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MACCABEES, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

Books of the Apocrypha or Deuterocanonicals. Included in most modern translations, they are important for the historical information and theological interpretations they provide about persons and events in Jewish history during the 2nd century b.c.e.

Historical Background

During the 3rd century Judea was administered by the Ptolemaic dynasty based in Egypt. Ca. 200 Judea and its capital Jerusalem came under the political control of the Seleucid dynasty based in Antioch of Syria. Throughout the 2nd century the Seleucid kingship passed among the descendants of Antiochus III (223-187). These dynastic struggles provide the background for the events described and interpreted in 1–2 Maccabees.

When Antiochus IV Epiphanes gained control of the Seleucid Empire in 175, he allowed Jason to outbid his brother Onias III for the Jewish high priesthood (2 Macc. 4:7-8). Jason established Greek institutions at Jerusalem and apparently tried to make it into a Hellenistic city. In 172 Jason was outbid and replaced by Menelaus, who had no legitimate claim to the office of high priest. By 167 Antiochus IV with the help of Jason and other Jewish elites had despoiled the temple and its treasury, set up a military garrison near the temple (the Akra), abolished the traditional Jewish law, and established a new order of worship (the cult of the “lord of heaven”).

Why Antiochus IV intervened in Jewish affairs remains a matter of debate. He may simply have needed money to pay his soldiers and to keep himself in power. Or he may have planned to develop the eastern equivalent of the nascent Roman Empire. Or he may have drifted or been invited into a socioeconomic and/or religious civil war among factions in Judea.

1 Maccabees

Against this background 1 Maccabees identifies the exploits of the “Maccabee” (named after Judas the “Hammer”) family with the salvation of God’s people, and portrays three generations of this family as the true leaders of Israel. After describing the crisis under Antiochus IV and the beginning of resistance under Mattathias the priest of Modein (1:1–2:70), it recounts the exploits of Judas (3:1–9:22) and his brothers Jonathan (9:23–12:53) and Simon (13:1–15:41), as well as Simon’s son John Hyrcanus (16:1-24).

Many scholars believe that 1 Maccabees was written in Hebrew (now lost) and translated into Greek, though it could have been deliberately composed in a biblical Greek (LXX) style. It may have been produced in the reign of John Hyrcanus (134-104) or shortly afterward in the 1st century b.c.e. Its language and style are reminiscent of the historical books in the OT.

The purpose of 1 Maccabees becomes clear with its comment on the defeat of Joseph and Azariah, who tried to engage in battle apart from the Maccabee family: “Thus the people suffered a great rout because, thinking to do a brave deed, they did not listen to Judas and his brothers. But they (Josephus and Azariah) did not belong to the family of those men through whom deliverance was given to Israel” (5:61-62). Thus the book is often described as a dynastic history or even dynastic propaganda for the Maccabee family.

Although 1 Maccabees acknowledges some Jewish initiatives in adopting the gentile way of life (1:11-15), the major villain initially is Antiochus IV. He plunders the Jerusalem temple (1:20-28), seizes Jerusalem two years later (1:29-40), and decrees that all those in his kingdom should become “one people” (1:41-64). In late 167 he had erected at the Jerusalem temple “a desolating sacrilege on the altar of burnt offering” (1:54) — what Daniel (11:31; 12:11) and the NT (Mark 13:14; Matt. 24:15) describe as the “abomination of desolation” or “desolating sacrilege.”

According to 1 Macc. 2:1-70 Jewish resistance to Antiochus IV gained direction and momentum only through Mattathias and his five sons. The accounts about the Jewish martyrs (1:62-64) and the pious cave-dwellers (2:29-38) show that passive resistance was not sufficient. In carrying out his initial act of rebellion by refusing to participate in pagan worship (2:15-28), Mattathias burns with zeal for the Torah as Phinehas did (Num. 25:6-15). He joins with the Hasideans to organize an army to fight for Judaism, and agrees to wage defensive battles on the sabbath (2:41). His farewell speech (2:49-68) to his sons places his and their actions in line with those of the great heroes of the biblical tradition from Abraham to Daniel.

