The Five Books of Maccabees in English is a comprehensive collection of the Maccabean texts, which chronicle the heroic struggle of the Jewish people against oppression and their fight for religious freedom. This volume brings together all five books, offering a complete account of the Maccabean Revolt and its aftermath. Henry Cotton's translation provides readers with an accessible and engaging introduction to these significant historical and religious texts.
Hebrew Maccabees is one of the stranger Hebrew books to have survived to the present and is either a relic of the oldest surviving book about Judas the Hammer, or a remarkably heretical medieval forgery. There is no academic consensus on what it is, and few scholars have bothered to comment on it. The book deals with the life of Judas ‘the Maccabee,’ which is of little interest to Christians. His life is of interest to Jews, however, almost all books dealing with the Maccabean Revolt are rejected as scripture in Rabbinical Judaism. Jews generally treat the Septuagint’s 1st and 2nd Maccabees, and Josephus’ Antiquities of the Judeans as historical texts of debatable accuracy, while using the Megillat Taanit and Megillat Antiochus as sources on how Hanukkah should be practiced. Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, is a holiday based on the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem that happened when Judas occupied Jerusalem. The festival continues, but all records of what happened are lost or ignored. The Megillat Taanit dates to the 1st century AD, and Megillat Antiochus dates to the 2nd century AD, and neither is considered a historically reliable source by academics. This suggests that what actually happened in the time of Judas was actively suppressed during the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties, likely because Judas was later viewed as a heretic. In most of the books featuring Judas, he reports seeing angelic horsemen that no one else could see. These horsemen are clearly part of Judas’ story, however, if they were, in fact, angels riding horses, then Judas would be a prophet. Yet, he is not accepted as a prophet in Judaism or Christianity. The idea of angels riding horses is itself unheard of in Israelite and Judahite texts, other than in texts related to Judas, which suggests he may have actually been following a different religion. During the era of the Maccabean Revolt, the high priest in Jerusalem was not a Judahite, but a Phrygian named Philip. The Phrygians worshiped Sabazdiôs, the great horseman of the sky, who was represented by a hand. The Greeks interpreted the Phrygian Sabazdiôs and Judahite Sabaoth as two forms of Dionysus. In 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees, Dionysus is used as the name of the god worshiped in the temple in Jerusalem under Greek rule. Sabaoth was recorded by the Greeks of the Hellenistic era as the name of the Judahite god, based on the Aramaic ṣbảwt, meaning ‘desires.’ However, this word took on a very different meaning as Classical Hebrew formed during the Maccabean Revolt, becoming a word meaning ‘armies’ or ‘battles.’ The duel meanings of ‘ṣbảwt’ in Semitic languages go back to very ancient times, where the oldest recorded form was the Akkadian ṣābum, meaning ‘soldier.’ Over thousands of years, the name transitioned to ‘server’ and finally ‘desires’ in Aramaic and ‘abundance’ in Arabic. When the Hasmonean dynasty decided to ‘restore’ the Hebrew language, many ancient words and meanings were introduced to the Judahite dialect of Canaanite, resulting in the new Hebrew language having many archaic terms, including ṣbảwt. The name Sabaoth is used in the Septuagint, generally where the Masoretic texts used the word ‘armies,' which has resulted in many modern academics simply accepting this as a mistranslation, however, in Hebrew Maccabees, Judas is repeatedly referred to as the ‘Anointed of Sabaoth,’ confirming that if nothing else, the author viewed Sabaoth as a proper god. While it is natural to assume that the Maccabean Revolt was about getting rid of the worship of Sabaoth / Sabazios / Dionysus, as recounted in 2nd Maccabees, this book contradicts that, and reports that Judas was a Sabaoth worshiper. Moreover, there is some incidental evidence of the continuation of Sabaoth worship under the rule of the Hasmoneans in the writing of Josephus, and also the Babylonian Talmud.
