the martyrs had died upholding Jewish Law in an era when many Christians felt that the Law of Moses was not merely obsolete, but actively harmful. Christian authors generally downplayed the Jewishness of the martyrs, treating them as proto-Christians instead. 2 Maccabees was in a position of being an official part of the canon, but as a deuterocanonical work and thus subtly lesser than

20449-602: Was the medium of much post-classical Greek literary and scholarly writing, such as the works of Plutarch and Polybius . Koine is also the language of the Septuagint (the 3rd century BC Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible ), the Christian New Testament , and of most early Christian theological writing by the Church Fathers . In this context, Koine Greek is also known as "Biblical", "New Testament", "ecclesiastical", or "patristic" Greek. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote his private thoughts in Koine Greek in

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