two apocryphal books of Scripture, containing the history of
Judas and his brothers, and their wars against the Syrian kings in
defence of their religion and liberties, so called from Judas, the son
of Mattathias, surnamed Maccabæus, as some authors say, from the word
מכבי, formed of the initials of מי-כמכה באלים יהוה, Who is like unto
thee, O Lord, among the gods?” Exod. xv, 11, which was the motto of his
standard; whence those who fought under his standard were called
Maccabees, and the name was generally applied to all who suffered in the
cause of true religion, under the Egyptian or Syrian kings. This name,
formed by abbreviation according to the common practice of the Jews,
distinguished Judas Maccabæus by way of eminence, as he succeeded his
father, B. C. 166, in the command of those forces which he had with him
at his death; and, being joined by his brothers, and all others that
were zealous for the law, he erected his standard, on which he inscribed
the above mentioned motto. Those, also, who suffered under Ptolemy
Philopater of Alexandria, fifty years before this period, were afterward
called Maccabees; and so were Eleazar, and the mother and her seven
sons, though they suffered before Judas erected his standard with the
motto from which the appellation originated. And therefore, as these
books which contain the history of Judas and his brothers, and their
wars against the Syrian kings, in defence of their religion and
liberties, are called the first and second books of the Maccabees; so
that book which gives us the history of those who, in the like cause,
under Ptolemy Philopater, were exposed to his elephants at Alexandria,
is called the third book of the Maccabees; and that which is written by
Josephus, of the martyrdom of Eleazar, and the seven brothers and their
mother, is called the fourth book of the Maccabees.
The first book of the Maccabees is an excellent history, and comes
nearest to the style and manner of the sacred historians of any extant.
It was written originally in the Chaldee language, of the Jerusalem
dialect, and was extant in this language in the time of Jerom, who bad
seen it. From the Chaldee it was translated into Greek, from the Greek
into Latin. Theodotion is conjectured to have translated it into Greek;
but this version was probably more ancient, as we may infer from its use
by ancient authors, as Tertullian, Origen, and others. It is supposed to
have been written by John Hyrcanus, the son of Simon, who was prince and
high priest of the Jews near thirty years, and began his government at
the time where this history ends. It contains the history of forty
years, from the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes to the death of Simon, the
high priest; that is, from the year of the world 3829 to the year 3869,
B. C. 131. The second book of the Maccabees begins with two epistles
sent from the Jews of Jerusalem to the Jews of Egypt and Alexandria, to
exhort them to observe the feast of the dedication of the new altar
erected by Judas, on his purifying the temple. The first was written in
the 169th year of the era of the Seleucidæ, that is, B. C. 144; and the
second, in the 188th year of the same era, or B. C. 125; and both appear
to be spurious. After these epistles follows the preface of the author
to his history, which is an abridgment of a larger work, composed by one
Jason, a Jew of Cyrene, who wrote in Greek the history of Judas
Maccabæus, and his brethren, and the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes,
and Eupator his son. The two last chapters contain events under the
reign of Demetrius Soter, the successor of Antiochus Eupator, and
contain such varieties in their style, as render it doubtful whether
they had the same author as the rest of the work. This second book does
not by any means equal the accuracy and excellency of the first. It
contains a history of about fifteen years, from the execution of
Heliodorus’s commission, who was sent by Seleucus to fetch away the
treasures of the temple, to the victory obtained by Judas Maccabæus over
Nicanor; that is, from the year of the world 3828 to the year 3843, B.
C. 157.
There are in the Polyglott Bibles, both of Paris and London, Syriac
versions of both these books; but they, as well as the English versions
which we have among the apocryphal writers in our Bibles, are derived
from the Greek. For a farther account of Judas Maccabæus, and of his
brothers, whose history is recorded in the first and second books of the
Maccabees, and also by Josephus, we refer to the article JEWS. The third
book of the Maccabees contains the history of the persecution of Ptolemy
Philopater against the Jews in Egypt, and their sufferings under it; and
seems to have been written by some Alexandrian Jew in the Greek
language, not long after the time of Siracides. This book, with regard
to its subject, ought to be called the first, as the things which are
related in it occurred before the Maccabees, whose history is recorded
in the first and second books; but as it is of less authority and repute
than the other two, it is reckoned after them. It is extant in Syriac,
though the translator did not seem to have well understood the Greek
language. It is in most of the ancient manuscript copies of the Greek
Septuagint, particularly in the Alexandrian and Vatican, but was never
inserted into the vulgar Latin version of the Bible, nor, consequently,
into any of our English copies. The first authentic mention we have of
this book is in Eusebius’s _Chronicon_.” It is also named with two other
books of the Maccabees in the eighty-fifth of the apostolic canons. But
it is uncertain when that canon was added. Grotius thinks that this book
was written after the two first books, and shortly after the book of
Ecclesiasticus, from which circumstance it was called the third book of
Maccabees. Moreover, Josephus’s history of the martyrs that suffered
under Antiochus Epiphanes, is found in some manuscript Greek Bibles,
under the name of the fourth book of the Maccabees. This book, ascribed
to Josephus, occurs under the title, Concerning the Empire or Government
of Reason;” but learned men have expressed a doubt whether this was the
book known to the ancients as the fourth book of the Maccabees.