The military exploits of Judas Maccabeus are described in 1 Macc. 3:1–9:22. After defeating various Syrian armies (3:1–4:35), Judas purifies and rededicates the Jerusalem temple in 164 (4:36-61) — the event commemorated in the festival of Hanukkah. After a survey of the campaigns of Judas and his brothers (5:1-68), the book describes the death of Antiochus IV and the accession of Antiochus V (6:1-17). Despite Judas’ triumphs, the “garrison in the citadel” or Akra (6:18) continues to cause trouble. And his efforts at fighting the Syrians at Beth-zur (6:18-63) are not successful. Judas’ last great victory is against Nicanor in 161, when Demetrius I becomes the Seleucid king and Alcimus is named the Jewish high priest (7:1-50). By entering into alliance with Rome (8:1-32), Judas gains a powerful protector along with recognition of his movement as representing the Jewish people. But with the defeat of Judas by Bacchides and his death in 160 the Maccabean movement seems to be at an end.

What revived the Maccabean movement was further internal struggle for the Seleucid throne. The section about Jonathan (9:23–12:53) shows how he combined political shrewdness and military activity to win more power and territory. Jonathan succeeded by allowing one Seleucid claimant to outdo the other in promising him rewards for supporting them. The death of the Jewish high priest Alcimus in 159 and the apparent vacancy of this office between 159 and 152 made Jonathan the only serious Jewish political figure with whom one could deal. And deal Jonathan did — with the Seleucids Demetrius I (162-150), Alexander I Balas (150-145), and Antiochus VI (145-142), as well as the Egyptian Ptolemies, the Romans, and the Spartans. By supporting Alexander Balas against Demetrius I, Jonathan gained the high priesthood at the Jerusalem temple — despite not belonging to the proper Zadokite family.

After Jonathan’s capture and death in 142, his brother Simon gained control of the movement. The section about Simon (13:1–15:41) narrates his military and political successes, and tells how he secured the independence of the Jewish people and renewed the alliance with Rome. According to the decree cited in 14:41-43, Simon and his descendants were to occupy the offices of high priest, military commander, and leader of the people (ethnarch). When Antiochus VII (138-129) broke his alliance with Simon, he and his generals were defeated by Simon and his son John Hyrcanus. The story of the early days of the Maccabean dynasty closes with Simon’s death in 134 and the accession of John Hyrcanus (16:1-24).

1 Maccabees is the most important source for the history of Israel in the mid-2nd century. It proceeds from the perspective of a writer who viewed the Maccabee family as God’s own dynasty and the leaders of the true people of Israel.

2 Maccabees

If 1 Maccabees can be described as dynastic propaganda, 2 Maccabees can be called temple propaganda. Its focus is the succession of threats against the Jerusalem temple and how it was preserved by God’s agents. After two letters (1:1-9; 1:10–2:18) and a prologue (2:19-32), there are accounts of three successive attacks on the temple by Heliodorus in the time of Seleucus IV (3:1-40), by Antiochus IV (4:1–10:9), and by Nicanor in the time of Demetrius I (10:10–15:37). The book tells the story of the Maccabean movement up to Judas’ defeat of Nicanor in 161.

The main part of 2 Maccabees (chs. 3–15) is, as 2:23 states, the digest of a five-volume work by Jason of Cyrene. Jason may have written his work shortly after the events that he described (160-152). The date of the first letter (cf. 1:9) suggests that the condensation may have been made ca. 124, though an early 1st-century date is also possible. The epitome was written in Greek, as was in all likelihood Jason’s five-volume original. The condenser’s statements in the prologue (2:19-32) and the epilogue (15:38-39) indicate that his primary goal was to make the work more attractive and entertaining.

The two letters before the prologue (1:1-9; 1:10–2:18) are from Jews in Jerusalem to Jews in Egypt. Both letters seek to encourage Jews in Egypt to celebrate the festival of Hanukkah. This suggests that Egyptian Jews needed convincing — whether because the event commemorated was so recent, or because it was so closely tied to the Maccabee family, or because it had no biblical basis.