The Syrian tradition churches of the Middle East and South Asia, have maintained several deuterocanonical books that are not included in the Peshitta, the standard Syriac version of the Christian Bible. The Peshitta includes Syriac translations of the four books of the Maccabees found in the Septuagint, along with a 5th book of Maccabees, which is also labelled as the The History Of The Destruction Of Jerusalem. This book is a Syriac translation of the 6th book of Josephus’ The Judean War. General Josephus had started on the Judean side of the rebellion, however, was captured by the Romans, and survived the war. During the fall of Jerusalem, he was part of Caesar Titus’ entourage who tried to negotiate with the Judean rebels in Jerusalem. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Josephus was given some of the surviving archives and wrote Antiquities of the Judeans, as well as The Judean War. These books survive in Greek; however, it is generally agreed that Josephus wrote these books in Judeo-Aramaic, and then translated them into Greek, as the audience he was writing to was the Judean diaspora in the Middle East. The Syrian churches have traditionally claimed that the Peshitta’s 5th Maccabees is a Syriac transliteration of Josephus’ original Aramaic text. In addition to the five books of the Maccabees found within the Peshitta, there is additional Syriac literature associated with the woman and her seven sons, who were tortured to death by King Antiochus. In this literature, she is named Shamoni, and her sons are known as the Maccabean martyrs. This concept appears to have developed in the Syriac tradition before the full text of the four Maccabees books in the Septuagint were translated into Syriac in the 5th century AD. The particular Maccabees books in the Septuagint were written in Greek, although they drew on older Aramaic and Judahite literature that is now lost. In the Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic books about the Maccabees, the seven martyrs are never referred to as the Maccabees, this term is used to refer to the followers of Judas, several decades later.The most famous of these Syriac works is the poem Lady Shamoni and the Maccabean Martyrs, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 6th Maccabees. The poem goes into more detail regarding the torture of the sons of Shamoni than 2nd Maccabees, where the author skipped over most of the gruesome details and then ended the chapter with “This is enough about the eating of sacrifices and the extreme tortures.” A lesser-known Syriac work is The Story of the Lady and her Seven Sons, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 7th Maccabees. 7th Maccabees is probably the older of the two, as it does not refer to the seven martyrs as the Maccabees, which is common in Syriac Christian literature. This isn’t clear, as the reference to the seven martyrs as ‘the Maccabean Martyrs’ is found in the title of 6th Maccabees, and not the text itself. The title is likely something created by the Christian editor. In 563 AD, a Syrian scholar named John Malálas composed a history of the world subsequently called the Chronographia. The Chronographia was written in Greek, however, John was drawing from both Greek and Syriac sources and created one of the longer historical works of the era. A very small section of his work mentions the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt, which has garnered the attention of academics studying the era. His text is clearly influenced by the Syriac tradition here and ignores the Greek entirely for some reason. This section of the Chronographia has been dubbed 8th Maccabees by scholars studying Maccabean literature.
The Orthodox Tewahedo Churches of Ethiopian and Eritrean have maintained many deuterocanonical books that are not included in the Bibles of various other Christian churches. Some of these books are shared with the Beta Israel community, the ancient Israelites of the Ethiopian highlands who are also sometimes referred to as “Ethiopian Jews.” Most of these texts were translated into Ge'ez, the classical language of Axum, sometime between the 5ᵗʰ and 10ᵗʰ centuries AD. Axum was the kingdom that ruled Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the 1ˢᵗ through 9ᵗʰ centuries AD. At its peak in the 3ʳᵈ through 6ᵗʰ centuries, Axum also controlled Yemen and was considered by some to be one of the four great powers in the world, alongside Rome, Persia, and China. One of the unique collections of texts found in the Orthodox Tewahedo Churches and Beta Israel community is the Ge'ez books of the Maccabees. These books are different from the books of the Maccabees used by the Orthodox churches across Eurasia. Within Greek biblical manuscripts, there are four books named Maccabees, all of which were translated into Syriac, and are part of the Syriac churches’ bible. The Syriac bible also includes a fifth book of Maccabees, which is a translation of part of Josephus's writing from the 1ˢᵗ century AD, and the Syriac tradition churches have maintained additional Maccabean literature, but none of it parallels the Ge'ez Maccabean literature. Medieval Hebrew and Arabic books of Maccabees also exist, however, they do not include any of the same content as the Ge'ez literature. Western scholarship regarding the texts is sparse, and they are generally dismissed as Axumite in origin. There are a number of reasons for this, the biggest one being that if they are ancient, they challenge a lot of common assumptions about the origin of Christianity. This bias against the Ge'ez books runs so deep that many Christian scholars refuse to recognize them as Maccabean literature, and simply refer to them as Meqabyan books, a direct transliteration of “Maccabean” from the Ge'ez script to the Latin script. Nevertheless, the books contain many linguistic relics that support an ancient origin. Based on linguistics, the content of Ge'ez 1ˢᵗ Maccabees must have existed in 4 forms before finally being translated into Ge'ez. The final translation would have been directly into Classical Ge'ez, not the older South Arabian script, and likely took place sometime between the 5ᵗʰ and 10ᵗʰ centuries. The Ge'ez translator added a curious scribal note in chapter 36 that explains that manna was similar to injera, a flatbread commonly eaten in East Africa. This suggests the book was translated by a Christian, and before the books of Moses were commonly used by the churches in the region. A member of the Beta Israelite community would have been familiar with manna and therefore would have not needed the explanation.
