Septuagint - 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees

By Scriptural Research Institute

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 in the form of Dionysus which are missing from the 1ˢᵗ Maccabees. While 1ˢᵗ Macca

• Language: English
• Publisher: Digital Ink Productions
• Release date: Dec 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781989604571

Book preview

Septuagint: 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees

Septuagint, Volume 23

SCRIPTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Published by Digital Ink Productions, 2024

COPYRIGHT

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Septuagint: 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees

Digital edition. January 5, 2024

Copyright © 2024 Scriptural Research Institute.

ISBN: 978-1989604571

The Septuagint was translated into Greek and complied at the Library of Alexandria between 250 and 132 BC. 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees was likely composed in Aramaic in the late 2ⁿᵈ-century BC, and was translated into Greek by 132 BC. The fourth version of the Septuagint which included the first 3 books of Maccabees, was published circa 132 BC.

This English translation was created by the Scriptural Research Institute in 2019 through 2023, primarily from the Codex Alexandrinus, although other codices were also used for reference.

The image used for the cover is an artistic reinterpretation of ‘Destruction of the Beast and the False Prophet’ by Benjamin West, painted in 1804.

Note: The notes for this book include multiple ancient scripts. For your convenience, fonts correctly depicting these scripts are embedded in the ebook. If your reader does not support embedded fonts, you will need to install Unicode fonts that cover the ranges for Arabic, Avestan, Cuneiform, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Greek, Hebrew, Imperial Aramaic, Phoenician, Samaritan, Syriac, and Ugaritic on your reader manually, or you may see blank areas, question marks, or squares where the scripts are used. The Noto fonts from Google cover most of the scripts used, however, will not depict Neo-Babylonian cuneiform or Old Phrygian correctly due to current limitations in Unicode.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright

Forward

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Septuagint Manuscripts

Alternative Translations

Also Available

FORWARD

In the mid-3ʳᵈ century BC, King Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt ordered a translation of the ancient Hebrew scriptures for the Library of Alexandria, which resulted in the creation of the Septuagint. The original version, published circa 250 BC, only included the Torah, or in Greek terms, the Pentateuch. The Torah is the five books traditionally credited to Moses, circa 1500 BC: Cosmic Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. According to Jewish tradition, the original Torah was lost when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple of Solomon and was later rewritten by Ezra the Scribe from memory during the Second Temple period.

It is generally accepted that there were several versions of the ancient Hebrew and Samaritan scriptures before the translation of the Septuagint, mostly written in Canaanite or Aramaic, although the older sections of the Torah appear to have originated in Akkadian Cuneiform.

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 has 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. The Syriac Bibles also include a 5ᵗʰ Maccabees, which is a translation of book 6 of Josephus’ The Judean War. The Judean War is considered extended canon in the Ethiopic Bibles, however, the Ethiopic Bibles also include three books of Maccabees, which are not based on the Greek books, or Josephus. An Arabic book of Maccabees also exists, which is often mislabeled as 5ᵗʰ Maccabees in English language literature, because it was initially misidentified as being the same book as Syriac 5ᵗʰ Maccabees. The Arabic book is a translation of a Palestinian Aramaic book from circa 525 AD, which itself appears to be based on the Hebrew book of Maccabees, which surfaced much later.

The Hebrew version of Maccabees was collected with other Hebrew language manuscripts from various eras in a Yiddish compilation in the 1300s. The Hebrew translation of Maccabees was likely composed in Iberia earlier than 500 AD and was probably based on an Aramaic text, along with an Iberian tale about Hannibal. The Aramaic text that was used is closely related to the text found in the Josippon, which is believed to have been composed in southern Italy in the 900s. The Josippon claims to be a copy of the book of Joseph ben Gurion (יוסף בן גוריון), one of the leaders of the Judean Revolt of 66 AD. Joseph died in 68 AD, and Josephus, who survived the war, did not report that Joseph was a writer, however, it stands to reason his faction must have had some form of propaganda, likely based on the Maccabean Revolt. These Josippon-related versions of Maccabees are of very little historic value, as they are replete with historical errors. Their original function appears to have been to serve as inspiration rather than to educate.

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. The Hasideans (Ασιδαῖοι) were one of two Judahite sects that were mentioned in the various books of the Maccabees whose relationship to other sects is unclear. Some scholars have theorized that they may be the precursors to the Pharisees.

The other sect mentioned was the Nasoreans (Ναζιραίουσ), whose name has been interpreted various ways. The Nasoreans were only mentioned in 1ˢᵗ Maccabees, and not 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees, which means they were either added to the story by the author of 1ˢᵗ Maccabees or removed by the author of 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees. The meaning of this name is debatable. The Jewish interpretation, as defined in the Talmud, was a Jew that took vows to abstain from wine, not cut their hair, and not touch corpses, however, the Talmud was compiled centuries after the books of the Maccabees were Philipwritten, and they are referred to as a sect in the books, not as devout Jews. They are sometimes theorized to be an earlier reference to the Essenes.

The term Nazarene was used in the Christian gospels as a title of Jesus, and therefore became the Arabic and Hebrew term for ‘Christian,’ however, the Mandaeans claimed the term referred to their priesthood, which had once been led by John the Baptist, who had baptized Jesus. In the early centuries of the Christian era, the Mandaeans were called the Nasoreans (Ναζωραῖοι) by the Greeks, however, this changed once Christianity spread through the Middle East, and the name Nazarene was applied to Christians. The Mandeans do not appear to have been a Judahite sect, although did include many Judahites and other Israelites. The sacred texts of the Mandeans were focused on the prophets Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, and Aram, indicating an Aramean origin for the religion, not a Samaritan or Judahite origin. The mention of the Nasoreans in 1ˢᵗ Maccabees, but not 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees, suggests that the author of 2ⁿᵈ Maccabees was not a Nasorean, whatever the term meant at the time.

2ⁿᵈ Maccabees appears to be an anti-Phrygian work, although it is not clear if this was added by the author, or found in Jason’s earlier work. 3ʳᵈ Maccabees also seems anti-Phrygian, or