The first attack against the Jerusalem temple (3:1-40) occurs during the reign of Seleucus IV (187-175), the brother and predecessor of Antiochus IV. In response to a request to intervene in a dispute between the pious high priest Onias and Simon over the administration of the city market, the Syrian governor Apollonius sends Heliodorus to make an inspection of the temple treasury. But in his effort to confiscate the treasury and bring the holy place “into dishonor” (v. 18), Heliodorus is miraculously struck down by a mysterious rider accompanied by two glorious young men. When revived through Onias’ prayer (vv. 31-34), Heliodorus offers sacrifice to the God of Israel and comments that one should send only one’s worst enemies to profane the Jerusalem temple (vv. 35-39).

The second attack against the Jerusalem temple (4:1–10:9) is occasioned by the struggles over the Jewish high priesthood. The priesthood of Jason (175-172) is portrayed as bringing “the Greek way of life” (4:10) to Jerusalem by establishing a gymnasium, enrolling the people as “citizens of Antioch,” and disregarding the Torah as Israel’s law. The author’s own position is clear: “There was such an extreme of Hellenization and increase in the adoption of foreign ways because of the surpassing wickedness of Jason, who was ungodly and no true high priest” (4:13).

And yet Jason is outdone in wickedness by his successor Menelaus (in 172). When Jason’s revolt fails, Antiochus IV captures Jerusalem (5:11), enters the temple with Menelaus as his guide, and carries off 1800 talents of money. Only in 5:27 do we first hear of Judas Maccabeus and his companions. According to 6:1-11, the Jews were forced to abandon the Torah, to deny their ancestral religion, and to transform the Jerusalem temple into the temple of Olympian Zeus.

After reflections on God’s discipline toward Israel (“although he disciplines us with calamities, he does not forsake his own people,” 6:16), the book describes the heroism displayed by Jewish martyrs who refuse to give up their traditional faith (6:10-11, 18-31; 7:1-42). The dialogues between the wicked king and the seven sons and their mother in 7:1-42 give particular attention to hopes for resurrection and God’s judgment as motives for resisting the evil king’s program.

The emergence of Judas Maccabeus and his victories over Nicanor and Timothy (8:8-36) lead to the realization that the Jews have a powerful Defender (God) and so are invulnerable because they follow God’s laws (8:36). Struck down by God while robbing temples in Persia, even the arrogant Antiochus IV recognizes his errors (9:1-29). The climax of the second temple episode is the rededication of the Jerusalem temple, the restoration of Jewish worship, and the establishment of Hanukkah as a Jewish festival (10:1-9). In the second attack Judas Maccabeus and his army serve as God’s instruments.

The third attack (10:10–15:37) features the Syrian general Nicanor’s threat to destroy the temple and its altar, and to build in its place a temple dedicated to the Greek god Dionysus (14:33). After describing the accession of Antiochus V Eupator, 2 Maccabees discusses Judas’ military victories (10:14–11:15), his correspondence (11:16-38), and further battles (12:1-45). By 161, however, there are a new Seleucid king (Demetrius I), a new Jewish high priest (Alcimus), and a new threat to the temple by Nicanor (14:1–15:37). With God’s help, Judas and his army defeat Nicanor and again serve as God’s instruments: “Blessed is he (God) who has kept his own place undefiled” (15:34).

2 Maccabees is perhaps most famous for its account of the Jewish martyrs and references to resurrection (12:43-45). But the author’s central concern was the sanctity of God’s temple in Jerusalem. He traced Israel’s troubles to the internal disputes that brought the Seleucids into Jewish affairs, regarded the Greek way of life as an abomination, and considered Judas Maccabeus as God’s instrument in defending the temple.

Bibliography. E. Bickerman, The God of the Maccabees. SJLA 32 (Leiden, 1979); R. Doran, Temple Propaganda: The Purpose and Character of 2 Maccabees. CBQMS 12 (Washington, 1981); J. Goldstein, I Maccabees. AB 41 (Garden City, 1976); II Maccabees. AB 41A (Garden City, 1983); D. J. Harrington, The Maccabean Revolt (Wilmington, 1988); V. Tcherikover, Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews (Philadelphia, 1959).

Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.

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MACCABEES, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)