The history of the Arabs in antiquity from their earliest appearance around 853 BC until the first century of Islam, is described in this book. It traces the mention of people called Arabs in all relevant ancient sources and suggests a new interpretation of their history. It is suggested that the ancient Arabs were more a religious community than an ethnic group, which would explain why the designation 'Arab' could be easily adopted by the early Muslim tribes. The Arabs of antiquity thus resemble the early Islamic Arabs more than is usually assumed, both being united by common bonds of religious ideology and law.
Four books of Maccabees were ultimately added to the Septuagint, three in the 1ˢᵗ century BC, and the 4ᵗʰ as an appendix in the 1ˢᵗ century AD. No trace of these books have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and they are generally thought to have been written in Greek. 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees do include several Aramaic loanwords that support an Aramaic source text. A different book of Maccabees has survived in the Arabic language, either called Arabic Maccabees, or 5ᵗʰ Maccabees. Three additional books of Maccabees have survived in the Ge'ez language in Ethiopia and are generally considered translations from either Syriac or Arabian sources. 1ˢᵗ Maccabees tells the story of the Maccabean Revolt against the rule of the Seleucid Empire in the 2ⁿᵈ century BC. The content of 1ˢᵗ Maccabees appears to be a Sadducee text, as it clearly gives all credit to the self-declared high-priests that led the rebellion against the Greeks, and barely mentioned the sky-god Shamayim, or the earth-goddess Eretz. It also omits the names of the other gods that 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees and 3ʳᵈ Maccabees mentions the Judeans worshiping, such as Dionysus, which supports its authorship in the Hasmonean Dynasty, when the other gods were no longer tolerated. 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees claims to be an abridged version of Jason of Cyrene's now lost five-volume version of Maccabees. Jason's books of the Maccabees were likely composed earlier than 1ˢᵗ Maccabees, as the story ends decades earlier, and contains many references to Sabaoth, translated into Greek as Dionysus, which are missing from the 1ˢᵗ Maccabees. While 1ˢᵗ Maccabees is a very secular version of the events that led to the creation of the Hasmonean kingdom, and was, therefore, almost certainly composed by a Sadducee, 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees claims that Judas the Hammer, the protagonist of both 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees was a Hasidean, suggesting that either Jason of Cyrene, or whoever abridged his work, was a Hasidean. 1ˢᵗ Maccabees mentioned the Hasideans joining Judas' forces, but did not claim he was one. 4ᵗʰ Maccabees is a philosophical interpretation of 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees. It was added to the Septuagint in the 1ˢᵗ-century AD, however, it could have been written anywhere between circa 100 BC and 100 AD. This text includes more details regarding the torture of the Hebrew youths from 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees, which may have come from Jason of Cyrene's original five-volume version of Maccabees. The author of 4ᵗʰ Maccabees accepts the flying horsemen of 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees as sky messengers, which implies the Phrygian imagery was widely accepted by Jews at the time and supports the Greek and Roman records that indicate the Phrygians and Hebrews worshiped the same god. Unlike 2ⁿᵈ and 3ʳᵈ Maccabees, 4ᵗʰ Maccabees does not mention the god Dionysus/Sabaoth, indicating that the book was written in Hasmonean Dynasty or later. 4ᵗʰ Maccabees also does not have any Aramaic loanwords, indicating it was almost certainly written in Greek.
