Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible: First & Second Maccabees

By John R. Bartlett

This extract from the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible provides Alexander and deSilva’s introduction to and concise commentary on First and Second Maccabees. The Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible presents, in nontechnical language, the best of modern scholarship on each book of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. Reader-friendly commentary complements succinct summaries of each section of the text and will be valuable to scholars, students, and general readers.
 
Rather than attempt a verse-by-verse analysis, these volumes work from larger sense units, highlighting the place of each passage within the overarching biblical story. Commentators focus on the genre of each text—parable, prophetic oracle, legal code, and so on—interpreting within the historical and literary context.
 
The volumes also address major issues within each biblical book—including the range of possible interpretations—and refer readers to the best resources for further discussions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Release date: Apr 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781467454148

Book preview

1 Maccabees

John R. Bartlett

INTRODUCTION

The books of 1 and 2 Maccabees were written within the Jewish community about 100 BC but became part of the Christian rather than the Jewish scriptures. 1 Maccabees, originally written in Hebrew, was preserved in a Greek translation in the fourth-century Codex Sinaiticus and the fifth-century Codex Alexandrinus, in the eighth-century Codex Venetus, and in an Old Latin (OL) translation now known from two ninth-century manuscripts. It was perhaps first translated into Greek for the benefit of the Alexandrian Jewish community (as were other Hebrew books like Ecclesiasticus [Sirach]), though it may have been translated in Jerusalem and subsequently taken to Egypt, as was the Greek version of Esther. The OL tradition stems from the second century AD and so witnesses to an early form of the Greek text. Josephus, writing in the first century AD, knew 1 Maccabees in a Greek translation, but he paraphrased rather than copied it. The Hebrew text probably lapsed from use early, for it was not accepted as scriptural by the rabbis. Jerome’s reference to it leaves us uncertain whether he personally knew the Hebrew version or knew that there had been one. 1 Maccabees has been largely unknown since the Reformation, being relegated in the Reformed tradition to the Apocrypha, but it is of particular interest to scholars for its information on Hellenistic Judea and to others for its stirring theme of Jewish independence.

1 Maccabees tells the story of the Maccabean revolution from the time of the Seleucid king Antiochus IV (175–164 BC) to that of the Hasmonean John Hyrcanus I (135–104 BC). The author names no sources, except certain archival documents (cf. 14:49) and the high-priestly annals from Hyrcanus’s time (16:24); he probably used similar annals from the high priesthoods of Jonathan and Simon, other Jewish archives (e.g., relating to diplomatic involvement with Rome), and some official Seleucid source or chronicle valuable for its dating of Seleucid events. Folk memory and oral tradition probably provided material for stories about Mattathias and Judas, dead for at least half a century before the author wrote of them.

The book was carefully composed. A prologue (1:1–10) gives the background to the apostasy that culminated in Antiochus IV’s decree and the response of the faithful led by Mattathias (1:11–2:70). The first main part of the work (3:1–9:22) tells the story of Judas, beginning with a eulogy (3:1–9) and ending with a short lament over him (9:21). The narrative between is divided into two halves (3:10–6:63 and 7:1–9:18) (see p. 811). The story of Judas is balanced and contrasted by the story of Jonathan and Simon in the second part of the book (9:23–16:23). Possibly the author originally intended to end the work with the eulogy of Simon (14:1–15) to balance the opening eulogy of Judas (3:1–9), but felt the need to add the public record of Simon’s work (14:25–49) and other material about Simon’s diplomatic successes (14:16–24), his later campaigns, and his death, with a short conclusion introducing his son John Hyrcanus. In spite of this slightly jumbled ending, the author has clearly worked hard to organize the material coherently, and the attention given to chronology shows an orderly and disciplined historian’s mind at work.

However, the chronological data present difficulties. The author dates events by the years of the kingdom of the Greeks (1:10), that is, by the Seleucid era, which was dated from Seleucus I’s capture of Babylon in the sixth year of the reign of Alexander IV, son of Alexander the Great. By our calendar Seleucus I’s first year began in April 312 BC. But while Babylon and the east began their year in spring, the first month being Nisan, the western part of the Seleucid Empire began the year in the autumn (the first month would be the Jewish Tishri). Official Seleucid dates given in 1 Maccabees seem to use the autumnal system, and Jewish dates employ the spring calendar (cf. 10:21, where the reference to the feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month suggests the use of a spring dating). Further, according to some scholars some dates are given according to an era beginning in spring 311 (not 312) BC. Most dates in 1 Maccabees appear to work well if we assume an era beginning in spring 312 BC for Jewish dates and in autumn 312 BC for official Seleucid dates, though this leads to the conclusion that the desecration of the temple lasted from December 168 to December 165 BC (not 167–164 BC, as is usually given). Some scholars prefer to use the era dating from spring 311 BC for Jewish dates. All systems have their problems, especially in the case of 10:1, 21 (see p. 822).

The author is a serious historian, concerned both to record and interpret events. He is aware of the outer world, and not opposed to Judah’s links with it, but a staunch supporter of Judah’s independence and of the Hasmonean monarchy. The Hasmonean family have defended the law and the sanctuary (13:3); salvation comes to Israel through this family alone (5:62), but through their courage and faith, not through dramatic miracles, as in 2 Maccabees. The Maccabees are not seen as messianic figures, and they are not expected to be martyrs finding their reward in resurrection (as in 2 Maccabees). The author despises renegade Jews who accept Hellenistic culture (1:11; 3:15; 6:21–27, etc.), and hates Gentile adversaries of the Jewish law (1:49; 2:48; 3:20, etc.). A threat to the temple was a threat to the nation; Judas and his followers are fighting for the people and the sanctuary, for the law, and for Jewish religious practices such as sacrifice, fasting, the sabbath, and circumcision. The author is theologically conservative, but not a theologian at heart. The end is not yet; there is more history to come under the successors of John Hyrcanus, in whom the author has obvious confidence. The author’s kingdom is undoubtedly of this