Judas and his brothers, and their wars against the Syrian kings in
defence of their religion and liberties, so called from Judas, the son
of Mattathias, surnamed Maccabæus, as some authors say, from the word
מכבי, formed of the initials of מי-כמכה באלים יהוה, Who is like unto
thee, O Lord, among the gods?” Exod. xv, 11, which was the motto of his
standard; whence those who fought under his standard were called
Maccabees, and the name was generally applied to all who suffered in the
cause of true religion, under the Egyptian or Syrian kings. This name,
formed by abbreviation according to the common practice of the Jews,
distinguished Judas Maccabæus by way of eminence, as he succeeded his
father, B. C. 166, in the command of those forces which he had with him
at his death; and, being joined by his brothers, and all others that
were zealous for the law, he erected his standard, on which he inscribed
the above mentioned motto. Those, also, who suffered under Ptolemy
Philopater of Alexandria, fifty years before this period, were afterward
called Maccabees; and so were Eleazar, and the mother and her seven
sons, though they suffered before Judas erected his standard with the
motto from which the appellation originated. And therefore, as these
books which contain the history of Judas and his brothers, and their
wars against the Syrian kings, in defence of their religion and
liberties, are called the first and second books of the Maccabees; so
that book which gives us the history of those who, in the like cause,
under Ptolemy Philopater, were exposed to his elephants at Alexandria,
is called the third book of the Maccabees; and that which is written by
Josephus, of the martyrdom of Eleazar, and the seven brothers and their
mother, is called the fourth book of the Maccabees.
The first book of the Maccabees is an excellent history, and comes
nearest to the style and manner of the sacred historians of any extant.
It was written originally in the Chaldee language, of the Jerusalem
dialect, and was extant in this language in the time of Jerom, who bad
seen it. From the Chaldee it was translated into Greek, from the Greek
into Latin. Theodotion is conjectured to have translated it into Greek;
but this version was probably more ancient, as we may infer from its use
by ancient authors, as Tertullian, Origen, and others. It is supposed to
have been written by John Hyrcanus, the son of Simon, who was prince and
high priest of the Jews near thirty years, and began his government at
the time where this history ends. It contains the history of forty
years, from the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes to the death of Simon, the
high priest; that is, from the year of the world 3829 to the year 3869,
B. C. 131. The second book of the Maccabees begins with two epistles
sent from the Jews of Jerusalem to the Jews of Egypt and Alexandria, to
exhort them to observe the feast of the dedication of the new altar
erected by Judas, on his purifying the temple. The first was written in
the 169th year of the era of the Seleucidæ, that is, B. C. 144; and the
second, in the 188th year of the same era, or B. C. 125; and both appear
to be spurious. After these epistles follows the preface of the author
to his history, which is an abridgment of a larger work, composed by one
Jason, a Jew of Cyrene, who wrote in Greek the history of Judas
Maccabæus, and his brethren, and the wars against Antiochus Epiphanes,
and Eupator his son. The two last chapters contain events under the
reign of Demetrius Soter, the successor of Antiochus Eupator, and
contain such varieties in their style, as render it doubtful whether
they had the same author as the rest of the work. This second book does
not by any means equal the accuracy and excellency of the first. It
contains a history of about fifteen years, from the execution of
Heliodorus’s commission, who was sent by Seleucus to fetch away the
treasures of the temple, to the victory obtained by Judas Maccabæus over
Nicanor; that is, from the year of the world 3828 to the year 3843, B.
C. 157.
There are in the Polyglott Bibles, both of Paris and London, Syriac
versions of both these books; but they, as well as the English versions
which we have among the apocryphal writers in our Bibles, are derived
from the Greek. For a farther account of Judas Maccabæus, and of his
brothers, whose history is recorded in the first and second books of the
Maccabees, and also by Josephus, we refer to the article JEWS. The third
book of the Maccabees contains the history of the persecution of Ptolemy
Philopater against the Jews in Egypt, and their sufferings under it; and
seems to have been written by some Alexandrian Jew in the Greek
language, not long after the time of Siracides. This book, with regard
to its subject, ought to be called the first, as the things which are
related in it occurred before the Maccabees, whose history is recorded
in the first and second books; but as it is of less authority and repute
than the other two, it is reckoned after them. It is extant in Syriac,
though the translator did not seem to have well understood the Greek
language. It is in most of the ancient manuscript copies of the Greek
Septuagint, particularly in the Alexandrian and Vatican, but was never
inserted into the vulgar Latin version of the Bible, nor, consequently,
into any of our English copies. The first authentic mention we have of
this book is in Eusebius’s _Chronicon_.” It is also named with two other
books of the Maccabees in the eighty-fifth of the apostolic canons. But
it is uncertain when that canon was added. Grotius thinks that this book
was written after the two first books, and shortly after the book of
Ecclesiasticus, from which circumstance it was called the third book of
Maccabees. Moreover, Josephus’s history of the martyrs that suffered
under Antiochus Epiphanes, is found in some manuscript Greek Bibles,
under the name of the fourth book of the Maccabees. This book, ascribed
to Josephus, occurs under the title, Concerning the Empire or Government
of Reason;” but learned men have expressed a doubt whether this was the
book known to the ancients as the fourth book of the Maccabees.