In 563 AD, a Syrian scholar named John Malálas composed a history of the world subsequently called the Chronographia. The Chronographia was written in Greek, however, John was drawing from both Greek and Syriac sources and created one of the longer historical works of the era. His Chronographia was later translated into several ancient languages, and fragments survive in Georgian and Old Slavonic. It was eighteen volumes long, however, is of limited historical value, as it combines ancient mythologies, biblical stories, and events copied from older historical texts into a fantastical history of the world. Some of the earlier historians that John drew on are accepted as the Greek writers Eusebius of Caesarea and Eustathius of Epiphania, however, his Syriac sources are undocumented. John’s work is unusual for the era as he was focused on creating a work for monks and commoners, not the aristocrats. This is likely why it was carried to as many lands as it was and used as a source by later authors. One of the major works to use it as a source from it is the Primary Chronicle, one of the earliest Eastern Slavic works, believed to have been compiled near Kyiv in the 1110s. John’s literary style was simple, reflecting the straightforward communication of the written language of everyday business of the era. The majority of the Chronographia focused on the history of Antioch and then Constantinople, which is believed to have reflected John’s move from Antioch to Constantinople in 540, caused by the Persians attacking Antioch. Based on his diction, he is believed to have been a lawyer, however, some have theorized he was a religious scholar. A very small section of his work mentions the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt, which has garnered the attention of academics studying the era. His text is clearly influenced by the Syriac tradition here and ignores the Greek entirely for some reason. He referred to the seven martyrs Antiochus Epiphanes killed as the Maccabees, the same as the Syriac poem Martha Shamoni and the Maccabean Martyrs, which Western biblical scholars have dubbed 6ᵗʰ Maccabees. None of the Greek, Hebrew, or Arabic translations refer to the martyrs as the Maccabees.
This volume of the Navarre Bible commentaries unlocks the mysteries of a wide-ranging sequence of Old Testament books: the historical books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Maccabees and the little-known but pivotally important books of Tobit, Judith, and Esther. In these books you'll find the rich and instructive stories of Kings David and Solomon, the Babylonian exile, and its aftermath; the heroism of the Maccabees who gave their lives to preserve their faith in God; and the deep faith and awareness of divine blessing that invests the books of Tobit, Judith, and Esther.
3ʳᵈ Maccabees happens earlier than 1ˢᵗ and 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees, set between 217 and 205 BC, and does not include Judas the Hammer (the Maccabee), or his brothers, which implies it is part of a larger collection of Maccabean texts, possibly Jason of Cyrene's now lost five-volume version of Maccabees. If it was part of Jason's version of Maccabees, then it was likely the second or third volume, as it is before Jason and his brothers enter the story, but its abrupt beginning indicates it was not the first volume. Unlike 1ˢᵗ Maccabees, 3ʳᵈ Maccabees does have a supernatural element, as messengers descend from the sky to save the Judahites, although the Judahites were apparently unable to see them. As the story told within 3ʳᵈ Maccabees cannot be historically proven, it is generally considered to be a work of historical fiction, however, this cannot be proven either. Like 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees, 3ʳᵈ Maccabees appear to be an anti-Phrygian work, or at least anti-Sabaoth/Dionysus, suggesting it is another relic of Jason's work, and Jason's work was anti-Sabaoth in nature. In 3ʳᵈ Maccabees, the worship of Sabaoth at the Temple in Jerusalem is mentioned, under his Greek name Dionysus, while Philip the Phrygian in 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees is sent to govern Jerusalem decades later, he does appear to have been in charge of the Temple in Jerusalem. References to the Judean god Sabaoth appear at this point in the Greek language literature, either transliterated directly in the form of Sabaoth or translated into Greek as Dionysus. While there is a similar word in the ancient Israelite scriptures, it as translated as ṣbảwt, meaning 'armies,' when the Hebrew translations were made under the Hasmoneans, which is likely a direct translation of the Aramaic term. This god Sabaoth was considered at the time, to be the same god as the Phrygian god Sabazios, who the Greeks also considered a local variant of Dionysus. The fact that Dionysus was the Greek name of Sabaoth and Sabazios was recorded by the many Classical Era scholars, including Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Tacitus, Lydus, Cornelius Labeo, and Plutarch.
This work stands among the most important publications in biblical studies over the past twenty-five years. Richard Bauckham, James Davila, and Alexander Panayotov’s new two-volume collection of Old Testament pseudepigrapha contains many previously unpublished and newly translated texts, complementing James Charlesworth’s Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and other earlier collections. Including virtually all known surviving pseudepigrapha written before the rise of Islam, this volume, among other things, presents the sacred legends and spiritual reflections of numerous long-dead authors whose works were lost, neglected, or suppressed for many centuries. Excellent English translations along with authoritative yet accessible introductions bring those ancient documents to life for readers today.
